Grand Canyon Secret: North Rim

Show your kids the Grand Canyon without the traffic and crowds...in high summer season? Yes, it's possible! Travel to the less-visited North Rim of the Grand Canyon and enjoy views that will hush even the most jaded, tech-induced teenager into an awe-inspired stupor while beholding one of nature's grandest creations.

We camped at DeMotte Forest Service campground, located on the gorgeous Kaibab Plateau, where fields of wild grasses seem to go on forever, the mule deer graze contentedly and there's even a general store across the road where you can buy s’mores supplies!

The North Rim entrance is only seven miles south of here. Visit the Grand Canyon Lodge first, take in the view from the porch (snag a comfortable rocking chair) or make dinner reservations and enjoy your window table, if you're lucky, in the Dining Room. You may want to stay in a cabin at the Lodge instead of roughing it at a campsite.

We hiked to Point Imperial, where we caught this view of smoke rising from a nearby fire. A somber occasion but part of the experience here, where nature rules above all.