Tent Talk

Mather Campground is the main campground on the West Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, located right outside Grand Canyon Village. With over 300 sites, Mather is one of the biggest campgrounds we’ve been to, but it’s usually full every single night, and is open year-round. We’ve already been to Mather twice, once in the heart of winter and again in the peak of summer. This review will focus on what the campground is like in the summer, but check out the video below of our winter trip, where we stayed the first night at Mather before backpacking through the canyon. As you can see, the campground is open year round, although there are only a few loops open during the winter months. The campground sits at just a few hundred feet below 7,000ft., so prepare for biting cold and snow in the winter, with more moderate summer temperatures usually around the 70-80’s. The main attraction here is tent camping. RV’s are welcome, but there are no hookups inside the campground, although Trailer Vill

A Grand Canyon Winter Adventure The Chronicle  Written by: Thomas Berry ---            I left Phoenix around nine in the morning, throwing my pack and boots in the back of my Jeep. Already late, I had a stop at Target and then a good three hours of driving ahead of me to make it up to the park by twelve. At Target I grabbed an insulating layer jacket on sale for thirty-five bucks, then changed into my long johns and snow pants in the parking lot, slipping my wool socks over the thin polyester of the white base layer before pulling my boots tightly over the socks. Fifteen minutes later I was heading north on the I-17, mentally as well as physically unprepared for the four days to come.            The drive to the rim was a long one. Nearly two hours down the I-17 and the scenery had transformed into something only out of winter. Desert became snow. The highway became ice. Even my Jeep had changed in line with the weather, its engine shivering and coughing thro