No this is not a Seinfeld routine, it’s just time to set the record straight for everyone about temperatures in the Grand Canyon during the year.

First, the temperature at the bottom of the canyon is hotter than the temperature on either rim.  Many people I speak with maybe think that the canyon is like a cave or cavern or maybe they remember from school that cold air sinks and hot air rises. Whatever the reasoning used, the fact remains that the canyon is too large for this to happen.

Think of hiking in the Grand Canyon as hiking a mountain in reverse. I remember when I lived back east, I would head to the mountains to escape the summer heat and find cooler temps. When you hike the Canyon, you are starting out at over 7,000 ft in elevation on the South Rim and over 8,000 in elevation on the North Rim and you eventually descend to about 2400 ft when you reach the Colorado River at the canyon bottom.  That’s alot of drop off which creates a large swing in temperatures, as much as 30 F degrees difference.

Second, the temperatures at the bottom of the canyon make it difficult to camp during the summer months at a time when all the kids are off from school and you’d like to take them for a camping trip. Temps during the Summer can easily reach 110 F during the day and makes for sweaty nights sleeping. On the other hand, the average temperatures in the late fall and early spring aren’t too bad. Winter can still be cold and there will be snow on the South Rim but the experience of hiking the Grand Canyon in snow is absolutely amazing. For information on the average temperatures and rainfall, check out this chart from the National Park Service.

View of Indian Garden from the Bright Angel Trail

Finally, where can you find the updated forecast for the inner Grand Canyon as well as the rims? The Grand Canyon National Park website has a page with links to the weather forecast from NOAA. To find the weather for the bottom of the canyon, click on the link for Phantom Ranch.

Hopefully this clears up some of the confusion about temps and weather in the canyon. There is no place like it on earth and I guess it only makes sense that the weather should be unique as well.