Grand Canyon for Tourists
There are a few different categories of Grand Canyon websites that I believe are worth mentioning.
Grand Canyon Explorer
No listing of Grand Canyon websites would be doing justice to the reader without due acknowledgement to Grand Canyon Explorer, first and foremost. Since the birth of the internet (okay, actually 1994), this site has been a labor of love (or obsession) for Bob Ribokas, Massachusetts resident and generally recognized Grand Canyon expert.
For years, Grand Canyon Explorer was the home page on my computer. I couldn't wait to see what updates had been added. It was an ever-changing virtual treasure trove of information on Grand Canyon, and the evolution of this website in the mid to late 1990s closely aligned with my own increasing interest and personal experience with the Canyon. Trail descriptions, backcountry tips, an incredible photo collection, and well-known and obscure details of every aspect of the Canyon for any type of tourist made me a frequent visitor to this website.
The website has reached a mature status, which for me means it has lost the excitement I've experienced in previous years. Although Grand Canyon Explorer is still updated on a fairly regular basis, most updates are now trip reports that are written by other contributors. Granted, this website contains everything you need to know (and much more) about Grand Canyon and the Four Corners region, so what is a website to do once it has reached such a peak? For the first-time visitor to Grand Canyon, it is still (and may always be) my first recommendation as an information resource. But the layout could use a bit of freshening, and the menu choices on the front page can make it frustrating to find an answer to a specific question.