AZ-Grand+Canyon+Moran+Point

Also see Grand Canyon National Park
 * =Birding in Arizona=

Coconino County
=Grand Canyon National Park--Moran Point= Grand Canyon Village, Arizona 86052 Moran Point webpage Desert View Drive webpage Desert View Drive map Grand Canyon National Park website Grand Canyon National Park map

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Grand Canyon NP--Moran Point
Coordinates: 36.0048601, -111.9240466 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

About Moran Point
Moran Point is a popular spot on the South Rim for gazing into the canyon. It is situated near the main park visitor center a few miles east of the Grand Canyon Village. Many people erroneously assume it is named for famed American landscape artist Thomas Moran, but it is probably named instead for his brother, Peter Moran, an accomplished artist in his own right. Peter Moran traveled to the South Rim in 1881 with explorer and Army Captain John Bourke, who probably named the point in his honor. Thomas Moran never saw the South Rim until 1892 when he visited as a guest of the Santa Fe Railway. To read more about Thomas Moran’s significance to American art, visit our Landscape Art page. A spur from Desert View Drive allows visitors to pull over and enjoy canyon vistas. The point is due south of Cape Royal viewpoint on the North Rim. Though only separated by eight miles across the chasm, it would take hundreds of miles of driving from Moran Point to reach the Cape Royal viewpoint.

Three of the Grand Canyon’s main rock groups are visible at Moran Point: Layered Paleozoic Rocks, the Grand Canyon Supergroup, and the Vishnu Basement Rocks. The first group is comprised of sedimentary rocks, which make up most of the Grand Canyon. The Supergroup rocks are visible at only a few spots along the rim. The Vishnu Basement Rocks are both igneous and metamorphic and represent the oldest rocks that can be found at the Grand Canyon. The Colorado River cuts through this final layer and is visible below Moran Point. The point also provides an excellent view of Red Canyon, where John Hance built a mining operation and several trails. From Moran Point webpage

Tips for birding Grand Canyon National Park
From Grand Canyon National Park website

About Grand Canyon National Park
Although first afforded Federal protection in 1893 as a Forest Reserve and later as a National Monument, Grand Canyon did not achieve National Park status until 1919, three years after the creation of the National Park Service. Today Grand Canyon National Park receives close to five million visitors each year - a far cry from the annual visitation of 44,173 which the park received in 1919.

The oldest human artifacts found are nearly 12,000 years old and date to the Paleo-Indian period. There has been continuous use and occupation of the park since that time.

The park has recorded over 4,300 archeological resources with an intensive survey of over 5% of the park area.

The park's 11 Traditionally Associated Tribes and historic ethnic groups view management of archeological resources as the preservation of their heritage.

Archeological remains from the following culture groups are found in Grand Canyon National Park: Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Basketmaker, Ancestral Puebloan (Kayenta and Virgin branches), Cohonina, Cerbat, Pai, Southern Paiute, Zuni, Hopi, Navajo, and Euro-American. From Grand Canyon National Park website



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media type="custom" key="27907879" || L1872144 US US-AZ US-AZ-005 36.0048601 -111.9240466 Grand Canyon NP--Moran Point