Grand Canyon — Bright Angel Trail
Grand Canyon, AZ
Elevation Profile
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Waypoints
Bright Angel Trailhead
South Rim trailhead near Bright Angel Lodge. Water and restrooms.
6,857 ft
1.5-Mile Resthouse
Water (May-Sep), shade, and an emergency phone. Turn around here in summer heat.
5,951 ft
3-Mile Resthouse
Year-round water, toilets. Many hikers turn around here. Havasupai Gardens visible below.
5,000 ft
Indian Garden / Havasupai Gardens
Campground and ranger station. Cottonwood trees and year-round water. 4.6 miles from rim.
3,799 ft
Colorado River / River Trail
The river at the bottom. Suspension bridge connects to Phantom Ranch on the north side.
2,480 ft
Route Details
Distance
19.0 mi
Elevation Gain
4,501 ft
Elevation Loss
4,501 ft
Max Elevation
6,857 ft
Estimated Days
1
Trailhead
Bright Angel Trailhead (South Rim)
Best Season
Spring and fall. Summer kills—do not hike below the rim in July/August. Winter cold but manageable.
About This Route
The Bright Angel Trail is the most accessible and heavily used corridor trail into the Grand Canyon, descending 9.5 miles from the South Rim (6,860 ft) to the Colorado River (2,480 ft). The trail follows a fault line, providing water at 1.5 and 3-mile rest houses that makes it more hospitable than most canyon routes. The most common overnight trip combines Bright Angel with the South Kaibab Trail: descend South Kaibab (steeper, more exposed, no shade, no water), camp at Bright Angel Campground or Phantom Ranch, and ascend Bright Angel. This rim-to-river round trip is 20+ miles with 5,000 feet of elevation change—no small undertaking. The primary hazard is heat. The NPS issues "heat kills" warnings from May through September and strongly advises against attempting the rim-to-river trip in a single day during summer. Dozens of people require helicopter rescues each year, usually hikers who descended too far and ran out of water. The canyon wall geology—600 million years of rock strata exposed in cross-section—is a moving experience. The Vishnu Schist at the bottom is 1.7 billion years old.
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