Happy Birthday Grand Canyon!

We’re celebrating Grand Canyon National Park’s 96^th birthday with canyon trivia! You provide the cake, we provide the questions.

1. Other places have tried to claim some of the glory of the Grand Canyon by calling a landscape a "Grand Canyon," such as "the Grand Canyon of Missouri." How many states have a "Grand Canyon"?

A. 3
B. 23
C. 43

Answer: C – 43. And 73 nations claim to have a Grand Canyon

2. What is the most venomous creature in the Grand Canyon?

A. Rattlesnakes
B. Scorpions
C. Red ants

Answer: C – Red ants. On an ounce-by-ounce basis, the venom of the harvester ant (usually called the red ant) is more potent, but their bite delivers a much smaller dosage than a rattlesnake bite or scorpion sting. Still, red ant bites can be intensely painful. It's easy to accidentally pinch an ant with a finger or toe, and the ants pinch back!

3. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Fred Harvey Company ran bus tours from the Grand Canyon into the Navajo lands to the east. The roads were terrible and busses sometimes broke down. The busses didn't have radios to signal for help. How did they summon help from the Fred Harvey garage at the South Rim?

A. Navajos on horses
B. Homing pigeons
C. Smoke signals

Answer: B –  Homing pigeons. Each bus carried a cage with six pigeons. It took six pigeons, because hawks would usually kill a few on the flight home. Sometimes when buses tried to ford the Little Colorado River, they would bog down in the water and sand. The drivers rushed outside to the running boards, where the pigeon cages were stored, to save the pigeons from drowning.

4. Since the Colorado River runs through the Grand Canyon, some people mistakenly suppose that the Grand Canyon lies in the state of Colorado. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service printed up a stamp captioned "Grand Canyon, Colorado." As soon as someone noticed the mistake, all the stamps were destroyed. How many incorrect stamps were printed? 

A. 10,000
B. 1 million
C. 100 million

Answer: C – 100 million. Afterwards, the Post Office tried again and printed 100 million stamps that said "Grand Canyon, Arizona." But only after the stamps were in circulation did someone notice that the photo of the Grand Canyon was backwards, a mirror image. Oops.

5. On June 30, 1956, two planes collided directly over the canyon, killing everyone on board. What organization was established as a result?

A. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)
B. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
C. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Answer: B – Federal Aviation Administration. In the 1950s, passenger flights would sometimes detour over the Grand Canyon for a better view. The FAA was created in 1958 as a result of the crash. Since then, the FAA, National Park Service, Grand Canyon Trust, and other partners have been working to limit overhead flights to preserve the natural quiet and solitude at the Canyon. Read more ›

Grand Canyon National Park makes the rank as one of the seven natural wonders of the world, but unfortunately its park status of 96 years doesn’t give the canyon the complete protection it deserves. Learn about the Trust’s efforts to stop the proposed tramway and Escalade development, fight uranium mines in Grand Canyon’s watersheds, and control pollution from nearby coal plants.

Help us Keep the Canyon Grand!

* A special thanks to Don Lago, author of Grand Canyon Trivia, for providing us with the above fun facts.