Travel the Trails

Trip 3: AZ-64 West: Cameron to the Grand Canyon South Rim

57 miles (92 km) from Cameron to the South Rim

Disclaimer: NANACT trip guides are based on information from Native Roads: The Complete Motoring Guide to the Navajo & Hopi Nations, 2nd Edition by Fran Kosik (Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2005). Some information may have changed since the publication of the book. While NANACT will attempt to maintain current information, consider verifying the current operation/existence of businesses, accommodations, dining and similar interests before planning your trip.

Scenic & Historic:

MM 290 Gray Mountain (South)

Gray Mountain is part of the Kaibab Monocline, formed when the Earth uplifted about 250 million years ago. This gradual uplift caused the meandering Colorado River to run at a steeper gradient, giving it more power to cut through the less resistant rock layers. It eventually led to the creation of the Grand Canyon. The elevation at the South Rim is 7,000 to 7,500 feet (2,135–2,287 m), with an average gradient on the Colorado River of 7.8 feet per mile (2.38 m per km).

Because of the elevation, temperatures are moderate in summer, averaging in the 70s and 80s (21–27ºC). Winter can be very cold, and snowstorms are frequent. The average temperature during the day will be in the 30s to 40s (0–5ºC). Average rainfall annually is about 11 inches (28 cm).

MM 286 Little Colorado River Gorge (North)

Rimmed with Kaibab Limestone, this 1,200-foot (366 m) gorge is a Navajo tribal park with tremendous scenic views. Many local artists sell jewelry, pottery, and rugs here. There are port-a-potties but no water.

MM 275 Kaibab National Forest

At this point you enter a pygmy Utah juniper-piñon pine forest, found at elevations of 4,000 to 7,000 feet (1,200–2,135 m). You can camp anywhere in the forest without a permit.

East entrance to the Grand Canyon: $20 per vehicle for a permit valid for seven days at both the South and North Rims. Visitors on foot or bicycle pay $10. National Park passes cost $50 per year and are good at all National Park Service sites. Golden Age Passports for people over 62 cost a one-time lifetime fee of $10. But don’t lose your card or you’ll have to pay again. Golden Access Passports for handicapped individuals are free. Buying the National Park Pass is a bargain if you want to visit any of the other national parks in the area such as Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments or the Petrified National Forest.

Desert View Point

From this vista you can see the Painted Desert and where the Colorado River has cut through the Kaibab Plateau. To the east is Cedar Mountain.

Lipan Point

From here you can see a great expanse of the canyon, including the Inner Gorge, Vishnu’s Temple, Cape Royal, and the Colorado River, as well as Echo Cliffs, the Painted Desert, and Navajo Mountain in the distance.

Tusayan Ruins & Museum

About eight hundred years ago, thirty Anasazi Indians lived at this small site near the canyon’s edge. The museum offers interpretative displays of prehistoric life here. Take a self-guided tour through the ruins with a 25-cent brochure. Guided tours are also offered. Open daily 9 a.m.–5 p.m. (MST).

Moran Point

From 1867 to 1879, the United States conducted the great surveys of the American West. John Wesley Powell’s 1871–1872 trip through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River was one of these surveys. The government hired Thomas Moran to document the landscape encountered on this trip.

Grandview Point

Directly below this viewpoint, in the Redwall Limestone on Horseshoe Mesa, is the long-defunct Last Chance Copper Mine.

Grandview Trail: While beautiful, this six-mile round-trip trail is considered strenuous. It drops 2,600 feet (793 m) quickly to Horseshoe Mesa, where you can see the remains of the copper mine. There is no water on this trail. Each hiker needs at least two quarts of water, but during the summer a gallon (four liters) per hiker is a necessity.

Duck on Rock Viewpoint

A plaque here shows the topographic features of the canyon. This viewpoint got its name because the formation looked like a duck until its bill fell off.

Yaki Point

Here you will find the head of the South Kaibab Trail, which leads to the Colorado River.

Turn right at the junction of Arizona Highway 64 with East Rim Drive.

Wonderful changes are happening at the Grand Canyon, the most-visited national park in the United States. Construction is underway to eventually eliminate cars from the park, using a combination of mass transit and pedestrian/biking trails.

The first phase of the new transit plan is the Canyon View Information Center, completed in 2000. The transit/orientation center is the primary hub for the multi-modal system. Open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., this center offers exhibits providing a variety of information about what to do and see in Grand Canyon National Park. The center is only accessible by free shuttle bus, or on foot or by bicycle via the new Greenway Trail. Follow the directional signs to a parking area and then take the free shuttle to the center.

The Canyon View/Mather Point Route operates from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. every day. Buses run about every fifteen minutes from a half hour before opening to a half hour after closing of the visitors center.

The Greenway Trail system currently connects Desert View to Mather Point, but future plans include a total of seventy-three miles of wheel chair accessible bicycle and pedestrian trails both on the South and North Rims. Leading the effort to bring back the serenity and natural quiet of the canyon is the Grand Canyon National Park Foundation. To contribute to this worthwhile undertaking, please call (928) 774-1760 or contribute online at www.grandcanyonfoundation.org.

