South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon National Park

The Kaibab Trail was an amazing hike. I would highly recommend going with a guide if it is your first time. Hiking the Grand Canyon is not like hiking anywhere else. Even avid hikers can become distressed and need assistance. Be safe, take an expert. Drink fluids but also take salty snacks so you don’t get sick. We took over six hour to reach Cedar Ridge and come back. That is 5% of the trail down to the Ranch at the bottom. It is the perfect place to stop, rest and turn around. We hiked in December so layering was appropriate. It started at 29 degrees and got up to the forties. Perfect weather for hiking. I can’t imagine doing it in the heat of summer. The trail was amazing, the views were spectacular! Definitely worth the trip and excursion.

Really fun scenic trail. Couple miles shorter than the Bright Angel. There’s a small parking lot at the trailhead but not accessible except for shuttles. You can park on the street a mile away. It’s a good scenic warm up to the hike. There are 2 restrooms. We saw goats n mules

Such a fun trail! It is a little steep so the way down might be a little slippery at parts. The way back up is a great workout - I’d recommend you stop your descent at Ooh Aah Point if you’re not the most physically capable. However, the views are beautiful the whole way down.

Awesome hike! We got up at 4:30 am and left Flagstaff hotel at 5 am to arrive around 6:40 am to the visitor center. It was a perfect timing. We had sweatshirts and fall jackets on. Temperature was 23F and warmed up in the canyon while we were hiking for what felt like 65F. Make sure you start your hike before 7 am. We hiked to Skeleton Point and back. On way back it was pretty brutal…. Amazing scenery along the way. Once you are at Skeleton Point, you will see the sign on your right and a off trail path on the left on grass. Head there and walk for 1-2 mins to reach the end and you will see the Colorado River. Great place to have a picnic and spend a few moments. Most regret people have is not spending more time at the end of their destination point. Spend at least 20 mins from to enjoy the scenery.

Going down the South Kaibab trail all the way to Phantom Ranch was a contrastingly unique experience even after going down the Bright Angel trail to get to Phantom Ranch the previous year. Counter-intuitively, this trail isn’t the same or even remotely similar to the Bright Angel trail at least for the first three quarters of the hike down. The length and elevation difference for the hike to Phantom Ranch is about 7 miles / 4800 feet as opposed to the 9.5 miles / 4400 feet while taking the Bright Angel trail.

We saw most distinctive and exclusive views which aren’t visible from the Bright Angel trail including sweeping panoramas that span significantly wider and further just due to the fact that this trial follows a high ridge-line unlike others that drop straight down sometimes resulting in losing your line of sight on the farther landscape. The other most distinctive view was an aerial sight of the river thats a little harder to get with the Bright Angel Trail. There are rest stops at 1.5 and 3 miles on the trail but no water services. That being said, going down both trails were personally once in a lifetime hikes and surely make the list to the most rewarding nature-travel experiences.