This panoramic photograph of the Grand Canyon was taken by James Blakeway. It features a late day view of the Grand Canyon from the South Rim looking across at the North Rim. The Grand Canyon National Park covers 1,218,375 acres in Arizona. Grand Canyon National Game Preserve (established in 1906), became Grand Canyon National Park by an Act of Congress in 1919. The canyon was created as the Colorado River cut through the layers of rock creating the cliffs, ridges, hills and valleys. The floor of the canyon is approximately a mile below the North Rim and is about 35 degrees hotter than the temperatures above.