Grand Canyon was designated a national park by an Act of Congress in 1919.
Beginning at Lees Ferry and ending at Grand Wash Cliffs, Grand Canyon is 277 miles long - (277 miles of river). At its widest point, it's
18 miles across, rim to rim. The North Rim is 10 miles from where I stood on the South Rim to take
the photo below. To get from "here" to "there" on foot requires hiking 22-25 miles, depending on which trails
are used; it's a 5-hour, 215 mile road trip by car!
The Colorado River twists and turns, but runs generally east to west through most of Grand Canyon. Here the river is 2400
feet above sea level. The South Rim is 4600 vertical feet above that,
at an elevation of 7000 feet. Elevation of the North Rim is 8100 feet.
"Bridge" in the photo above is Black Bridge, the one used by both hikers and mules. Phantom Ranch, built in 1922, is the only lodging facility in Grand Canyon National Park located below the rim of the canyon, and the only way to get there is by foot, by mule or by rafting down the Colorado River. Accommodations consist of rustic cabins, or bunk beds in separate dormitories for men and women. Lodging and/or meals at Phantom Ranch must be reserved far ahead; reservations are accepted about a year in advance.
Visitors are free to walk in the canyon and all along the rim. In most places there are no railings or other barriers separating the edge of the rim from the canyon.
Even at designated lookout spots that have parking lots for cars and buses, barriers are not everywhere.
When taking photos where there was no railing between me and the canyon, I stayed a comfortable distance back from the edge!
Anyone wanting to get a closer look at the bottom of the canyon, but not willing to try getting there on foot, should plan months ahead and make a reservation for a mule ride. A one-day mule ride from South Rim takes about seven hours round trip, and descends 3200 feet to Tonto Platform and Plateau Point, which is still more than 1300 feet above the Colorado River. You can see the mule trail in this photo ---
Mule rides all the way to the bottom of the canyon return to the South Rim the following day and include overnight lodging at Phantom Ranch. Mules used for the rides are carefully chosen to meet certain requirements, and then they undergo months and sometimes years of training before they're allowed to transport tourists; guides who lead the mule rides are expert wranglers who know the animals and the canyon well. A mule ride is not an easy way to get to the bottom of the canyon -- just a different way... and apparently also a safe way. Grand Canyon mule rides have had no tourist fatalities in more than a century of operation.