The Grand Canyon National Park is visited by over 5 million travelers every year. It has been an official national monument since 1908. It took almost 6 million years to create this big ol’ hole in the ground too. The truth is this ever-changing landscape is still moving and morphing due to the steady direction to the mighty Colorado River.

Your roving writer (and anyone else who has hiked the canyon rim to rim) can tell you the area offers more than an athletic challenge. Here you’ll find five different tribes of Indians, 30 amphibians and reptiles, 70 species of mammals, and 250 species of birds. Indeed there are many things to see and do in and near the Grand Canyon. Here are nine of them.

1. Grand Canyon Village Historic District

Travel back through the mists of time to the early 1900s. Visit the Grand Canyon Village Historic District and learn about the town when it was still only starting to take shape. Today this is the heart of tourism at the Grand Canyon.

If you’re interested in the dominant influences of the Native Americans, visit the Kolb Studio and the Hopi House. Travel east of Grand Canyon Village and you will discover the popular visitor center. Here you can check out a huge 3-D map on the canyon’s experiences known as The Canyon World.

Here you can pick up a lot of fun facts. For example, did you know that the Grand Canyon itself is larger than the entire state of Rhode Island? (Cool, huh?)