Grand Canyon, Arizona
Travel resources | Rim to rim hike | Southern rim hike | Photos|
The south rim of the Grand Canyon is the touristy one, with all sorts of accomodation and amenities. It is usually reached from Las Vegas in four hours. Unfortunately there is no public transportation from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon (2005). Only extremely expensive hotel tours would take you to the Grand Canyon. If you want to do it on your own, you need to rent a car.
There is an excellent shuttle system that makes a car redundant (and annoying)
once you are inside the Grand Canyon village.
A popular and strategically-located campground is Mather Campground.
The shuttle can take you to any of the trailheads. In the summer the shuttle
starts operating very early (5am).
The most popular way to get down to the Colorado river is the South Kaibab trail. It is brutally steep, but it gets you there in three hours.
The most popular way to get back up from the Colorado river to the south rim is
the Bright Angel trail, which is very long but not as steep as the other trails.
Be aware that, whichever way you go, it is a very strenuous hike. Most tourists
only hike one or two hours into the canyon and then take at least twice that
time to return back up.
If you plan to get to the Colorado, you need to carry a lot of water
(temperatures can be brutal) and start before sunrise to make sure that you
end before sunset. Countless tourists have been stuck in the Grand Canyon.
(If the rangers have to send a helicopter to rescue you, you pay for it).
Things to see:
Best place to eat is probably the Maswik Lodge that has self-service food stalls. The north rim is far less known and visited than the south rim. It is at much higher elevation, so it is closed during the snow season (october-may). The north rim is flanked by the Kaibab national forest. Because it is at higher elevation, and because it is farther from the Colorado river, it affords more spectacular views into the subcanyons of the Grand Canyon. The only accomodation is the North Rim Lodge, which is spectacular in itsel (even if you don't stay there). It used to be also the only place for dinner. Fast-food joints are now (2005) beginning to appear. From the North Rim there are several paved or dirt roads that one can take to reach different viewpoints and trailheads on the canyon. There is no way you can reach the Colorado river from the north rim in one day. It is just too long. But, if you have more than one day, there are at least two There is just one way to do it: the North Kaibab trail (very long, extremely steep at the beginning, almost flat at the end). Overall, i think the north rim is the more beautiful of the two. Both Point Imperial (the highest point in the park) and Cape Royale (and Point Sublime if you have a 4WD) are worth detours. If you haven't seen the north rim, you haven't really seen the Grand Canyon. If you need to spend a night in Las Vegas, there are websites that list the last-minute specials, or just drive to the Stratosphere on Las Vegas Blvd (the "strip") where a dozen cheap motels can be found. If you want to hike roundtrip from a rim, there are pros and cons. Advantages of hiking from the North Rim:
If you want to hike rim to rim, see my notes. Flash floods are the number 1 weather-related killer in the United States, killing about 200 people every year. Make sure you are not hiking narrow subcanyons of the Grand Canyon in the flashflood season. Flashfloods are unpredictable. They can happen even on a "sunny" day. The worst season is from july to mid-September. Nearby attractions:Havasu Canyon is located between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon's south rim. Be aware that the Native Americans charge $20 to see the waterfalls (2004) but you will only be charged at the very end of the hike, so you can hike for free the entire canyon to Supai Village. Bryce Canyon and Zion Canyon are located in Utah north of the Grand Canyon's north rim. Buckskin Gulch, one of the narrowest and longest slot canyons. It is located one hour north of the Grand Canyon's North Rim, near Kanab, in Utah. It is about 4 hours from Las Vegas, 2.5 hours from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This hike is not difficult at all, but it is adventurous. It may involve getting very wet. It is an extremely narrow canyon. At points it requires a bit of rock climbing skills. At points it may require wading through small pools of water. Flashfloods can be fatal. From US 89 near milepost 26 (about 6 kms east of the turn off to the Paria ghost town) head south on the dirt road signposted House Rock Valley Rd. The first trailhead (on your left handside) is the the Buckskin Trailhead (most people don't see it because the signpost is off the road). Continue for about 5kms to the Wire Pass Trailhead. This is a broad parking lot that you can't miss. The trailhead is across the road. You are supposed to register and pay $5 (2006). Walk left into the river bed and follow it for about 30/45 minutes until you get to a T junction with Buckskin Gulch (don't miss the petroglyphs at this junction). If you turn left into Buckskin Gulch, you are heading upstream for the Buckskin Gulch trailhead (not very interesting). Instead turn right into Buckskin Gulch and proceed downstream towards the confluence with the Paria river. It is popular to do a one-way hike from Wire Pass to White House, another trailhead located on a dirt road that leaves the highway about 6 km east of House Rock Valley Rd. Things to bring besides the obvious ones: hiking pole, sandals, spare socks. If you do it when it's dry, you don't need sandals and spare socks but you need to be careful about rattlesnakes and tarantulae. A friend did it in 2005 during the flashflood season and the canyon was dry. I did it after the flashflood season and the canyon was very wet. It sounds like conditions are unpredictable.
See these links: Antelope Canyon, also a slot canyon, is more easily reached from Lake Powell, just east of Page on the Navajo Reservation. This is by far the most photographed slot canyon in the Southwest (Antelope Canyon). It is only 350 meters long, so even elderly people in wheelchairs can see it in 30 minutes. Needless to say, it is extremely expensive: the Navajos force you to take a guide and a shuttle bus, and the charge depends on how friendly the guide is that day, but rarely less than $15 per person (per person) plus a $6 permit. Last time we were able to circumvent the Navajos by driving directly to the gate after hours and walking the 10kms to the canyon. While being the most photographed slot canyon, it is extremely difficult to take photos of it. Not only is it dark and deep, but it is usually full of tourists like you. Unless you are a professional photographer and have a lot of time, you are better off buying the postcards that the Navajos sell for $1 each, and save yourself the $15 entrance fee. The slightly less popular (but nearby) Lower Antelope Canyon is open again after they installed handrails and is slightly cheaper: $13 (plus the same $6 permit). Accomodation (2004)
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