What is the best way to see the Grand Canyon via RV?

My family will be driving from Phoenix, AZ to Portland, OR for spring break, and I want to take them to see the Grand Canyon....any suggestions?

We were originally thinking about going to the bridge on the "west rim" but sounds like that is a tourist trap.....

p.s. if you know of any good RV sites for overnight camping in the park...Our RV is 36 feet.

If you are going to the Grand Canyon in a 36 foot RV then the south rim is the way to go. The only parking is at the visitor center. There are RV camp sites but you will need to ask them at the visitor center where they are.

Visitors Center on the South rim is about the only place that can accomidate your RV, but my favorite palce is in the bottom looking up!! I stay for 2 weeks at a time!!

Yep... I have been to the SkyWalk at the West Rim (aka Grand Canyon West) and I personally consider it to be a misleading and overpriced tourist trap. Not to mention, it would be very difficult to get a large RV over the bumpy stretch of gravel road near the end and there are no RV camping spots there once you did.

As for the South Rim of the National Park... note that you can't actually park (even in a car) at the main Visitor Center mentioned by the poster above. You have to park at the nearby Mather Point overlook and then walk over to the Visitor Center and Mather Point is one of the most crowded with a 1 hour parking limit (it is often a pain to find a spot even in a regular car). Why they don't put a large parking lot right next to the Visitor Center for day visitors to use is a mystery to me.

If you are planning on spending the night there, then you can actually rent a space at the Grand Canyon Village trailor park inside the park (see link below - make reservations early) and then take the little village shuttle to the lodges and visitor center. If you are not planning on staying the night, than you can park in the large parking lot near the train depot below the lodges (get there early to ensure you find a spot).

Where ever you end up parking, you will definitely want to find a spot and stay parked and then use the free shuttles to get to the different overlooks and attractions. It would be very difficult and unpleasant to try to drive to most of the overlooks in an RV that large and find parking (and many of the overlooks you can't drive to anyways). The one exception is Desertview Point (where the Desert View Watch Tower is located) which is near the Eastern entrance to the park near Cameron. Desertview has a very large parking lot - most of the overlooks that you can drive up to have fairly small parking lots.

Getting back to the free shuttles... there are several shuttle lines. One is the transportation one that runs between the campground, the visitor center, the little shopping center area, the lodges and the above mentioned trailer park - you can use it to get to different facilities. There is another free sightseeing shuttle that runs from the lodges west along the edge of the rim toward Hermits Rest and back. The driver talks about the canyon and you can get on and off at various overlooks along the way - this is an easy and excellent way to take in a lot of views and get a good intro to the canyon.

The area around the lodges itself is pretty nice as is the little rim trail that runs along the rim from Yavapai Point to the lodges and all the way out to Hermit Rest. Just sitting along the rim behind the lodges, enjoying an ice cream cone from the Bright Angel snack bar and watching the ravens play can be nice. Also don't miss all the interesting historic buildings around the lodge area either like the grand 1905 El Tovar lodge, the Hopi House gift shop, Kolb photo studio and Lookout Studio.

You should try to stop by the historic Verkamps Curio shop along the rim near Hopi House - it has been run by the same family since 1905, but will be permanently closing this summer - it is your last chance to visit an important part of the canyon's history.

Have fun!

This is a weird idea that I just came up with that might actually work better .Rather than taking the RV up into the Park proper use a campground in Flagstaff that's reasonably close to the airport -FLG-Rent a car for forty bucks a day and explore the Park at will .My best guess is that the savings in gas alone will pay for the cost of the rental
There is also the issue of snow to consider at that time of year .The Park roads especially East Rim Drive going out to Desert View [which you have to do bc Lipan Point is one of the best places to see the Canyon ] are narrow and tend to get icy after a snow storm