Basic Information
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona in North America. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters). Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.
For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- The Canyon was created by demi gods battling thier swords carved out the Canyons.
- The Canyon has many caves and a town carved into one of it's sides. The caves are are hide outs for bandits and monsters.
- The canyon was created by "the great serpent" when he was cast down from heaven.
- Less mythically, you could consider something like the Fallout New Vegas: Honest Hearts DLC - an area of canyons in the midst of the desert with life and civilisation accumulating in the bottoms. After miles and miles of essentially waterless nothing, the contrast should be quite noticeable. The actual DLC is set in Zion Canyon rather than the Grand, but there you go.
- Also, expect some bugger to be trying to jump it, whether with a motorcycle or magic shoes. This tends back towards the mythic in most settings.
- Combine the Honest Hearts idea with something like Petra and the Nabatean civilisation and you could potentially have a significant nation in the middle of nowhere…