Toroweap Overlook — Attraction in Apple Valley

We took the Toroweap tour for a number of reasons, one was to avoid the crowds even on the more remote North Rim, the second was to take a break from driving and finally to take advantage of Dreamland Safari Tours who were picking up excellent reviews. Normally, we just do our own thing but this was one of the best decisions we have ever made. We were picked up from our hotel in Kanab, there was just 2 of us in the party (my wife Lynn and I) with Dreamland honouring our booking even though they had no other tourists on that particular day. The drive out to Toroweap was wonderful Lynn enjoyed the scenery from the back of the 4 wheel catching sight of some ranchers rounding up cattle, it was a perfect start to a perfect day. The last half hour was real off-road stuff, any thoughts that we could have done this trip solo without Dreamland were squashed at that point. Only take this trip if you are confident with your driving and your 4 wheel drive vehicle.

After a couple of hours we finally came upon the Grand Canyon, even now thinking about it I am still getting goose bumps, initially, although very beautiful it was not quite the jaw dropping experience we were hoping for but... As we parked up and got closer, it was just stunning. The Grand Canyon at Toroweap is beautiful, dramatic, remarkable, picturesque, magnificent & everything we were hoping for.

We went out to Toroweap Overlook and numerous other stunning vistas. One or two of the viewpoints were more dramatic and challenging than others but we only did what we were comfortable with whilst also making sure we made the most of the day. To see the Canyon in such solitude with virtually no other tourists (bar a handful) out at Toroweap was incredible. It just felt right that this awesome natural wonder should be seen and felt without a deluge of tourists. After numerous pictures and a small hike we returned to the 4 wheel for lunch, I have to say as picnic spots go, this was unbeatable.

We finished off the day with a further walk, taking in more views from different points of the canyon we also met up with the Ranger who shared some stories with us and then the journey back to Kanab with our heads full of wonderful memories of a fantastic day out.

We had a fantastic holiday in America taking in Zion, Yosemite, Bishop & the Sierra Nevada's and finishing off in Pacific Grove, Monterey but this is the day that stands out the most and I would not hesitate to recommend...

You MUST have a reservation, and you MUST have a HIGH CLEARANCE 4WD with all terrain tires, period. I rented a Jeep for this trip, and was so glad I did. My normal vehicle is an AWD Honda Ridgeline truck with 7 skidplates and AT tires. But absolutely no way would my truck have made it to the end of this road. You simply MUST have a large amount of ground clearance AND MUST have serious AT tires or you will be very sorry you attempted this road. Subaru? Nope. Any other AWD vehicles (versus true 4WD)? Nope. Don't do it. For real. I'm a guy that likes to push it and takes risks, and my Ridgeline has received strange looks when it climbed some seriously gnarly sections of 4WD required roads, but this one has some large shelves that are punishing and will eat up anything that is not really a good offroad machine.

And note you MUST have a reservation, period. Just do it. But don't drive out there thinking you can talk your way in, because they will have a ranger that greets you and will not let you in if you don't have a reservation.

The location is absolutely beautiful by the way. Stunning. Terrifying. The photos simply don't do it justice. So make your reservation, rent a Jeep (or similar vehicle), and have a blast heading out to this...

Insane view! The canyon is so deep. The road isn’t nearly as bad as every one is making it out to be. We drove a full size all wheel drive van with good offroad tires in the winter through the tail end of a big storm. It was muddy and snow the whole way. None of the mud holes where bottomless. We seemed to dig in and find traction on all of them. A lot of spots needed care and to drive slow through as the ruts in the road wanted to take us in every direction. It took us nearly 2.5 hours each direction. The last part of the road that everyone is complaining about isn’t really that bad. The dirt changes from a road base to slick rock and sandy gravel. With proper navigation of the rocks I feel any vehicle with a better than a passenger car ground clearance could work it’s way to the rim. Being slick rock it offers excellent traction but is bumpy. I think most people feel the road is more difficult cause you need to slowdown compared to the graded road. Also good to note is this section does not get muddy because it’s sandy and slick rock. I checked out the camp ground while i was out there and it was way cool. Super spread out. All in all so amazing. Definitely recommend visiting this location of the...