Grand Canyon Hiking

What's a Grand Canyon visit without hiking? Hypothetically, it is like eating bread without jam. Grand Canyon hiking gives you the best chance of seeing the beauty of the park, which no other means can provide.

The Grand Canyon National Park got a total of 30,000 backcountry permit requests for the year 2000 alone. It granted 13,000 permits, allowing about 40,000 guests to camp in the canyon's backcountry. This is a first-time experience for most of them, and even though a lot are fervent hikers, they all insist that Grand Canyon hiking provides a totally different backpacking experience. Everyone who has had the great privilege to indulge in this popular park activity would swear he either can't wait for another chance at it, or vows never to do it one more time.

Grand Canyon hiking can either be a carefree vacation or a true-blue challenge. Depending on how prepared a hiker is, and what particular mood the canyon is like at such time, Grand Canyon hiking may serve to be a huge revelation or a painful ordeal.

The park has a desert climate, and with the canyon's 1.2 million acres, the most part of which is totally inaccessible, Grand Canyon hiking is surely a feat for the bravest. The canyon is divided in half by the Colorado River. Those who want to hike the canyon from one rim to the other have to pass through the river, and should be prepared to handle elevation differential beyond 10,000 feet. Normally, majority of park guests start and finish their hikes at the South Rim.

Grand Canyon hiking at the North Rim is not typical. This is because the North Rim is the remotest part of the canyon. All roads leading towards it are closed due to heavy snow during the winter months. If weather condition permits, the roads are often open starting mid May until the last days of October. Grand Canyon hiking starting at the North Rim down to canyon floor is twice the distance than when hiking at the South Rim to the canyon floor. A roundtrip North Rim hike requires at least three nights.

There are also remote and lesser-traveled trails within the park. And even if most people would presume that Grand Canyon hiking are only appropriate for those who are in the best health conditions, some trails are actually doable even by children. Regardless which trail you choose to trek, your Grand Canyon visit will never be complete without one.