Everything is better if it is told a certain way. For example, movies make places, love, and people look better. Stories have a way of explaining complex, unfortunate, or happy events in a simple way that everyone can relate.
There are some places, though, that just need to be seen to be believed and felt. Stefanie Payne, author of the travelogue "A Year in the National Parks: The Greatest American Road Trip", says simply, “There will never be a photograph of the Grand Canyon that can adequately describe its depth, breadth, and true beauty.” The Grand Canyon is truly one of these places. Stepping up to it, so many thoughts go through one's mind - of existence, gratitude, peace.
At Grand Canyon National Park, the South Rim is the popular site to visit. In the summertime, it is packed with people. Though one will feel the magnitude of the area, it will be felt with hundreds of others at the same time. So coming to visit in the winter, though cold and sometimes treacherous travel (be sure to check the weather report beforehand), the south rim has plenty to do and a quiet environment to enjoy it. Trailer Village RV Park, the only RV park in the National Park with full hookups, is open year round and walking distance to a lot of what the South Rim has to offer - including Mather Point, the place where most folks first gaze into the Grand Canyon.
"The park is really quiet this time of year so we get folks that are really dedicated to seeing the Grand Canyon," says Michelle Hansen, Webstore and Visual Merchandising Coordinator for Delaware North at Grand Canyon. Trailer Village, located in Arizona, is perfect for RVers that want to stop and see the grandeur of the Grand Canyon South Rim. "We have camper services, like showers, washers, portable water and more, for RVers and we operate the Yavapai Lodge that is in close proximity to the Village, too," Hansen says. In the winter, it is also a great time to come and see a lot of the history of Grand Canyon Village that is easily accessible from the RV park.
Hermits Rest Arch built for Hermit Trail at the South Rim of Grands Canyon.
Grand Canyon Village Historic District was built as a way to bring tourism to the South Rim. It was originally built around the Grand Canyon Railway. Instrumental in building up the town was the Fred Harvey Company, a company designed to cater to railroad customers, especially in the west. There is a lot of history to discuss in terms of the village, but foremost is the work done by architect Mary Jane Colter.
Colter was one of very few female architects in the early 1920s. She called St Paul, Minnesota her childhood home and once received some drawings of Native American Sioux art, something that would influence and inspire her future work. She taught architecture after attending the university for a few years, before starting to work for the Fred Harvey Company full time in 1910. According to one article, "Colter worked in often rugged conditions to complete 21 landmark hotels, commercial lodges, and public spaces for the Fred Harvey Company." The foremost of these are in the Grand Canyon Village Historic District.
Motorhome in snow at Trailer Village RV Park. [Photo by Delaware North]
First, there is the Hopi House, commissioned by the Fred Harvey Company in 1904. Colter studied 10,000 year old pueblo dwellings in Arizona to design the house, which was originally meant as a living museum of art for Hopi Native Americans to live, work, and sell their art. The House has Colter's touch as an interior designer. She did not design, but did decorate the famous El Tovar Hotel, also inside the village.
Next is Hermit’s Lodge, built in 1914. It is a structure built to look like it’s a part of the landscape and built partially underground. It serves as a prime example of incorporating landscape into architecture; a place that the National Historic Landmarks Program says, "has many aspects of a medieval fairytale castle, creating a sense of nostalgia." The Lookout Studio has similar traits, though has three levels, giving it a lot more natural light.
The most famous of her structures in the area, though, is the Desert View Watchtower. It was modeled after research Colter did on ancient Anasazi watchtowers. It is a 70-foot tower, with murals painted by the famous Hopi painter, Fred Kabotie, and, as the National Parks Services says, it’s based on two concentric circles connected with arching forms. The building's exterior features coursed sandstone alternating with bands of colored stone above a rubble base.
The structures, as well as many others in the Village, such as the El Tovar Inn and Bright Angel Lodge, in addition to the relative peace and serenity of the quiet season on the South Rim, make Grand Canyon National Park a great place to visit in the winter months. An added bonus, Hansen tells The Buzz, is that “the Grand Canyon looks particularly beautiful with a coat of snow on it.”