Product Details

• Format: Animated, Color, Full length, Full Screen, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Primer Publishers,U.S.
• VHS Release Date: May 15, 2000
• Run Time: 63 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1558381902
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,262 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From the Actor

I was fortunate enough to hike the Grand Canyon for the first time in 1993. Like many people I took my camcorder along and like a few unsuspecting souls I returned home hooked by the Canyon - and determined to make a video about it.

Hiking through the Grand Canyon is like exploring the rooms of an ancient castle in a dream. Even at a hiker's pace the rooms come so fast, and each is so magnificent that the experience begins to run together. Turn a corner, step through a doorway - it changes - you forget the last room and marvel at the new. Lost in the fascination of this experience you begin hurry from room to room and just as you begin to realize you're missing something - the rock walls of the castle turn to mist and vanish. Ahead you see that the security lights of civilization have driven away the mist of the castle - you have arrived at your destination and the dream has ended. For most of us - too soon.

It's my sincere hope that this video will provide hikers and non-hikers alike with a sense of the Grand Canyon below the rim. For hikers - this sense should enhance their visit. For non-hikers this sense should expand their appreciation of the Grand Canyon beyond the awe we all feel when we stand on the rim.

Ken McNamara
June 2000

Product Description

If you are planning a trip to the Grand Canyon or thinking about hiking the Canyon or have hiked the Canyon -- this video is for you! After watching this captivating video, you will: know what it takes to hike the Grand Canyon; know its hazards and what preparations are needed to avoid them; understand the geology of the Canyon and what you will see during the descent to the river bottom and ascent back to the top; and have something to show your friends about what you did during your visit.

This video is not only for the potential and experienced hikers, but for those wanting to learn more about the most visited tourist attraction in the world. The educational value of this video alone makes it worth owning.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Hiking Information, Background, and Memories, October 31, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hiking the Grand Canyon - The Corridor Trails [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The footage in this video covers more beautiful scenes from the Grand Canyon than all but a handful of people on earth will ever see. In addition, you get valuable geological and topographical information that will make your hike more interesting and memorable. Having this video also saves you the trouble of shooting your own footage (and carrying your own video equipment). Finally, the hiking information is relevant to preparing to make your hiking at the Grand Canyon exactly what you want it to be.

If you are like most people (99 percent of them anyway), you will come to the Grand Canyon, ooh and aah a little from the rim, and go to the next place on your trip. This video will give you many of the views that can only be seen by hiking down. So you can get a lot of benefit from very little effort. That's a very good deal.

Before going on, I want to also praise this video for choosing to cover all three main trails to the Colorado River from the north and south rims. Even those who hike the Canyon will seldom do all three of these trails. I got useful ideas about the potential benefits of doing the two trails I have not yet hiked. In addition, the computer graphics in this video are simply outstanding and make the narration much more meaningful.

I have only two quibbles about the video. I found Jeannine McNamara's voice as narrator a little hard to listen to. The narration script does a good job of describing the dangers of doing these hikes (dehydration, falling, heat prostration and stroke, flash floods, rapid currents in the Colorado, and being hit by rocks), but I thought these were repeated a little too often.

Let me tell you a little about my experience hiking the Bright Angel Trail, so that you will realize why you will benefit form this video. I had first come to the trail as an adult with my two sons when they were young. My older son, then 5, wanted to hike down a little. He and I loved it, but it scared me because he wasn't really old enough to be careful. I promised him we would come back someday. We did not return until 20 years later. Hoping to make the experience something special, my wife arranged for a special early morning tour by a park ranger. That tour gave us a lot of background that is not in the video. I highly recommend doing this. The fee is well worth it, but there is limited time for rangers to do this. You have to schedule well in advance. Part of the tour included hiking down about 500 vertical feet on the Bright Angel trail. When it was time to go back up, my older son and I looked at each other and said, "We're going to go a little further." The ranger with us warned us that on a July day it was really too late to be getting started to hike the whole trail, and briefed us on what else we needed to do about food and water while encouraging us to stop before it got too hot. We followed the directions (similar to those on the video) and had a magnificant hike. We spent the heat of the afternoon resting in the shade at the bottom, and hiked back up to finish just before sunset. This was one of the best days of my life, and made fantastic a memory that my son and I will treasure forever. I intend to share this video with him tomorrow night to help us recall our wonderful time together. The material on the video exactly matches what we saw, down to the big-horned sheep and deer we passed on the trail.

We were pretty impressed with ourselves for doing this until a 74 year old man and a 12 year old boy passed us going up just before dusk. They had started by flashlight at 3 a.m. and had been down the Bright Angel Trail and on to the base of the North Rim and back in one day. I suddenly realized that I needed to come back and hike the Canyon again with my grandchildren in about another 20 years.

If you are like me, hiking the Canyon will be one of the high points of your life. Be sure to take those you love with you (or at least as many as you can persuade after showing them this video). Plan ahead. Everything takes reservations months ahead, including staying in the park so you can get an early start. The video will tell you what to do.

After you have enjoyed your hike, I suggest you think about other places where the grandeur of nature can provide a wonderful hiking experience that fits with your interests and physical abilities. Plan you next family hike today!

See the world up close!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The all time #1 Grand Canyon Hiking Video, March 21, 2001

By 

"gohike93" (Pell City, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiking the Grand Canyon - The Corridor Trails [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I like the author of this video hiked through the GC for the first time in 1993 and was hooked. I have returned many times since always finding something new just below the rim. I can say easily that the canyon changed my life and my view of the world around me. This video comes the closest to showing to the world that world below the rim that hikers find. I think that anyone who is interested in hiking there should definitely see this video. It gives the most information on geology and trail conditions I have seen in any video (even the one from the backcountry office). I give this video the highest rating because I believe from my own experience that it deserves it!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Valuable Hiking Assest, September 28, 2000

By 

Erin Sullivan (Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiking the Grand Canyon - The Corridor Trails [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Hiking the Grand Canyon is not only an assest but a necessity for anyone drawn to the beauty and mystery of this natural wonder. It is obvious from the presentation that much time and thought went into creating such a practical guide. Detailed computer graphics, picturesque video, and a superbly performed voice-over of all information make this video as enjoyable as it is useful. Five stars! Here's hoping the creators will search out other US trails and parks to present to the populace. As an east-coaster, I'd like to suggest the Appalachian Trail.