Grand Canyon NP--Point Imperial

Tips for Birding

In-depth information is found on the Grand Canyon National Park website.

About this Location

At 8,803 feet, Point Imperial is the highest of the North Rim overlooks, and the northernmost, presenting a rather different panorama than that of the other two popular viewing locations further south (Cape Royal and Bright Angel Point). Imperial sits high above the region where the Grand Canyon first takes on its characteristic wide, branched appearance, since just to the north, the cliffs on either side of the Colorado are relatively close (a mile or less), and from here 50 river miles north to the official start of the canyon at Lees Ferry, the gorge is mostly unbranched and more conventional in dimensions.

Imperial is linked to the Cape Royal highway by a bendy side road, which climbs the narrow, partly wooded valley of upper Bright Angel Creek, past a few meadows and open grassy hillsides, ending after 2.6 miles at a circular parking area beside the point. A fire track (open to hiking only) continues a few miles further north along the rim to an intersection with Kaibab National Forest road FR 610 and the Nankoweap Trail. Much of the surrounding pine forest has been quite badly burnt in recent wildfires, allowing new groves of aspen to spring up. From the Imperial Point carpark, a very short trail descends a little to the flat rocks of the overlook, protected by railings because the land falls away vertically on three sides. The views are extensive and varied, encompassing the Echo and Vermilion Cliffs, the upper Colorado canyon (Marble Gorge), the dead flat, treeless plateau east of the river, and a large area of buttes and cliffs downstream to the south. This is a good location for watching a Grand Canyon sunset, owing to a number of tributary ravines visible, and the high elevation.

Of the many named topographic features in view, most prominent to the north is Boundary Ridge and its central peak Saddle Mountain – the ridge forms a divide between the flatter, desert land further north and the uneven cliff, canyon & mesa country to the south. The Nankoweap Trail runs across the lower slopes of the ridge, on its 14-mile, 6,000-foot descent to the river. Below the escarpment, the first multi-branched side canyon is that of Nankoweap Creek, the upper end of which is enclosed between various ridges and spires, including Mount Hayden, Hancock Butte, and Alsap Butte.

About Grand Canyon National Park

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Grand Canyon is considered one of the finest examples of arid-land erosion in the world. Incised by the Colorado River, the canyon is immense, averaging 4,000 feet deep for its entire 277 miles. It is 6,000 feet deep at its deepest point and 18 miles at its widest. However, the significance of Grand Canyon is not limited to its geology.

The Park contains several major ecosystems. Its great biological diversity can be attributed to the presence of five of the seven life zones and three of the four desert types in North America.

The five life zones represented are the Lower Sonoran, Upper Sonoran, Transition, Canadian, and Hudsonian. This is equivalent to traveling from Mexico to Canada.

The Park also serves as an ecological refuge, with relatively undisturbed remnants of dwindling ecosystems (such as boreal forest and desert riparian communities). It is home to numerous rare, endemic (found only at Grand Canyon), and specially protected (threatened or endangered) plant and animal species.

Over 1,500 plant, 355 bird, 89 mammalian, 47 reptile, 9 amphibian, and 17 fish species are found in the park.

Content from Official Website and Grand Canyon National Park website

Grand Canyon Panorama Map