Welcome, Wonderful Person, to Canyon Dave's

Grand Canyon Tours

"Understand more...enjoy more"

"Canyon Dave is a Grand Canyon legend...taking people on the most informative tours of Grand Canyon available." -Quoted from Insiders' Guide to Grand Canyon

Our Guides at "Work"

Benefits of Canyon Dave Tours

“In the end, …we will love only what we understand…” –Baba Dioum

Show Details

Any Grand Canyon adventure will leave you smiling. But will you smile when you get back home? Will you recall? Your Canyon Dave guide will give you glossy take-home handouts which help you remember the cool things you learned here!

We use hands-on techniques like passing around rock specimens of Grand Canyon. You will delight in learning the igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks present in Grand Canyon's layers. We focus on enrichment so that you will understand the key information.

The more you immerse yourself in the world of the Grand Canyon (or of anything!), the more you will personally grow. African forester Baba Dioum said, “In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”

But Canyon Dave still wasn't satisfied...
"Wait a minute," he said. "Our tours must do justice to this World Wonder! We must create a tour that tells how the Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon into this flat Kaibab Plateau. Visitors will want to know how we date the rocks--how we know how old they are. This tour needs to explain the Canyon's discovery and exploration, and how it became a national park. The tour must be enriching and fun, worthy of the grand landscape we will explore!"

Sitting near the edge of the abyss, he thought and thought about how to design such a tour. "How can I help them understand the Great Unconformity and the ancient seabed that became the Tonto Platform? How will they glimpse the march of geologic time through the unimaginable ages? And what are the highlights of the Grand Canyon's human history?"

His answer is the:

Best Grand Canyon Tours

Only CANYON DAVE TOURS has Any of These:

• A fascinating Sit-at-the-Rim Geology Talk with pass-around rocks of Grand Canyon.


• A "Portable Museum" of Show-and-Tell Native American, Botanical, and Geological items plus a relief map so you will know where you are!


• Free colorful Nature and Geology flyers along with free snacks and beverages on board.


• Passionate guides taught by 'Canyon Dave' Thayer, an Arizona Geology Professor, author of Grand Canyon books, and Museum Curator. Canyon Dave has over 30 years of touring experience.


• Everyone gets a window seat in an air-conditioned van with a flyer for "Things to do after your tour."


• A Tripadvisor Number One Rated Tour of Grand Canyon. We received their Heart Award for our 5-star reviews!

Canyon Dave Tours has very small groups: 9 guests maximum per 15-passenger tour van. Of course, all your National Park fees are paid. We are fully insured, and we are licensed by the Grand Canyon National Park. We are authorized and inspected by the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Unlike a jeep, in our comfortable air-conditioned vans you seniors will have no ladder to climb up and down. Everyone will have a roomy window seat because of our 9 guests per tour van.

On our popular Ultimate Full Day Tour, your lunch is included.

If any or all of this appeals to you, you simply must join us!

Canyon Dave Tours Reviews

In May, 2024, Walter W. said:

"Canyon Dave Tours - Top Notch adventure!!"

We had an amazing experience on our Grand Canyon Tour provided by Canyon Dave Tours, Inc. Our guide, Leonor, was the best. She is so knowledgeable about the area and went the extra mile to explain to us what we were seeing and many legends of the Canyon.

They operate a small van that picks you up and returns you to your hotel. With a minimum amount of guests on the tour makes it feel very personal. Our guide provided us with snacks, water and lunch at one of the lodges at the canyon.

She took us to all the "highlight" spots in the Canyon and did not make us feel rushed.

We can not say enough about the greatest tour we have ever taken. We travel a lot and have taken many tours in the large buses and those tours do not even come close to the experience we had. I HIGHLY recommend this company and tour, you won't be disappointed. Consider this tour before booking the train up to the canyon, we did both and this one was by far the BEST!!

In June, 2024, Larry K. said:

"Great tour!"

Fantastic tour! Cody really knows his stuff and was an amazing guide! Even the people working at the Park said he was the best guide there! Stopped at all of the best views and learned so much about the making of the canyon.

On June 19, 2024 on Yelp, Cheryl said:

Keaton was a fountain of knowledge on our tour of the Grand Canyon. He was able to tie in the geology, anthropology, and history of Williams and the Grand Canyon. We were fortunate to have seen wildlife along the route, and he was so nice to double-back so we could get better photo opportunities.

Keaton also took extra care to ensure that the little ones on our trip were kept engaged. He helped pick out souvenir rocks and provided extracurricular literature for the youngest of the bunch to read along our route.

"Don't hesitate to book a tour with Dave's Canyon Tours - the experience will be memorable!"

Trip Advisor has more of our awesome testimonials.
We received their Certificates of Excellence
for 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013, and their Heart Award  for our 5-Star reviews.

Secret shoppers from Trafalgar Tours wrote that
The Sit-at-the-Rim Geology Presentation was the best talk
they had ever heard on any tour.

More Notes About Our Tours:

Here is a complete description of the Ultimate Full Day Grand Canyon Tour.

If you would like a Grand Canyon Private Tour, we offer a Special Experience. It is perfect for special-needs seniors and families with very young children.

Cities Near Grand Canyon

Ideas for Where to Stay on your Grand Canyon tour and trip.

Ideas for how to drive to the Grand Canyon--with a map of the region.

Check out our Travel Advice for Grand Canyon Tour and Trip Secrets!

Canyon Dave's Cartoon History tells how and why we started, back in 2,001!