Help us plan a week-long trip to Grand Canyon National Park. (fundenburg / flickr)
Alright, Pointers. We need your help, and your assistance can influence what Compass Points covers.
The Blue-Eyed Wonder and I are attempting to put together a week-long trip to Grand Canyon National Park, our first foray to the Big Ditch in northern Arizona. We have an early October visit scheduled.
Here’s where we need your help. We need suggestions for great day hikes.
Our plan is to car camp on the South Rim and take day hikes in the area to experience as much of the Canyon as we can. We need the following suggestions:
- A moderately easy day hike (4-6 miles) for an introduction.
- The best rim-to-bottom-back-to-rim hike.
- A moderately strenuous day hike in the surrounding Kaibab National Forest.
- The best places to eat, visit and so on.
- What’s essential to a successful Grand Canyon trip/experience?
- What’s the don’t-miss hike?
- What hikes get you away from the crowd?
Send in your suggestions in the comments section below or send an e-mail at davepidgeon@compasspointsmedia.com. Your suggestions could help shape future episodes of Backcountry Radio and Compass Points TV.
Help shape one of your favorite online resources for hiking and the outdoors. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Found this book in Campmoor:
“The Ranger’s Guide to the Grand Canyon: Insider Advice from Ranger Jack ”
by Susan and Phil Frank
My wife and I are planning to go sometime in early November.
My opinion for best rim-to-bottom-to-rim hike would be to leave early from the South Rim at like 6:00am and hike the most popular Bright Angel Trail avoiding the crowds (most people at the Grand Canyon will be tourists on vacation not starting their day hike at 6:00AM) and then return to the top via the South Kaibab Trail for some new scenery. Don’t remember exactly, but I think that combination is about 18 miles and would make for an epic day hike. (Or you could do down the Bright Angel Trail, then up the North Kaibab Trail, down the North Kaibab Trail, and then up the South Kaibab Trail for the most epic 24 hour hike ever a Rim-Rim-Rim hike)
I think the quintessential hike is the rim to rim mentioned earlier, however, the north rim closes in mid October and this is almost always an overnighter, although it is done in a day by fanatics. Also, down the Kaibab across the Tonto trail and up the BA trail is a classic, for most people this should be an overnight-er, but Oct temps are cooler and if you are a conditioned fanatical athlete this is possible, but not recommended for the inexperienced at GC hiking. A good longish, but not too busy day hike is down Grand View to Horseshoe Meas, or partway down (3-miles) Kaibab to Cedar Ridge. Hiking in the Kaibab NF near GC is pretty monotonous scenery unless you are along the rim. I would recommend hiking to the summit of Mt Humphreys, the highest peak in AZ, instead in the Coconino NF near Flagstaff. Check out this web site for great beta http://www.hitthetrail.com/ Better yet do a river trip and hike lots of classic hikes from the river http://rivers-oceans.com/
Yeah, October is a great time to go! Bright Angel trail is very shaded for about the first 3 miles down to the 3 Mile Shack (or whatever it’s called). This is opposed to the Kaibab trail being very exposed for most of the time. Both trails are very very crowded, like a freeway. Be prepared to see lots of people not nearly dressed for the part wearing loafers and sweater vests.
I hope this means we’ll see a little western stuff reported here!