Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Get Adobe Flash Player

South Rim

Standing here at Lipan Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, you may feel overwhelmed by the vastness of the landscape and unable to imagine that humans could live in such an environment. Yet, for thousands of years, humans have made the canyon their home. Many modern Native American people consider the canyon to be part of their ancestral homelands.

Due to the canyon’s desert climate and the challenges of traveling through this harsh land, most people lived either along the river, near dependable water sources in side canyons, on the rims, or elsewhere where they found a favorable environment. The Colorado River offered a steady source of water and broad, level terraces on which to build their homes and grow their corn, beans, and squash. About a thousand years ago, ancestral Puebloan people lived in small communities in this section of the canyon.

The canyon is wide at river level here, and trails connect the inner canyon to both the North and South Rims. Today’s Tanner Trail starts here at Lipan Point, following an ancient route from the rim to the river. This route, and others like it, was likely used by the people who lived at the sites you will visit during the virtual tour. To see this or any other virtual site in full screen, just hover your mouse over the tool bar in the bottom of the rotating window and choose the box on the right. You can then press the "esc" button to return to standard size window.