Because of the unavailability of water and steepness of the south kaibab trail rangers recommend hiking down this trail only and recommend using the bright angel trail.
Rim to river grand canyon hike.
The easiest route is some 22 miles with more than 13 000 feet of.
But for the best sampler go rim to rim.
While the grand canyon rim to river trail can be hiked from either direction it s most common to descend down on the south kaibab trail and ascend on the bright angel side.
There are 2 reasons for this.
Any organized noncommercial group conducting rim to rim and extended day hiking and running including rim to river to rim and rim to rim to rim in the inner canyon is required to obtain a special use permit from grand canyon national park.
Our recommendation for hiking your first rim to rim of the grand canyon is to hike it from north rim to south rim via the north kaibab trail elevation 8 241 ft 14 3 miles mostly a descent and the bright angel trail mostly an ascent 9 6 miles elevation 6 860 ft which is estimated to be a total of 23 9 miles.
Grand canyon trail map courtesy of the national park service website which way to hike rim to river.
Grand canyon hike from south rim to river and back in one day can be done.
Elevation change from rim to river is 4860 ft 1480 m along a 6 3 mile 10 1 km trail.
See 1 671 traveler reviews 1 508 candid photos and great deals for grand canyon national park az at tripadvisor.
Which is to say you could spend a lifetime ticking off hikes in grand canyon national park.
The trail begins on the south rim near yaki point and descends to the colorado river.
Rim to river back south kaibab to bright angel see 2 291 traveler reviews 1 852 candid photos and great deals for grand canyon national park az at tripadvisor.
Crossing the big ditch from one precipitous lip to the other scores you the best of both sides of the canyon plus plenty of bragging rights.