Grand Canyon Greenway: Getting Greenways on the Ground with
Public-Private Partnerships (P04-0471)

**[Authored by:]{.underline}**

Charles A. Flink, FASLA, RLA

President

Greenways Incorporated

5850 Fayetteville Road, Suite 211

Durham, NC 27713

<chuck.flink@greenways.com>

[www.greenways.com](http://www.greenways.com/)

**[Overview]{.underline}**

Designated as a World Heritage Site in 1979, Grand Canyon National Park
is one of the most popular destinations in the world. More than 5.5
million people from every corner of the globe visit the north and south
rims of the canyon to take a moment and gaze over the sheer cliffs. In
the next 10 years, the number of visitors will eclipse the 7 million
mark. The popularity of this natural wonder has overwhelmed the
infrastructure of roads, lodging and viewshed areas that were
established by the United States Government during the 1930's, 40's and
50's.

Today, the National Park Service (NPS) is faced with a serious problem
\-- how to accommodate the ever growing number of people who want to
have an opportunity to experience the exhilaration of their first view.
The vast majority of the modern park was laid out and developed when
park visitation was less than 1 million. In 1995, the NPS completed a
"General Management Plan" for the National Park. Among the many
recommendations of this Plan is a set of major infrastructure reforms
for the north and south rims.

Based on current and future estimated usage rates during peak seasons,
visitors face an experience which can be unsatisfying, disappointing,
and potentially hazardous. Traffic flow is slow, and congested at
overlooks; vehicle noise damages the natural solitude of the experience;
poor air quality diminishes the visual experience; and visitor
facilities were designed for lower capacities. The result can be only
brief 'drive-by' experiences for many visitors, if not actual conflicts
between them.

Under a traditional remedy, roads would be extended, parking lots
expanded and service facilities developed in order to accommodate the
needs of increased visitation. To accomplish this at the National Park
would further degrade the visitation experience and destroy the natural
landscape that makes the canyon popular.

The NPS determined that the best method for accommodating the crush of
visitors would be to diversify the transportation system, and offer a
wider range of experiences at the rims. To accomplish this without
restricting visitation, both a new transit system and a Greenway would
need to be established along the rims. The Greenway, primarily a
transportation facility consisting of bicycle and pedestrian trails,
would extend from Desert View to Hermit's Rest, a distance of
approximately 25 miles on the South Rim; and from the Grand Canyon Lodge
to Cape Royal, approximately 22 miles on the North Rim.

The Grand Canyon Greenway represents a significant change from the
Park's existing "drive your car to the scenic view." It is a balanced
approach that replaces unsightly parking lots and traffic congestion
with a quiet, enjoyable and environmentally beneficial visitor
experience. This project will return the north and south rim's to places
where visitors are amazed by the view, not frustrated by overcrowded
conditions.

**[The Greenway Partnership]{.underline}**

In the winter and summer of 1997, a team of leading greenway designers
was invited by the Grand Canyon National Park Foundation and the Grand
Canyon National Park Superintendent to assist the Park in carrying out
its Greenway mission. Provided with a definition of the problems facing
the north and south rims of Grand Canyon National Park, the all
volunteer, private-sector Greenway Team worked with the Superintendent,
staff of the National Park Service and the Grand Canyon National Park
Foundation to develop a plan of action for implementing the "Grand
Canyon Greenway."

The objectives of the Partnership were to redesign and redefine the
visitor's experience to both better protect the resource, and to better
manage visitation throughout the resource. The work of the volunteer
team hinged on redesigning the transportation system to resolve traffic
problems while enhancing the natural solitude for visitors, so that they
may experience the true grandeur of the setting. The team felt that it
was important to provide opportunities for quiet, reflective, and very
personal experiences, and to allow an individual to choose how to
explore and enjoy the canyon, from hiking canyon trails, walking the
rim, and visiting overlooks by bicycle, to using quiet, clean transit to
reach their destinations. The team also recognized that the amount of
visitation, for example at Mather Point, no longer provides opportunity
for private automobiles to be the primary element of this experience.

The greenway partnership's solutions for the Grand Canyon Greenway
focused on the following key elements:

• An interpretive welcome center that offers the visitor a variety of
clear and enticing ways to enjoy their visit.

• An improved pedestrian environment and continuity from Mather Point to
Grand Canyon Village, and from Grand Canyon Lodge to the new
transportation center at CC Hill.

• An expanded bicycle and pedestrian trail system that provides
alternative transportation along a 72-mile system of proposed trails.

• Availability of bicycles, skates, strollers and wheelchairs for
visitors at reasonable costs.

• Access for all visitors and clear trail markers and signs.

• Enhanced interpretive opportunities, including unique information
kiosks/checkpoints along the rim trails that would encourage greater
visitor exploration.

• High quality, accessible transit to serve visitors.

**[Understanding the User/Visitor]{.underline}**

The partnership began its work by defining the broad range of user
groups and visitors that currently access and enjoy the resources of the
Park. Most visitors arrive at the Park after a considerable journey of 4
to 6 hours. Many arrive by tour bus, and are off-loaded at a view-point
parking lot. They travel by foot for 10 to 15 minutes to an observation
area, where the National Park Service estimates that they spend 10 to 15
minutes absorbing the awesome viewshed. They are then usually herded
back onto buses and are driven to another observation point where the
experience is repeated. Many of these visitors have paid a considerable
sum of money for this experience, and therefore the desire is to see as
many observation points as possible. The Team defined this visitor
experience a "Kodak moment," an opportunity to have a picture taken to
prove that you in fact were at the canyon.

