AZ-Grand+Canyon+Mather+Point

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

Coconino County
=Grand Canyon National Park--Mather Point= Grand Canyon Village, Arizona 86052 Mather Point webpage Grand Canyon National Park website Grand Canyon National Park map

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Grand Canyon NP--Mather Point
Coordinates: 36.0612422, -112.1084833 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

About Mather Point
Mather Point is one of the first canyon overlooks that visitors coming into the park through the south entrance will encounter. Visitors getting their first glimpse of the Canyon here can marvel at the 10 mile distance between where they are standing and the North Rim, gaze into the mile-deep abyss, ponder the power of the Colorado River snaking below, and admire the colorful Kaibab Limestone, Coconino Sandstone, and Vishnu Schist rock layers that are visible.

The point has two overlooks with safety rails built on rocks that project out into the Canyon. The view spans from Bright Angel Trail (west of the point) to the South Kaibab Trail, which begins at Yaki Point to the east. In between, Pipe Creek, O’Neill Butte, and the Tonto Trail are also visible. If looking towards the North Rim, Bright Angel Creek can be seen as it flows for 10 miles among various buttes and ravines.

Mather Point is named after Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service and one of the main advocates for establishing a Grand Canyon National Park. His work in the borax industry made Mather a millionaire, and as hobbies, he enjoyed hiking and mountaineering. He later became part of the campaign to create a single federal agency that would oversee all national parks, which at that time were managed by a variety of agencies including the Forest Service and War Department. His advocacy and influence were instrumental in the creation of the National Park Service in 1916. As a reward for his efforts, in May 1917 Mather was named the first director of the new National Park Service. Mather believed that landscapes of magnificent scenery and unusual beauty should be preserved, but he also encouraged the development of tourism, cooperating with railroads and concessionaires to help get visitors to remote parks and provide them with desirable comforts. He also spent a great deal of his own money building much-needed infrastructure in many of the early parks.

In 2000, the NPS opened Canyon View Information Plaza, a new visitor center, just south of Mather Point. The site offers indoor facilities for talks and programs, a bookstore, food vendors, and many outdoor exhibits that offer a variety of information about the park and suggestions for what to see and do. From Mather 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="27907753" || L586552 US US-AZ US-AZ-005 36.0612422 -112.1084833 Grand Canyon NP--Mather Point