Accommodations:
A no-frills hotel on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Rooms feature two queen beds, satellite TV, mini fridges, and tea and coffee making facilities.

Location:
Just steps from the canyon itself, and right next door to El Tovar Hotel (in case you want to avail yourself to the most expensive dining in the park). Also convenient to Vercamp’s Visitor Center (where you can pick up your Junior Ranger program materials) and the Rim Trail (a two-mile paved path that will work well for most families  looking to hoof it a little but not a lot).

Sleeps:
2-4 in standard rooms.

Highlights:
The ranger programs here are absolutely amazing! We attended one on the California Condor (there are only 185 living in the wild, and we saw one along the Rim Trail) and one on Mountain Lions.  Also, this is a small thing, but I liked the real coffee mugs in our room. They made a nice break from the usual Styrofoam or paper.

Good to know:
Beg, borrow, or steal a second floor, canyon-side room if at all possible. We had jetlagged Europeans clomping around upstairs and early birds rolling their luggage outside our window at 6am.

Contact:
http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/kachina-thunderbird-410.html

April 18th, 2010 | by Jamie Pearson