Preparing: Things to Do

Determine your route

Most of your planning will revolve around the type of hike you are doing. Determining your route is one of the first things you need to do when planning to hike the canyon. While the north/south trails (North Kaibab, Bright Angel, south Kaibab) are the most common hiking routes, there are literally hundreds of miles of backcountry trails throughout the canyon, such as the Tonto Trail which runs a great distance parallel to the river on the south side. In my opinion, if you are planning your first trip, you can hardly go wrong choosing the Bright Angel/Kiabab trails. For logistical reasons, many people start on the South Rim, hike down to Phantom Ranch (Bright Angel Campground) or Indian Garden and loop back to the top. While this is certainly a fantastic hike, it just didn't offer the same level of intrigue and anticipated sense of accomplishment as the rim to rim offered us. Another thing that you must consider is the logistics of a one-way hike. The road trip to the North Rim from the South Rim is a 4 hour drive as there is only one place that cars can cross the canyon, far east at the Navajo Bridge. We were also warned that after mid-October they stop plowing the roads on the north rim and if the weather hits there is a chance that you won't be able to get to the North Rim park at all. Fortuntately that didn't come in to play with us and TransCanyon Shuttle got us to the other side with no problems.

Get your passes!

As I have shared my experience with many friends and family, one thing that has surprised a lot of people is that you have to submit an application and be approved for permits to hike the canyon. If you are just day hiking, this isn't an issue, but if you plan on spending at least one night in the canyon, passes are mandatory. In order to get your pass, you need to fax your application into the backcountry office on the 1st day of the month 4 months before the month you plan on hiking.

All faxes that come in that day are selected in lottery fashion, so don't worry about trying to get it in first that day. Your efforts will be wasted. It is extremely difficult to get approved during the peak season. We tried in May for a September hike and were denied. When we tried again in June for November we initially got a letter again rejecting us, but the next day received our passes in the mail telling us we were accepted. We decided not to ask too many questions and just slap that permit on the backpack and go!