Grand Canyon and the Colorado River, Arizona, United States

One grand view. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, United States

Big, bold and impossible to ignore, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, United States, is one of those places that rewrites your sense of scale. Carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, this vast chasm exposes nearly two billion years of Earth's history in layers of red, gold and brown rock. Long before it gained national park status in 1919, Indigenous communities such as the Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo and Hualapai lived on and cared for this landscape. How many places can claim stories that old?

The river winds for hundreds of kilometres through the canyon, quietly shaping cliffs and hidden side valleys. Along the South Rim, California condors soar overhead, while elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep roam between forests and desert margins. Clear winter air sharpens views by day and reveals star-filled skies after dark.

Watching from home? Live webcams from the National Park Service bring shifting light, weather and sunrise moments straight to your screen. Some wonders travel far.