South Kaibab/Bright Angel Loop

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Features Birding · Commonly Backpacked · Fall Colors · Geological Significance · Historical Significance · River/Creek · Spring · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

The Grand Canyon is a place of sheer enormity. At its deepest, the canyon plunges 6,000 feet into the earth - more than a mile! And the Bright Angel Fault, the canyon's widest spot, stretches 18 miles across. Seeing the Grand Canyon from the rim is one thing, but being able to experience it from the river looking up is something indescribable.

From the rim to the river - a loss of nearly 4,500 feet - you'll see more than a billion years of Earth's history up close, and pass through a number of different life zones along the way. You'll see and experience things you can't anywhere else in the world. It's not any easy route, but the effort is more than rewarding.

Running from the rim to the river and back in one day is not recommended by the park service, but it is doable if you come prepared and know your limits. To this as a 2-day undertaking, you can stay at Phantom Ranch or Bright Angel Campground in the bottom of the canyon, or at Havasupai Garden campground on Bright Angel Trail. Any of these options require a permit reservation, which can be very hard to come by.

Going down South Kaibab Trail and up Bright Angel Trail is the recommended direction of travel. That's because there is no water along South Kaibab, but you can refill along Bright Angel, plus, you'll find more shade along Bright Angel and the gradient is not as punishing. Preparing for extreme sun and heat, bringing plenty of food, and allowing more time than you think you'll need are keys to success on this grueling route.

To make this a loop, you could hike or bike along the rim trail, but most people utilize the park's free shuttle. There is no public parking at South Kaibab Trail, so park near the Bright Angel trailhead and catch an early bus (see the national park website for schedules) to the South Kaibab trailhead.

Leaving the rim behind on South Kaibab Trail, the run doesn't take long to delve into the switchbacks. Soon enough the terrain levels out where the Toroweap Formation meets the Cococino Sandstone. The trail tightens to embrace the earth's every contour on a narrow shelf, then finds a high overlook, called Ooh Ahh Point. These first eight-tenths of a mile see the most visitors, but having only lost eight hundred feet, you'll have to venture much lower to catch a glimpse of the river.

Beyond Ooh Ahh Point, sightings of other visitors taper off as another batch of switchbacks bring the trail even deeper through the years into the Hermit Shale. After one-half mile, the strain levels briefly at Cedar Ridge before meeting with a sharp ridgeline atop the Supai Group, then pulls away to wrap O'Neill Butte. Leveling again at mile 2.8, the trail reaches Skeleton Point, a spot morbidly named for the occasional mule trains who might topple over the edge.

Finally reaching the massive cliffs of the 240 million year old Redwall Limestone, expertly carved switchbacks called the Red and Whites delve deeper by way of a rare weak spot, then swing north into the expansive Bright Angel Shale, and the trail's last rest area at the Tipoff. Having truly found the desert now, the sparse vegetation thins out with only scattered blackbrush. In the winter, snow seldom falls at this low elevation.

Meeting with the Tonto Trail, then passing by the emergency phone which most likely gives the Tipoff its name, the trail drops towards the lower edge of the Bright Angel Shale. The first glimpse of the river comes at the lip of the inner canyon in the Tapeats Sandstone. With careful eyes, waves and fossils can be spotted in the coarse red-stained sand from an ancient sea that long ago churned against these walls.

Entering into the Vishnu Basement rocks – the oldest exposed layers of the Grand Canyon – tight, steep switchbacks work through the Precambrian years. After 1.2 miles, a short tunnel gains access to the Black Suspension Bridge - and the river at last! From down here, you can hardly see any higher than the inner gorge of Vishnu Schist.

From the Silver Bridge, the route traces the river for 1.2 miles. In full sun, with nothing but dark rock to reflect the sun's every ray, this is the most brutal part of the journey back. But pulling into the depths of the Bright Angel Canyon, respite can be found in the deep shadows it casts.

The next mile follows Pipe Creek at an easy grade. But to find access to the higher elevations, 0.5 miles of switchbacks, known as Devil's Corkscrew, ascend the Vishnu Basement rocks of the inner canyon. But the climb isn't nearly over yet. The switchbacks loosen, and over another half mile in callous heat, the trail wraps west to meet with Garden Creek, and an unexpected oasis.

Leveling, the trail widening, the hardest, hottest part of the day comes to an end as you leave the "Death Zone" behind. Running water and falls cascade downcreek, and the trail grows busier with campers lucky enough to score a permit for a night under these stars.

Surrounded by trees, and shielded under the shadow cast by the canyon's eastern walls, the trail follows Garden Creek towards the Havasupai Gardens Campground. Now into the upper canyon, at an elevation of 3,500 feet, the trail nears the Bright Angel Shale once again. Another set of switchbacks brings you through the Muav Limestone, to the lip of the Redwall Limestone, where it levels at the 3-Mile Resthouse. The switchbacks loosen, and over 1.5 miles, the trail reclaims the Supai Group and the Hermit Shale to find the 1.5-Mile Resthouse.

From here, the final 1.5 miles climb a little over 1,100 feet to break through the Coconino Sandstone and find the rim once again.

This loop passes through four different life zones. With the cooler temperatures and greater precipitation at the rim, Ponderosa forests dominate. Dropping lower, between 7,500 and 4,500 feet, you'll find yourself in pinyon-juniper forests, where the canopy is shorter and the bark hardier. Nearing the Bright Angel Shale, the desert takes over. Little grows here, and snow rarely falls. At the canyon floor, the Colorado River spawns the shrubs and trees of the Riparian zone.

Wildlife at the Grand Canyon include elk; deer; bobcats; mountain lions; coyotes; big birds such as vultures, eagles and condors; and reptiles - including poisonous rattlesnakes and Gila Monsters.

Ancient inhabitants of the Grand Canyon established the original routes of these trails, and they have been built up for more traffic in recent times. The Havasupai People have long used the upper part of the Bright Angel Trail because they used to live seasonally along Garden Creek. When they were forced out by the park service in the early 20th century, the trail was extended to the river by entrepreneur Ralph Cameron. Back then, you had to pay a dollar to access the trail, and Cameron charged extra to use the outhouses and water. When the park service couldn't convince Cameron to turn over ownership of the Bright Angel Trail, they built the South Kaibab Trail using a different route to the east.