There is a feeling you get when you step from the South Rim into the Grand Canyon. It's sort of like falling. You sense a certain airiness in your gait and a drop in your stomach. And the plummeting sensation continues all the way down, 5,000 feet past a billion years of geology, to the roaring Colorado River. When John Wesley Powell made his famous survey in 1869, he said that the Grand Canyon was thousands of Niagaras and a thousand Yosemites put together. That's shorthand for awe-inspiring. And in spite of all the mule trains and walking tours that have come in Powell's wake, you'll still catch his drift when you see it. Immediately.

GAME PLAN: For most visitors, hiking is the most straightforward way to see the park. The challenge, however, is to do it without the company of "most visitors." One way is to tackle a 28-mile route starting from the South Rim's Grandview Point. Day one descends three miles to Horseshoe Mesa, a plateau rife with old copper-mining ruins. An early start will net you a campsite there or allow you to push on to Cottonwood Creek. (Check with backcountry rangers about water availability, and carry plenty with you.) A west turn at Cottonwood puts you on the East Tonto Trail, which traverses the Tonto Plateau, a microcosm of the immense Grand. But don't be misled by that "plateau" business: The next three or four days entail skirting impassable side canyons, rounding sandstone buttes, and tracing the precipice of Granite Gorge, below which flows the Colorado. Along the way are a number of intermittent creeks and campsites. Finally, after Cremation Creek, pick up the South Kaibab Trail for the 4.4-mile, 3,000-foot trek back to the rim and a return to the great known.

If you're short on time, skip the heavily trafficked South Rim Entrance for one of the Grand's most colorful side canyons, Havasu (accessible via a combination of Old Route 66 and Route 18). The canyon's famed blue-green waterfalls are a ten-mile-and 3,500-vertical-foot-hike from the parking lot at Hualapai Hilltop. Camp within earshot of Havasu Falls and hoof back to your car at sunup. Only have a day? National Geographic Expeditions has partnered with Off the Beaten Path to offer half-day excursions (on foot, in a van, or both) along the South Rim.

For those prepared to commit more than two weeks, the best way to see the Grand is, without question, the way Powell did-from the Colorado River. O.A.R.S. leads a full-canyon trip, with regular hiking stops along the way to sites like Vasey's Paradise and Red Wall Cavern. The point isn't whitewater thrills (though there are 47 major sets). It's to go slow and gape.

ULTIMATE BASE CAMP: For less than half the cost of tonier (and usually full) places in the park, the cabin rooms at Maswik Lodge are one of the Grand's best kept secrets ($86; grandcanyonlodges.com). You're only a quarter mile from the South Rim, and the hotel is served by the Grand Canyon Railway, a throwback that runs to the park from Williams, Arizona ($309 for the train trip and one night each at the Maswik and the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel; thetrain.com).

VITALS: Park is open year-round, but North Rim closed in winter. Backcountry permits, $10, plus $5 per person per night. Seven-day park pass, $25. Campsites, $18 (nps.gov/grca). Havasu Canyon: $35 entrance fee; campsites, $17 per person per night. Space fills quickly-book early (havasupaitribe.com). National Geographic Expeditions Grand Canyon Excursions, from $90 (offthebeatenpath.com/gcvc). O.A.R.S. 18-day rafting trips, $4,727 (April through October; oars.com).

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