A great number of visitors also arrive by private automobile and have a
similar experience as that previously described for tour bus visitors.
The difference is that their private car transports them to the various
viewsheds. When thousands of these visitors attempt to enjoy the same
experience on the same summer day, the congestion among tour busses and
automobiles chokes the Park Service roads, parking lots and facilities.

The Team felt that the most significant problem facing the South Rim
area was the fact that visitors were dependent on the automobile or tour
bus in order to have a successful visitation. At the North Rim, better
access by foot trails is offered. The Team determined that the Greenway,
as a non-motorized transportation corridor, could disperse the crush of
visitors into a number of different travel choices, and then begin to
offer a diverse range of visitation experiences from a peaceful
contemplative experience at the canyon rim, to a family bike ride along
a wide and well marked trail system, to an interpretive tour of the
desert landscape.

**[Recommended Greenway Facilities]{.underline}**

The partnership determined that the future Grand Canyon Greenway will
beckon visitors to step out of their buses and autos and become more
intimate with the Canyon. The Greenway will offer visitors more than
just a view from the rim. The Greenway will offer a choice in access and
sensory experience. The Greenway will also accommodate backpackers,
equestrians, in-line skaters, strollers and people with disabilities.
There will be places for large groups of people to congregate as well as
places to get away and find solitude.

The Greenway system will link together and provide non-motorized access
to virtually all of the north and south Rim's key destinations and
attractions. It will be a way to move along the Canyon edge in relative
solace, a way to experience the sights, scents and sounds of the gorge
and the high desert with places to stop and rest and to learn about the
geology, ecology and culture of the Grand Canyon. The greenway will also
provide convenient links to the existing trails along the rim and trails
that go into and across the Canyon.

Trails will be developed as 10 and 12 foot wide, all weather treads that
support access and use by all people regardless of their ability. In
fact, accessibility will be one of the hallmark features of the Grand
Canyon Greenway. All trails will be constructed to exemplary standards
for outdoor accessibility. Rest areas, tread surface and signage will
all be incorporated to aid travel by people with varying ability.

**[Fiscal Objectives of the Greenway Project]{.underline}**

The partnership determined that completion of the Grand Canyon Greenway
system would require a total of \$45 million of new public and private
investment. To date, more than \$6.5 million has been raised and
utilized by the partnership in developing early phases of the project.
Funding partners for the project have included, to date, the Nina Mason
Pulliam Charitable Trust (which made a gift of more than \$1million for
project development), American Airlines, the Dr. Scholl Foundation, the
Haiman Foundation, Bicycles Belong, the National Park Service and the US
Department of Transportation.

# Accomplishments to Date

In May 1999, the Greenway was selected by the Clinton Administration as
one of the first National Millennium Trails in the United States.
Millennium Trails are defined as "*Visionary trails which reflect
defining aspects of America's history and culture*." First Lady, Hillary
Rodham Clinton described the Grand Canyon Greenway as a trail that will
"reconnect us to our own country, so that visitors will know what it
looks like, and what it smells like" without the intrusion of
automobiles and buses.

Construction of the first two phases of the Greenway began in the fall
of 1999 and continued through 2000, 2001 and 2002. The Phase 1 trail
extends along the south rim of the canyon from an existing overlook at
Yavapai to the overlook at Pipe Springs, a distance of more than 2
miles. In August 2001, Superintendent Joe Alston and Interior Secretary
Gale Norton cut a ribbon to declare the first phase of the greenway
officially open for public use. In June 2002, on National Trails Day,
the partnership cut a ribbon and opened the second phase of the
Greenway. The Phase 2 trail extends from the Canyon View Information
Plaza, near Mather Point, to the Grand Canyon Village, a distance of
about 2.5 miles.

Currently, Phase 3 of the Greenway is under construction. The Phase 3
trail will extend 7 miles, and will link the Canyon View Information
Plaza to the town of Tusayan, Arizona, just south of the Park. This is a
significant trail that will enable future park visitors to bike or hike
into the park on the dedicated greenway system. The Phase 3 trail
follows the original historic park entrance road that was abandoned many
years ago.

Additionally, work has begun on the development of the Greenway on the
North Rim. Phase 4 of the Greenway will extend more than 2 miles and
will link the Grand Canyon Lodge to the popular North Kaibab Trailhead.

# Influence of the Partnership

In the six years since the partnership between the Greenway Team, Grand
Canyon National Park Foundation and Grand Canyon National Park began,
more than 4.5 miles of new all-weather trail has been added to the Park.
The partnership has been successful in raising private sector funds to
support project development work within a National Park, specifically
targeted to Greenway development. The Greenway has already begun to
serve its intended purpose and provides off-road linkage between major
tourist destinations within the Park. The tourists at the Park have
embraced the Greenway and value the improved accessibility between
points of interest, lodging facilities, and the Grand Canyon Village.
Congressional representatives in Arizona have been fully supportive of
the project, and continue to lobby for increased funding to support
future Greenway development objectives. The partnership has garnered
numerous awards for its work, including: the 2001 Harvey Bell Memorial
Award from the Western Trail Builders Association, the 2002 American
Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award and the 2002 National
Accessibility Leadership Award from the National Park Service.

The Grand Canyon Greenway has been as popular and successful as
originally envisioned. The process and products that have been developed
can and should be emulated by other National Parks.