AZ-Grand+Canyon+Point+Imperial

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

Coconino County
=Grand Canyon National Park--Point Imperial= North Rim, Arizona 86052 Point Imperial webpage Grand Canyon National Park website Grand Canyon National Park map

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Grand Canyon NP--Point Imperial
Coordinates: 36.2791537, -111.9797802 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

About Point Imperial
At 8,803 feet, Point Imperial is the highest of the North Rim overlooks, and the northernmost, presenting a rather different panorama than that from the other two popular viewing locations further south (Cape Royal and Bright Angel Point). Imperial sits high above the region where the Grand Canyon first takes on its characteristic wide, branched appearance, since just to the north, the cliffs either side of the Colorado are relatively close (a mile or less), and from here 50 river miles north to the official start of the canyon at Lees Ferry, the gorge is mostly unbranched and more conventional in dimensions.

Imperial is linked to the Cape Royal highway by a bendy side road, which climbs the narrow, partly wooded valley of upper Bright Angel Creek, past a few meadows and open grassy hillsides, ending after 2.6 miles at a circular parking area beside the point. A fire track (open to hiking only) continues a few miles further north along the rim to an intersection with Kaibab National Forest road FR 610 and the Nankoweap Trail. Much of the surrounding pine forest has been quite badly burnt in recent wildfires, allowing new groves of aspen to spring up. From the Imperial Point carpark, a very short trail descends a little to the flat rocks of the overlook, protected by railings because the land falls away vertically on three sides. The views are extensive and varied, encompassing the Echo and Vermilion Cliffs, the upper Colorado canyon (Marble Gorge), the dead flat, treeless plateau east of the river, and a large area of buttes and cliffs downstream to the south. This is a good location for watching a Grand Canyon sunset, owing to a number of tributary ravines visible, and the high elevation.

Of the many named topographic features in view, most prominent to the north is Boundary Ridge and its central peak Saddle Mountain - the ridge forms a divide between the flatter, desert land further north and the uneven cliff, canyon & mesa country to the south. The Nankoweap Trail runs across the lower slopes of the ridge, on its 14-mile, 6,000-foot descent to the river. Below the escarpment, the first multi-branched side canyon is that of Nankoweap Creek, the upper end of which is enclosed between various ridges and spires, including Mount Hayden, Hancock Butte, and Alsap Butte. From Point Imperial 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="27909457" || L2346947 US US-AZ US-AZ-005 36.2791537 -111.9797802 Grand Canyon NP--Point Imperial