Grand Canyon: North or South Rim?

Note: As of press time, a wildfire had forced the closure of the road to the North Rim. For updates, contact the National Park Service, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023; 928-638-7888. The Internet site is www.nps.gov/grca.

JACOB LAKE, Ariz. — Where do you get the best views of the Grand Canyon?

The North Rim? The South Rim?

Admittedly, it's a subjective decision, but the South Rim gets my vote.

That comes after making my first trip to the still-impressive North Rim. I had visited the South Rim about 15 years ago.

The North Rim and South Rim are only 10 miles apart by air, but they are 215 miles and five hours apart by road.

The North Rim is higher in elevation at up to 8,800 feet. It is covered with pine forests and open only five months a year because of snow. It gets far fewer visitors than the South Rim. Accommodations are more limited on the North Rim. It has fewer trails that drop into the canyon and fewer overlooks.

The North Rim has higher cliff faces and offers up-high views of the rock formations within the canyon.

But to me, the big difference is that the views from the North Rim are less striking, less dramatic, less gripping.

From the North Rim, you have sweeping giant vistas across the Grand Canyon from Bright Angel, Cape Royal and Point Imperial. From its edge, the North Rim offers an enormity of view.

The North Rim offers one glimpse of the aquamarine Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon. That's at Cape Royal.

However, you are unable to look into the heart of the canyon from the North Rim the way you can from the South Rim with its numerous vantage points, and that is a significant difference.

The South Rim offers better lighting and offers a wider and deeper canyon than does the North Rim.

That enables you to visually connect with the Grand Canyon in a way that is not as strong from the North Rim.

But the North Rim has a lot going for it, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge that was built in the 1920s by the Union Pacific Railroad. It sits on the rim and provides a first-rate venue for sunset-watchers to gather on its patio to watch the sun sink over the canyon.

The lodge, with its limestone walls and timbered ceilings, is a National Historic Landmark.