Fly Grand Canyon - Taking an Airplane Tour Over the National Park

Grand Canyon airlines offers a variety of amazing adventures. One of the most breathtaking, comprehensive, and thrilling ways to explore this huge, ancient National Park is by air. Air tours originate near the park, as well as in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Page, Arizona.

Situated along the Colorado River Basin, this impressive gorge is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and more than 1 mile deep. According to geologists, this magnificent park reveals about two million years of our planet's geological history. This massive rift across the Colorado Plateau exposes ancient strata from the Proterozoic and Paleozoic Eras.

The weather in the area varies according to elevation. Some high-elevation rim zones are wooded, and receive seasonal snowfall. However, along the river in the Inner Gorge, temperatures are arid, similar to those of Tucson as well as other low-elevation desert areas. Along the South Rim, normal annual precipitation is less than sixteen inches. The North Rim receives about twenty-seven inches of moisture each year, and the basin gets about eight inches.

Weather conditions have a huge impact on tourism. Severe temperatures, high-elevation, winter storms, and late-summer monsoons present many hazards. The National Weather Service's South Rim station has been consistently monitoring temperatures since 1903. The temperature variations all through the year are extreme. In the gorge, summer temps often climb to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In the winter months, rim temperatures often drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit. The record high temperature was 105 degrees Fahrenheit in June of 1974, and the low was 20 degrees below zero Fahrenheit in January of 1919, February of 1985, and December of 1990.

The uplift of this plateau is jagged, and the elevation at the North Rim is about 1,000 feet higher than the elevation at the South Rim. This difference in elevation results in the North Rim having lower temperatures than the South Rim. Views from the North Rim tend to be more panoramic, but admittance to the area is limited during the winter on account of road closures.

The Colorado River basin has been changing for 40 million years. Geological experts have estimated that the canyon is about seventeen million years old. Significant erosion has exposed one of the planet's most geologically detailed rock columns. Much of this exposed strata was created under-water millions of years ago.

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman, visited this majestic landscape. He was so in awe of its overwhelming splendor that he established the area as a national preserve on November 28, 1906.

This national park is amongst the world's most famous visitor destinations, bringing in more than five million tourists every year. Small planes and helicopters offer great choices for touring the National Park. They can supply breathtaking views of the most inaccessible areas. Many tours also offer souvenir DVDs of the vistas seen.

Grand Canyon airlines provides lots of exciting opportunities to explore this national treasure. Since its creation as a national preserve in 1906, it has drawn and fascinated many local as well as global visitors. In addition to regularly scheduled tours, there are numerous of charter flights offered. Some companies run ultra-quiet aircraft, and offer tours of Sedona and Monument Valley, in addition to the incredible canyon.

Mr. Plunket is a world traveler who enjoys writing about all things Grand Canyon. He uses this Grand Canyon airplane tours website whenever he plans to fly the canyon.