Tusayan Prepares for the 4th of July
June 29, 2015
Tusayan's 4th of July Celebration is honoring the Grand Canyon National Park's founding fathers.
As part of this year's 4th of July celebration, Tusayan will be celebrating four American Presidents that greatly affected Grand Canyon National Park: Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnston & Gerald Ford.
The event is sponsored by the Grand Canyon Chamber and Visitor;s Bureau.
The parade begins at noon and the entries will start lining up at 11:30. The party will be from 12:30-5pm on the paved parking lot in-between the IMAX and RP’s Stage Stop.
There is also a Kids Zone with games. races and a bike decorating contest. Local vendors will be serving up traditional 4th of July food and the band Exit 64 will be playing.
The celebration is a 37 year tradition for Tusayan.
Meanwhile the Grand Canyon National Park is expecting record-breaking crowds.
The Park has seen a 20 percent increase in visitation this year, compared to 2014.
The Parks Service says traffic regularly backs up at all entrance stations, with the longest wait time between 9 am and 4 pm.
Visitors can also expect parking lots, especially at Grand Canyon Visitor Center, to start reaching capacity by 10 am.
The park encourages visitors to leave their vehicles in Tusayan and use the park and ride shuttle. The Tusayan Route provides shuttle service between the gateway community of Tusayan and the national park. Leaving every 20 minutes from 8 am to 9:45 pm, the bus makes four stops in Tusayan before dropping passengers off at Grand Canyon Visitor Center, where visitors can then access trails, viewpoints, and in-park shuttle bus routes.
Visitors riding the Tusayan Route must present a valid park entrance pass when boarding the bus and can purchase passes at six locations in Tusayan.