Grand Canyon: Arrival and information
For the century following the arrival of the railroad in 1901, GRAND CANYON VILLAGE was the main center for tourism at the South Rim. By 2000, however, it had become woefully ill-equipped to handle its daily deluge of visitors, and the Park Service was forced to implement an ambitious scheme to reduce traffic congestion in the vicinity. The first stage was to build the large and very impressive Canyon View Information Plaza near Mather Point (daily: May to mid-Oct 8am-6pm; mid-Oct to April 8am-5pm; ), where the open-air displays and trail guides are complemented by a visitor center staffed by helpful rangers, and a separate bookstore. Stage two, however - the construction of a light rail system to ferry visitors to the plaza from huge parking lots at TUSAYAN , just outside the park six miles south - has yet to materialize, and appears to have been postponed indefinitely. At some point, a new bus system may serve that purpose, but for the moment the plaza is peculiarly inaccessible, in that it has no parking lot of its own, and there are only a few spaces at Mather Point itself, a few hundred yards' walk away.Currently, free shuttle buses run on three routes: one connects the new plaza with Grand Canyon Village; one heads east along the East Rim; and the other sets off west from the village along the West Rim. Private vehicles are still allowed on the East Rim, and into Grand Canyon Village (so overnight guests can reach their lodgings), but only along the West Rim in winter.
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