The Grand Canyon is one of the national parks that is of a scale no photo will do justice. You just have to go there and see it for yourself. About 6 million people visit the Grand Canyon each year and 5.4 million of them go to the South Rim. So if you would like your visit to be less crowded, the North Rim is the place to go.
The North Rim has fewer amenities than the South Rim and is more difficult to reach. Also, due to heavy winter snow it is only open from May 15 to October 15. We visited during the Covid-19 pandemic and everything except the camp store was closed so we aren’t going to comment on the amenities.
We visited the south rim in both 2017 and 2019 and decided we would like to also see the north rim. Both sides of the park feature expansive canyon views. However, we think you get closer views of the main canyon from the south rim. From the north rim you mostly see side canyons with a view of the main canyon in the distance. There are more and larger side canyons on the north rim due to the increased precipitation that has fallen over the eons, which has resulted in greater erosion. The north rim, at an elevation of 8000 ft, is 1000 ft higher than the south rim, which is why it gets more precipitation. Also, the water on both sides flows south (into the canyon from the north, away from the canyon on the south).
On the North Rim there are three main places to access the canyon and we visited two of them. The Bright Angel Point overlook is located right behind the visitor center and is the most visited spot on the North Rim. Cape Royal is accessed via a side road off US 63, the road that leads to the North Rim. It is a 25 mile drive down a winding road with plenty of overlooks to enjoy on the way to Cape Royal. Toroweap, the overlook we did not visit, is 61 miles and 3-4 hours (one way) down a dirt/rock/washboarded road labeled high clearance 4WD only. Based on info we got from the Kanab Tourism Office, this road is best driven in an ATV or Jeep. Longer and wider vehicles do not do well. However, Toroweap is arguably the most impressive overlook with 3000 ft sheer vertical drops to the Colorado River.
If you visit during the summer the south rim and the canyon itself can be brutally hot. During both our 2017 (August) and our 2020 (June) visits a person lost their life while hiking into the canyon. In 2017 a person ran out of water and died when they got lost going for more. In 2020 the temperature was above 110 degrees and led to heat stroke and death of that person. The park staff do a great job of posting warnings and cautions on the Grand Canyon website. Make sure you check there and pay attention to them. They know their stuff.
If you only visit one national park the Grand Canyon would be a good choice. It is one of two of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World that can be seen from the US. The other is the Aurora Borealis and finding it can be a bit difficult, so the Grand Canyon is the one Natural Wonder that definitely can be seen without leaving the US.