Grand Canyon Tours with Geology Emphasis

This tour follows the route of the Ultimate Tour, but the focus is on geology. Grand Canyon is a geologic wonder of the world, and for good reasons. Nowhere else is the geology so boldly expressed and so clearly understandable. Missing are the complex folds and faults that challenge geologists elsewhere. The layers of Grand Canyon are stacked horizontally—oldest at the bottom and youngest on top.

On Canyon Dave Tours, we have bags of one-inch specimens from each layer, legally collected outside the park boundaries. You will sit comfortably at the South Rim and examine each specimen. Students will learn the layers, but ultimately more important, will deepen their understanding of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic processes.

Geologic History is so easy to learn when all the strata behave themselves and lie in proper order. The immense span of geologic time stands before you, the world's best and most complete exposure. You will see the metamorphosed Precambrian roots of Arizona's first mountains. Stacked atop like a layer cake, each Paleozoic formation contains the fossils of its time period.


When we drive to the nearby Navajo Reservation, we will have the opportunity to examine the rocks of the Mesozoic Era that are missing at Grand Canyon. We will also see petrified wood scattered on the ground. It came here from Triassic forests, carried by mighty rivers flowing from ancient mountains south and east of here.

Canyon Dave guarantees that he will make this learning fun and memorable for your students. Equally so for anyone who wants to deepen their knowledge of geology.