Rim-to-River-to-Rim, Grand Canyon National Park
Hike Statistics:
Distance: 16.6 miles
Elevation gain: 4,747 feet
Highlights: Ooh Aah Point, Phantom Ranch, Colorado River, Havasupai Gardens
About this Hike
If you think the Grand Canyon is stunning from the rim, just wait until you hike to the bottom. You’ll never look at the canyon in the same way.
There are dozens of trails that descend into Arizona’s famous Grand Canyon, but none are more famous than the South Kaibab Trail and the Bright Angel Trail. In recent years, it’s become increasingly popular to attempt hiking into the canyon on the former trail and ascending via the latter. Before I visited the Grand Canyon in April of 2023, I was skeptical. Surely, I would get bored by looking at the same thing for nearly 17 miles? Once I tackled this hike, my skepticism gave way to astonishment.
As you descend the South Kaibab Trail into the canyon, the rising sun will cast brilliant colors and shadows onto the layered walls of the canyon. The further you descend, the more your perspective of the geography changes. As you near the Colorado River, you’ll walk on rock nearly two billion years old!
At the bottom of the South Kaibab Trail, I recommend taking a quick detour to Phantom Ranch. Here, Bright Angel Creek creates a lush, green oasis filled with vegetation and wildlife.
On the way up, you’ll hike along Pipe Creek up the Bright Angel Trail through diverse, colorful environments fed by the water. Once reaching Havasupai Gardens, you’ll finish the hike via the steep switchbacks leading back to the South Rim.
Every step and every mile of this hike reveals new surprises and wonders not visible from the rim. If you have an itch to experience the Grand Canyon more fully, consider training for this hike.
Some Words of Caution…
BE WARNED: the National Park Service cautions against doing this hike, for two reasons.
- The return hike is much more difficult than the descent into the canyon… all of the easy downhill hiking leading to the Colorado River becomes an uphill slog on the way back. It is therefore easy for out-of-shape hikers to hike into the canyon without being able to make it back.
- The temperature in the canyon increases as you descend due to a phenomenon called adiabatic heating. The temperature increases 5°F with every 1,000 feet you descend. In the summer, this means the temperatures at the bottom of the canyon can soar well past 100°F. This makes it easy for people to fall victim to heat exhaustion.
So, you must be in very good shape, start this hike early in the day, and do the hike in the cool weather of the spring or fall to complete it safely. I strongly recommend late-March to early-May as the best time window to do this hike. Weather tends to cooperate in this time window, and snow melt and spring rains can result in the inner canyon becoming rather green, creating beautiful scenery.
