School trips to The Grand Canyon

Why visit the Grand Canyon?

Incredible geography and geology

A school trip to the Grand Canyon, one of the most incredible natural sights in the USA, is ideal for geography groups interested in learning about how natural processes have shaped the world we live in!

The canyon is 277 miles long and was carved out of the rock by the Colorado River and its tributaries over the course of millions of years at the same time as the Colorado Plateau was being uplifted. The Grand Canyon is considered to be one of the finest examples of arid land erosion in the world, making this a really exciting destination for geography groups.

What’s really exciting is that the exposed rock in the canyon tells the geological history of North America and is an incredible record of three of the four eras of geological time!

Unbelievable biodiversity

The Grand Canyon National Park may appear to be a semi-arid, rather empty landscape at first glance, but it does, in fact, contain several major ecosystems with a great level of biodiversity.

This is because the park contains 5 of the 7 lifezones, as well as 3 of the 4 desert types found in North America. This represents a similar level of biodiversity to that which you would find travelling from Mexico to Canada.

The canyon is home to many rare and endemic plant and animal species. In total, there are the park is thought to be home to over 1500 plant species, 355 species of birds and 89 species of mammal, as well as many reptiles, amphibians and fish!

Fascinating history

On your school trip to the Grand Canyon, as well as learning more about its geology, geography and biodiversity, your students will also enjoy learning about the human history here.

People have lived in this area for over 10,000 years and 11 contemporary tribes have cultural links to the Grand Canyon. Many have their own legends regarding the creation of the canyon itself!

As well as learning about the history and culture of the Native American tribes of this area, your students can also discover how some became guides for European explorers in the 16th century.