Grand Canyon Tips: The Local's Guide to Avoiding the Crowds and Getting the Most Out of Your Visit

Revised July 2025
Entrance lines several miles long? Hours-long wait to get into the park? No place to park ? Viewpoints mobbed? Lodges booked up ? Campgrounds full? Don’t let this be your experience at the Grand Canyon! In this book, a local with decades of experience exploring Grand Canyon National Park and the surrounding national forests, wilderness areas, and national monuments shares with you his secrets for avoiding the crowds.

The author has a serious problem- he doesn't know what he wants to do when he grows up. Meanwhile, he's done such things as wildland fire fighting, running a mountain shop, flying airplanes, shooting photos, and writing books. He's a backcountry skier, climber, figure skater, mountain biker, amateur radio operator, river runner, and sea kayaker- but the thing that really floats his boat is hiking and backpacking. No matter what else he tries, the author always comes back to hiking- especially long, rough, cross-country trips in places like the Grand Canyon. Some people never learn. But what little he has learned, he's willing to share with you- via his books, of course, but also via his websites, blogs, and whatever works.