Discover one of the most visited tourist spots in the United States: Grand Canyon National Park! Dug over millions of years by the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon gorge bears witness, with its 1500m depth, to a geological history dating back more than 2 billion years. The gorge also shows traces of a prehistoric human presence, which has adapted to this complex space. Do you want to discover this fantastic place? Do not hesitate !
The essential of Arizona
Located in northern Arizona, the Grand Canyon is located in the National Park that bears its name. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, the park covers a protected area of 4927 km² . More than 4 million curious visitors come to discover the site each year , which makes the park one of the most important tourist places in the United States.
Thanks to its sublime landscapes, its extent and its rarity, the Grand Canyon presents a unique geological setting in the world, and bears witness to nearly 2 billion years of terrestrial history . The exceptional landscape of the park extends over 445km long , with an average depth of 1.5km , while having a width varying from 500 to 30km wide. It is the Colorado River which is at the origin of the formation of canyon , by an erosion and a geological activity of 6 million years.
The Grand Canyon National Park is known throughout the world, for its unique landscapes, its dizzying size, its incredible expanse, and its incredible topography. Many natural environments proliferate in the Park: forests, plateaus, deserts, plains, rivers, lava flows, waterfalls . This environmental diversity makes it possible first of all to offer rich, diverse and varied landscapes, but also allows the establishment of many plant and animal species .
The place is also a true geological pearl, because it contains data and materials from the 4 eras of evolution of the Earth; from the Precambrian to the Cenozoic. On certain walls of the canyon are observable the geological remains of the Precambrian and the Paleozoic . There are many fossils and faunal remains.
Thanks to the very varied topography of the Park, many ecosystems have emerged, in a geographical area that is nevertheless restricted: 5 of the 7 North American life zones overlap in the Canyon , which allows species to mix. Many species of flora and fauna are endemic, rare, or threatened. The Grand Canyon National Park is a unique place in the world, which you should not miss during your trip to America!
