Grand Canyon — Bright Angel Trail
Grand Canyon, AZ
Elevation Profile
Current Conditions
Bottom Line
NWS Flagstaff has an active Flood Watch through Monday 5 AM MST — rain and possible snow tonight with 100% precip chance today means flash flood risk in side canyons and Inner Gorge drainages. If you're starting today, watch the sky and know your exit from any narrow canyon sections. Monday through Tuesday clears up nicely.
49°/29°F · Patchy Fog · 1 alert(s)
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0" depth
Elevated flows · 5 gauges
No active fires within 50 miles
10h 42m daylight · Sunrise 6:52 AM · Sunset 5:34 PM
Full Briefing
The Flood Watch is the lead story. NWS Flagstaff issued it at 11:14 PM last night and it runs through Monday 5 AM MST. Today brings patchy fog, 100% precipitation probability, and SW winds 15-18 mph at the rim — that moisture is funneling into the canyon. Tonight drops to 34°F with a chance of rain and snow showers. The Bright Angel corridor itself isn't a flash flood trap the way the Paria or Buckskin are, but any tributary drainage and the Bright Angel Creek can rise fast with this kind of precip loading on the Kaibab Plateau above. Stay out of narrow side drainages today and tonight, and don't camp in the creek bed. If you hear thunder or see debris-clouded water, move to high ground immediately.
The stream gauge data in this briefing is from California watersheds and doesn't apply to Bright Angel Creek — disregard those numbers. What matters here is that the Kaibab Plateau is getting significant moisture today, and Bright Angel Creek will reflect that with a lag. Expect elevated flow at the creek crossings near the campground through at least Monday morning. Crossings there are typically straightforward, but in high flow they can be ankle-to-knee deep with slippery footing. Trekking poles and a careful line will handle it.
Monday the system clears completely — sunny, winds dropping to 3-9 mph W, high of 49°F. Monday night hits 29°F, Tuesday is 53°F and mostly sunny, Tuesday night 29°F again. That overnight freeze-thaw pattern is worth noting for the upper trail sections near the rim, where any wet soil or shaded switchbacks could be icy in the early morning. Plan to be moving by 7 AM to get through the upper trail before it softens, or accept some slippery footing on north-facing trail sections in the first hour.
Daylight is 10h 42m with sunset at 5:34 PM. If you're doing a full rim-to-river descent today, that's workable but tight — the Bright Angel to the river is 9.5 miles and significant elevation loss. Starting at noon today as planned means you're hiking the lower canyon in fading light. Move with purpose on the descent, and have headlamps accessible, not buried in your pack.
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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