Grand Canyon Facts
Grand Canyon is so large that familiar measurements can be hard to picture. These current National Park Service statistics provide a useful sense of scale—and a few facts visitors often get wrong.
1,218,375 acres
Grand Canyon National Park covers about 1,904 square miles, or 4,931 square kilometers.
278 river miles
The Colorado River runs for roughly 278 miles through Grand Canyon National Park.
Up to 18 miles wide
The canyon averages about 10 miles from rim to rim and reaches a maximum width of roughly 18 miles.
About a mile deep
Average depth is approximately one mile. Elevation changes between the river and high rims create dramatic differences in temperature, vegetation and weather.
South Rim: ~7,000 feet
The South Rim’s average elevation is about 7,000 feet above sea level, while the North Rim averages around 8,000 feet.
A river about 300 feet wide
Within the park, the Colorado averages roughly 300 feet wide and 40 feet deep, though both measurements vary substantially by location.
More than size alone
Grand Canyon became a national park in 1919, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, a Globally Important Bird and Biodiversity Area in 2013, and an International Dark Sky Park in 2019. Current NPS statistics list about 450 bird species, 91 mammal species and 1,737 vascular plant species.
Scale Beyond the Headline Facts
The familiar one-mile-deep and 18-mile-wide figures only hint at the canyon’s scale. A few additional National Park Service measurements make the river corridor and the rim-to-river drop easier to picture.
600 feet
At Marble Canyon, the minimum canyon width listed by the National Park Service is about 600 feet.
85 feet
The Colorado River’s greatest listed depth within the park is about 85 feet, compared with an average depth of roughly 40 feet.
7 feet per mile
The Colorado drops an average of about seven feet per river mile through Grand Canyon National Park.
2,400 feet
Phantom Ranch sits near 2,400 feet above sea level, far below both developed rims.
A few facts worth correcting
Grand Canyon is not simply one overlook, one rim or one entrance. Grand Canyon West is not part of Grand Canyon National Park. Havasupai is a separate tribal destination requiring its own reservation. The North and South Rims may look close across the canyon, but driving between them requires a long trip around the canyon.