Mather Point

Stephen Mather was named the first director of the National Park Service in 1916. From Mather Point the North Rim is ten miles (16 km) away and a thousand feet (305 m) higher in elevation than this point on the South Rim.

Yavapai Observation Station

Located one mile east of Market Plaza, here you’ll find viewing tubes with sites that point out geologic features. Open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (MST). The Rim Trail starts here and follows the canyon edge through Grand Canyon Village, ending at Hermits Rest. The trail is paved from Yavapai Point to Maricopa Point, 3.5 miles (5.6 km). Shuttle buses run from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. (MST) during the summer at approximately fifteen-minute intervals so you can walk as far as you want and then catch a shuttle bus back to where you started.

South Rim Visitors Center

Open 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. (MST) every day, the center offers information about the services and educational programs offered within the park.

El Tovar

This national historic landmark takes its name from Don Pedro de Tovar, an officer in Coronado’s expedition of 1540. No expense was spared in 1904 to build El Tovar. Designed by an architect from Chicago, the famous hotel cost $250,000 to build. Native Arizona stone makes up the foundation of the building, but Oregon logs were used for the walls. Water, always a problem on the South Rim, came every day by train from more than 120 miles (193 km) away. In 1932, a pumping station brought fresh water up from Indian Gardens. Today, water is pumped from Roaring Springs on the North Rim.

Reservations: Xanterra Parks and Resorts, (303) 297-2757 or toll free (888) 297-2757; www.grandcanyonlodges.com.

Hopi House

Across the parking lot from El Tovar stands Hopi House, designed by Mary Colter. The Fred Harvey Co. wanted a building to sell Indian arts and crafts that represented the local history and fit in with the canyon scenery. Built primarily by Hopis, it was patterned after authentic dwellings in Old Oraibi.

Mule & Horse Barns

Lending the Western scent of manure to the character and charm of the South Rim are these historic barns, built in 1907, on the south side of the railroad tracks. The mules used to transport visitors to the bottom of the canyon and back are cared for here.

If you want to ride a mule into the canyon, you need to plan ahead. Trips are booked one year in advance, but you can place your name on a waiting list for cancellations at the Bright Angel Transportation Desk in Bright Angel Lodge, when you arrive at the canyon. To make reservations, call Xanterra Parks and Resorts, (303) 297-2757.

Yavapai Lodge

Reservations: Xanterra Parks and Resorts, (303) 297-2757 or toll free (888) 297-2757; www.grandcanyonlodges.com.

Bright Angel Lodge

One of the more interesting features as you walk into the lodge is the geologic fireplace in the lobby. Each rock layer of the canyon is represented in the fireplace, with Kaibab Limestone at the very top. Every stone in the fireplace came out of the canyon by mule train. There is also a Fred Harvey Museum in the lodge. Reservations: Xanterra Parks and Resorts, (303) 297-2757 or toll free (888) 297-2757; www.grandcanyonlodges.com.

To see the Lookout Studio, Kolb Studio, and Bright Angel Trail, you will have to park your car and walk on the Rim Trail behind the Bright Angel Lodge. Take the shuttle bus to see the Orphan Mine, Powell Memorial, and Hermits Rest.

The Lookout Studio

Mary Colter designed the Lookout Studio for the Fred Harvey Co. in 1914 to completely blend in with the rim environment. The chimney is almost indistinguishable from a distance, looking like a pile of rocks. Weeds grow on top of the roof so that when looking at the Bright Angel trailhead from a distance, it is almost impossible to see the camouflaged lookout.

Kolb Studio

Open 8 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, year-round. Emery and Ellsworth Kolb were photographers from Pennsylvania who made their way to the Grand Canyon in 1901 and set up a studio on the rim of the canyon. Their idea was to take pictures of tourists hiking down the Bright Angel Trail.

Bright Angel Trail

The Bright Angel Trail is nineteen miles (31 km) round-trip. Like all canyon trails, it’s a strenuous hike, descending 4,400 feet (1,342 m) over well-maintained switchbacks to Indian Gardens and down to the Colorado River. The Silver Suspension Bridge crosses the river to Phantom Ranch. The trip takes most hikers two days and requires a reservation at either Indian Gardens Campground (fifteen campsites), Bright Angel Campground (thirty-one campsites), or at Phantom Ranch. Because of the limited number of campsites, it is necessary to make reservations well in advance of your hike. Contact the Backcountry Reservation Office, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023, (928) 638-7875 (1–5 p.m.).

Orphan Mine

Daniel Hogan, a prospector and former Rough Rider under Theodore Roosevelt, discovered the Orphan Mine when he noticed copper on the wall of the canyon about a thousand feet (305 m) below the rim. He got a patent for the mine in 1906, but it wasn’t until 1956 that the U.S. Geological Survey discovered the true wealth of the mine—uranium. There is no mining going on within the Grand Canyon today.

