The Bright Angel Trail is considered the Premier hiking trail in the Grand Canyon. It’s well maintained, there are rest-houses and drinking water and it is the parks safest trail. From late April or early May to early October, potable water is available at Bright Angel Campground, Indian Garden Campground, Three-Mile Resthouse, and Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse. From mid-October to early May, water is only available at Bright Angel Campground and Indian Garden. Please note that due to the remote conditions, potable water is not guaranteed: bring a backup method to treat water.
We hiked this trail in September so keep in mind, our experience will be very different from someone that is doing this in February.
There are a couple different destinations when hiking this trail, and each one will result in a different experience-
First Tunnel
0.1 miles (0.2 km) roundtrip / 20 minutes
Second Tunne
1.8 miles (2.9 km) roundtrip / 1-2 hours / 590 feet (180 m) elevation change
1Β½-Mile Resthouse
3 miles (4.8 km) roundtrip / 2-4 hours / 1,120 feet (340 km) elevation change
3-Mile Resthouse
6 miles (9.6 km) roundtrip / 4-6 hours / 2,120 feet (645 m) elevation change
Indian Garden – Check with a park ranger before attempting as a day hike.
9 miles (14.4 km) roundtrip / 6-9 hours / 3,040 feet (925 m) elevation change
Plateau Point – Check with a park ranger before attempting as a day hike.
12 miles (19.6 km) roundtrip / 9-12 hours / 3,080 feet (940 m) elevation change
Our plan for the day was to hike to Indian Garden. We started off and almost immediately encountered some folks on mules making their way back up. The state that some of these people were in was a little concerning since they were just sitting on mules and weβd be walking the whole way. Please Note – Mules always have the right of way.
We carried on and made it to the first rest stop fairly quickly. Remember- you are walking down into the canyon so getting down is much quicker. Each rest house we passed, the crowd was thinning out more and more. We made it down to Indian Garden in a little over 2 hours. At the bottom it was over 100 degrees. We sat for maybe 10 minutes, ate our (warm) sandwiches (SO GROSS) and decided to just start walking back up. All the flies and the smell of the mules at the bottom not enjoyable so we just started walking. I still don’t know why we didn’t find another place to sit, but at the time, we wanted to start making our way back up, so we did! DO NOT DO THIS. Take your time at the bottom.. relax for a little while because the way back up is ROUGH.
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The first Β½ mile or so on the way back up in fairly flat but then once the switch backs start, its a constant, steady incline to the top. We stopped at the first rest stop on the way back up, knowing we still had about 3 miles to go, we took a nice break. Like the way back down β you notice the difference in crowds as you are making your way back up. There was a good stretch of time we were with the same 2 people. We would stop and rest and then would pass us, and then they would stop and we would pass them. At one point we were stopped at the same spot and the one man took out a bag of gummy bears. All I could I think to myself was “what I would do for some gummy bearsβ.
So in the future we will definitely be bringing some sort of sugary snack.
At each rest house, near the water spigots, there are signs telling you to wet your hat, shirts, etc. β basically do anything you need to do to stay cool.
I remember wetting my shirt and having to hold it to my head every other minute. NO amount of water was enough. We were filling up at every rest house- we probably drank a gallon of water each during this hike. 9 miles and just over 6 hours later we made it to the top. We got a Powerade from one of the stores at the top of the trail and just sat in the shade for what felt like an hour.
From NPS- Important Notes
Grand Canyon is, above all else, a place of extremes. It is helpful to plan according to seasonal norms and to take appropriate precautions depending on seasonal variations in trail conditions and weather. During winter months (most pronounced December through February), the top 2 miles are often icy. Because the wintertime sun never reaches the trail, it can remain slick for weeks or even months after a snowstorm, so over shoe traction and hiking poles are recommended. During times of scorching temperatures when the bottom of the canyon is most likely to reach at least 100 deg F (which is most likely to occur between early May and late September) it is critical that hikers depart before dawn or wait until late afternoon. Hiking through the midday hours of 10am and 4pm is not recommended. Hike Smart!Β https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/brightangeltrail.pdf
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