The Grand Canyon, Arizona
511 views · Published 6 January 2009 · 4:14 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: Alan Heath · 2009 · Travel & Events
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park — one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery. The canyon was created by the Colorado River over a six million year period. The canyon is 446 km long, ranges in width from 6.4 to 29 km and attains a depth of nearly two kilometres. Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. Prior to European emigration, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site and made pilgrimages to it.