Powell Memorial

This memorial lists the names of all of the men who completed the two trips with John Wesley Powell in 1869 and 1871–72.

Hermit's Rest

At a cost of $185,000, the Harvey Co. built an eight-mile road to the west end of the canyon, where sightseers could hike down Hermit Trail to get to the Colorado River and Phantom Ranch.

Hermit Trail is a very strenuous, unmaintained trail that leads to the Colorado River, dropping 4,240 feet (1,293 m). On this seventeen-mile (27 km) round-trip hike there is no safe water to drink. The trip takes at least two days to hike and is recommended for experienced desert hikers only.

Accommodations (Hotels/Camping/RV Parks):

Grand Canyon National Park - Lodging

To make a reservation, or for any other accommodations within the boundaries of the canyon, contact: Xanterra Parks and Resorts (303) 297-2757 or toll free (888) 297-2757 or 877-444-6777 (message direct callers to different accommodations); www.grandcanyonlodges.com.

• El Tovar

El Tovar was one of the hotels that used Harvey Girls to wait on its exclusive clientele.

• Yavapai Lodge
• Bright Angel Lodge
• Desert View Point
• Phantom Ranch

Can be reached by foot or mule.

• Kachina Lodge
• Maswick Lodge
• Thunder Bird Lodge

RV:

Trailer Village

Adjacent to Mather Campground, Trailer Village offers RV sites with hookups. Advance reservation message (888) 297-2757; same-day reservations (928) 638-2631. A dump station is available, but closed during winter months.

Campgrounds:

Mather Campground

Located one mile (1.6 km) south of the visitors center. Requires reservations from March 1 through November 30; you can make reservations up to five months in advance on a first-come, first-served basis. Toilets, showers, and phone; open year-round, with 320 campsites, seven-day limit, no hookups. Wheelchair accessible. For online reservations, visit http://reservations.nps.gov/ or call (800) 365-2267.

Bright Angel Trail & Indian Gardens Campgrounds

The Bright Angel Trail is nineteen miles (31 km) round-trip. Like all canyon trails, it’s a strenuous hike, descending 4,400 feet (1,342 m) over well-maintained switchbacks to Indian Gardens and down to the Colorado River. The Silver Suspension Bridge crosses the river to Phantom Ranch. The trip takes most hikers two days and requires a reservation at either Indian Gardens Campground (fifteen campsites), Bright Angel Campground (thirty-one campsites), or at Phantom Ranch. Because of the limited number of campsites, it is necessary to make reservations well in advance of your hike.

Contact the Backcountry Reservation Office, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023, (928) 638-7875 (1–5 p.m.). To generate more revenue to maintain and improve services in the canyon, the National Park Service has instituted a new fee structure. Backcountry permit fee, $20; backcountry camping fee, $10 per permit plus an additional $5 per person per night.

Desert View Campground

First-come, first-served; no hookups; closed during the winter. A maximum of two vehicles, six people, three tents allowed per site. In summer, most canyon campgrounds are full by noon.

Tours:

Mule & Horse Barns

If you want to ride a mule into the canyon, you need to plan ahead. Trips are booked one year in advance, but you can place your name on a waiting list for cancellations at the Bright Angel Transportation Desk in Bright Angel Lodge, when you arrive at the canyon.

To make reservations, call Xanterra Parks and Resorts, (303) 297-2757.

Food & Dining:

To make a reservation, or for any other accommodations within the boundaries of the canyon, contact: Xanterra Parks and Resorts (303) 297-2757 or toll free (888) 297-2757 or 877-444-6777 (message direct callers to different accommodations); www.grandcanyonlodges.com.

Services (Auto/Gas/Repair/Emergency):

Art & Culture (Galleries/Trading Posts/Museums):

Hopi House

Across the parking lot from El Tovar stands Hopi House, designed by Mary Colter. The Fred Harvey Co. wanted a building to sell Indian arts and crafts that represented the local history.

Imax™ Theatre

Located in the town of Tusayan, one mile south of the entrance to the park. The movie is shown in the summer from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and in the winter from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., every hour on the half hour daily. (928) 638-2203.

Permissions

• Trip information is condensed with permission from Native Roads: The Complete Motoring Guide to the Navajo and Hopi Nations, by Fran Kosik, Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, Arizona, 2005. Trip numbers generally coincide with chapter number in the book. Fran's full book contains much more wonderful information on traveling our Native roads. For more detailed information, the book can be purchased from:

  Museum of Northern Arizona bookstore, 3101 N. Ft. Valley Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001; phone #: 928-774-5213 or direct 928-774-5211 + Ext 261. Or, contact the publisher, Rio Nuevo Publishers, PO Box 5250, Tucson, Arizona 85703; phone #: 520-623-9558 or 800-969-9558. Trip numbers generally correspond to chapter numbers.