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Trail of Time Upgrades

Walk 2 billion years of Grand Canyon's geological history.

Trail of time

The Trail of Time is a relatively flat 4.56 km (2.83 mile) long paved walk. It is designed to be a geologic timeline. Each meter walked on the timeline trail signifies one million years of Grand Canyon's geologic history. Walking the trail gives you a visceral appreciation for the magnitude of geologic time. Bronze markers mark your location in time; every tenth marker is labeled in millions of years! Along the timeline trail are a series of rocks and exhibits that explain how Grand Canyon and its rocks formed. 

In 2022, after 12 years of use, the Trail of Time geology exhibit along the Rim Trail received some much-needed maintenance. A team of two Trail of Time founders, Professors Karl Karlstrom and Laura Crossey from the University of New Mexico (UNM), along with three UNM geology graduate students, worked for a week with Grand Canyon National Park’s Trail Crew to repair the asphalt and reinstalled almost 100 of the 2,500 markers along the timeline.