National Park Service LogoU.S. Department of the InteriorNational Park ServiceNational Park Service
National Park Service: U.S. Department of the InteriorNational Park Service Arrowhead
 
 
Support the National Park Service
Grand Canyon National ParkViewing Grand Canyon from Shoshone Point
view map
text size:largestlargernormal
printer friendly
Grand Canyon National Park
Flight Into Grand Canyon (Quicktime)
 One of Earth's few landforms visible from space, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River slices through 277 miles of Northwestern Arizona.

While there are certainly deeper canyons, nowhere else on Earth has width, depth and length combined in such a way as to produce anything quite like this breathtaking chasm.

Over the course of 6 million years, the canyon has been carved by the Colorado River. A mile deep, 277 miles long, and up to 18 miles wide, this canyon is like none other.

If the video does not play smoothly,
you may download the file here
(13.7MB MOV File - running time 7:22)
 
This animated flight is the product of a partnership between NASA, the NPS, and the USGS, and is a part of the NPS Views Project created for a soon to be released Grand Canyon geology module.


UNKAR DELTA IN GRAND CANYON  

Did You Know?
In Grand Canyon, the broad, sandy expanse on the north bank of the Colorado River is Unkar Delta, composed of rock debris carried from the North Rim by Unkar Creek. Prehistoric Pueblo people occupied numerous sites on Unkar Delta and along Unkar Creek for about 350 years (A.D. 850 to A.D. 1200)

Disclaimer Accessibility Privacy Policy FOIA Notices USA.gov

Last Updated: April 11, 2008 at 17:07 EST