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Your Northern Arizona Outdoor News Source

Trail of Time

If you’ve ever fancied a stroll through the epochs, the Grand Canyon’s Trail of Time is your ticket to a geological time machine. It’s a trail that doesn’t just meander across the landscape but also through the annals of time, offering a history lesson written not in ink, but in stone.

A Journey Through the Ages

The adventure begins with a step back in time – quite literally. Each footfall on the Trail of Time is a leap through millennia. You start in the present and, before you know it, you’re hobnobbing with rocks formed before dinosaurs had even thought of making an appearance. If that’s not a party, I don’t know what is.

Nature’s History Book

The Canyon’s layers are like the pages of a history book, each stratum revealing a period where the Earth was busy with its grand designs. As I walk, I’m struck by the sheer audacity of time – it’s not just a concept here; it’s a tangible, visible thing. You’re walking alongside history, and history, it seems, is quite the companion.

Rocky Revelations

As the trail unfolds, the rocks change – from the pebbly, youthful Kaibab limestone to the grand, ancient Vishnu schist. It’s like moving from reading a paperback to a leather-bound tome, the kind you’d find in an old library with a musty smell and a sense of secrets.

Contemplating Time

Ambling along, I can’t help but ponder. Here, in the Grand Canyon, time isn’t just a ticking clock; it’s a story, an artist, and perhaps a bit of a show-off. The vastness of it all makes my usual day-to-day worries seem, well, a bit trivial. Suddenly, forgetting to buy milk doesn’t seem like such a big deal.

The Trail’s End: A Modern Return

Reaching the end of the trail, I’m back in the present, but with a newfound appreciation for the past. The journey along the Trail of Time isn’t just a walk; it’s an odyssey, a chance to commune with the ages, to see the world as it was, long before we arrived on the scene.

In Conclusion

So, if you ever find yourself on this remarkable trail, take a moment to stop, to look, and to listen. The rocks have stories to tell, and they’ve been waiting a long time to share them. And, as always, carry water – time travel, it turns out, is thirsty work.

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Links and more info

Brief Description

The Trail of Time is a great hike in the Grand Canyon. It is part of what is referred to as the “Rim Trail”.

The entire “Rim Trail” is approximately 13 miles stretching from the South Kaibab Trailhead to Hermits Rest. The Trail of Time is approximately 2.83 miles, is paved and mostly flat, and each meter walked represents 1 million years of geologic history of the Grand Canyon. The portion of the trail between Yavapai Point and the Village is approximately 1.3 miles.

Rim hikes at the Grand Canyon are a great way to experience more of the Grand Canyon, without venturing below the rim. There is no other hike completely conducted on mostly level terrain anywhere in the world which will afford wondrous views of this caliber with every step.

The Trail of Time is an interpretive walking trail that focuses on Grand Canyon’s vistas and rocks, encouraging visitors to ponder, explore, and understand the magnitude of geologic time and the stories told by canyon rock layers and landscapes.

It is a walking timeline that takes the visitor on a stroll back through geological eras, inviting one to consider and further understand the origins, and the massive undertaking that is the Grand Canyon. With regularly spaced intervals, cement ground markers indicate the timeline and geological eras, while above ground, explanations and descriptions of what the hiker is observing, along with examples of the rocks being explained for their up close inspection, giving personal perspective to the billions of years required for such a magnificent natural wonder to unfold.

Getting There

WHERE TO START THE TRAIL OF TIME

You can start the Trail of Time at several different locations. If you start at the Yavapai Geology Museum/Yavapai Point and walk WEST, you will be covering the history from the most recent to the oldest. If you start in the Village, you will be covering the history from the oldest to the most recent.

  • YAVAPAI POINT-GEOLOGY MUSUEM
    Parking is available at this location AND the ORANGE SHUTTLE BUS Route serves this location.
  • VERKAMPS VISITOR CENTER
    Parking is available at this location and the BLUE SHUTTLE BUS Route serves this location.
  • PARK HEADQUARTERS
    Parking is available at this location and the BLUE SHUTTLE BUS Route serves this location.

Links

Trail of time Overview

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