{"id":398,"date":"2020-03-27T13:00:43","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T03:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldheritagejourney.com\/?p=398"},"modified":"2023-12-18T18:48:49","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T08:48:49","slug":"world-heritage-sites-south-west-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldheritagejourney.com\/world-heritage-sites-south-west-usa\/","title":{"rendered":"World Heritage Sites of South West USA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The World Heritage Sites of the South West USA are absolutely fantastic. There’s such a great mixture of UNESCO sites here: incredible nature, fascinating culture, and some modern works thrown in as well. It’s a great example of how broad World Heritage Sites can be, as you’ve got some of the world’s most famous locations alongside undiscovered gems. So whip on your sunglasses and grab your broadest-brimmed hat, as we visit the World Heritage Sites of South West USA!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Grand Canyon – World Heritage Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The incomparable Grand Canyon, seen from the South Rim at sunset<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Grand Canyon is one of the most impressive natural formations in the entire world. It’s located in Arizona on ancestral lands of the Hopi, Hualapai, Havasupai, Southern Paiute, and Navajo. The canyon covers an enormous 1.2 million acres (485,000 hectares). Declared a World Heritage Site in 1979, the Canyon itself is absolutely colossal. It’s 450 kilometres from end-to-end, 6 kilometres wide at the narrowest point, stretching out to a yawning 30 kilometres at the widest point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Descending into the Canyon from the South Rim, it’s almost two kilometres straight down to the Colorado River. I also loved the variety in the rock strata as well, tracing the twists and turns of the river as it carved the canyon over millions of years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I originally visited the canyon as a young boy in the early 1990s and it made a distinct impression on me. I’m happy to report that returning as an adult made just as much of an impression! It really is so majestic that it feels like you’re standing in front of an oil painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But perhaps the best quote is from Teddy Roosevelt, who said after a visit in 1903:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The Grand Canyon fills me with awe. It is beyond comparison\u2014beyond description; absolutely unparalleled through-out the wide world… Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is to keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.” <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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