Grand Canyon South Kaibab to North Kaibab

May 16, 2026 / ?????’

RT STATS: TOTAL TIME - 10 HR & 2 MIN, 21.93 MILES, AND 6,329’ ELEVATION GAIN

TIME STATS: 3 HR & 27 MIN TO Phantom ranch, 23 MIN AT SUMMIT, 3 HR & 56 MIN BACK TO TH

RATING (HOW MUCH I LIKED THE HIKE): 8/10

So, this post continues off of the Humphreys Peak post! After hiking Humphreys Peak on Thursday, May 14, we drove to Tusayan where we would stay for the next 3 nights. Tusayan is a very, very small town just outside of the Grand Canyon National Park. We stayed at the Holiday Day Inn Squire resort.

On Friday, we woke up and drove into the Grand Canyon National Park around 6:30am. This was my first time seeing the Grand Canyon in person! We parked in a visitor parking lot and walked a few minutes to the Mater Point Overlook! The pictures are below…the Grand Canyon looked fake seeing it in person. It was very neat! Soon after this, we drove more into the resort area of Grand Canyon Village, parked the car, and got breakfast at the Harvey House Cafe inside of the Bright Angel Lodge. I was surprised how reasonably priced the place was!! After getting breakfast, we walked around a bit outside looking more at the Grand Canyon. We then went to the Backcountry Office to get some more information. After this, we drove and went to a different outlook spot on the Grand Canyon…to be honest, you can only see the Grand Canyon from so many different spots before it all looks the same. We then went to the Grocery Store and I stocked up on my nutritious food for the hike: cinnamon raisin bagels, pretzels, Haribo gummy bears, and trail mix.

We went back into Tusayan for a bit and then I did my PT exercises. Soon after this, we went back into the Grand Canyon Village and, guess what, we ate lunch at the Harvey House Cafe. Haha, so creative ;). Actually, we went to the Yavapai Lodge originally to get lunch but there weren’t many options and the atmosphere was kind of dull, so I suggested to my dad that we go back to Bright Angel Lodge to eat. After lunch, we looked for a few minutes inside the historical museum type of area and then got ice cream at the Bright Angel Fountain. Soon after this, we drove over to another overlook and looked around. We then drove back to Tusayan, chilled at the hotel for a bit, and got dinner at the hotel. I got lasagna again, what a surprise!

Ok, so, now is time to start talking about the fun part—Grand Canyon R2R! The plan was to hike from the South Rim to North Rim and then take the reserved shuttle back. The shuttle would be departing the North Kaibab trailhead at 6pm. To be extra safe, I had no interest in missing the shuttle (because you are pretty screwed if you do…you’d either need to hike back or hope that a stranger is willing to drive you 4 hours back to the South Rim). Therefore, the plan was to wake up at 12am, leave the hotel by 12:30am, park the car near the Backcountry office, call and take the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead, and then start the hike.

So, Saturday morning started with a nice 12am wakeup! I went to sleep around 7:40pm or so the night before, so I slept a few hours at least. We left the hotel just after 12:30am, parked the car around 1am, called the shuttle, and the shuttle came to pick us up a few minutes later. The shuttle drive over to the trailhead was about 10 minutes. While we were on the shuttle, two people called to get rides (the second caller cancelled when the driver said it would be 45 minutes…I’m thankful we didn’t have to wait to get picked up). We got to the trailhead around 1:15am and then got started at 1:24 am.

As you can assume, the first few hours were in headlamps, given the 1:24am start. The hike down was quite windy at parts! Not enough to even worry about being blown off the trail, but it was surprising how windy it was. I started in my warm Northface jacket, but less than 30 minutes later I had to take it off. I also started in leggings and took them off around 1 hour and 50 minutes in because I was too warm! I didn’t take many pictures on the hike down because it was pitch dark and therefore, there was not much to see. Sometimes for fun, when I was stopped, I would turn my headlamp off and I found it amusing how dark it was without my headlamp. My favorite part of hiking down was looking up and seeing the stars in the sky. It was incredible!

It started getting barely light enough to not need a headlamp when we had descended all of South Kaibab and were now at the river. It really flattened out once we got to the river and then it was about another 15 minutes until we got to Phantom Ranch. This was our main stop…we were there for about 25 minutes, refilled water, ate snacks, and put on sunscreen. It was pretty neat seeing all the cabins and everything down there. Around 5:20am, we left Phantom Ranch and were back on our way hiking.

The next many miles were relatively were flat. Yes, we were gaining minimal elevation, but as you can see by the elevation plot, there was about X miles of relative flatness. It was surreal hiking through the Grand Canyon and seeing the views from the bottom. I kept saying how cool this was to my dad during the hike. The next couple hours were relatively shaded and no sun exposure. I didn’t take out my hat and sunglasses to wear until maybe around 7:30am.

Around this time, I was also thinking how way ahead of schedule we are (i.e. we started way too early). At 8am, we got to the Manzanita Rest Area—this was the last place to fill up water since the water at the North Kaibab trailhead was off. At Manzanita, I saw the famous trailrunner Ashley Paulson, which was pretty neat. Beginning around Manzanita is when the elevation really started picking up. The North Kaibab trail is fairly smooth and easy to hike. With that being said, it definitely is more loose/rocky than South Kaibab, so, even though I’m sure it would’ve been perfectly fine hiking down North Kaibab in the dark, it was nice we hiked down South Kaibab in the dark.

We made it to the Coconino Overlook at 11:06am and made it to the North Kaibab trailhead at 11:27am, officially finishing R2R! With that being said, it was now a 6.5 hour wait until the shuttle…yikes! I am very thankful I brought a clean change of clothes—this was a relief. The next 6.5 hours were LONG. I always used to bring my portable phone battery charger on hikes, but I don’t have them anymore so I need to conserve the battery. Instead, I passed time by literally people watching at the trailhead for the next 6 hours.

Some of the interesting things at the trailhead: 1) there was a guy that supposedly passed out on the trail and then he was getting a liquid IV from a stranger. He was at the trailhead for multiple hours and then he went back down the trail, presumably to hike back to the South Rim. It was the strangest thing ever. 2) This group of 3 guys were planning to do R22R but were completely toast from what they were saying. They had their friend drive literally 3-4 hours to come to pick them up. Honestly, that is a great friend. 3) There were multiple other people that were asking about shuttles or rides back. This couple got a ride back to the South Rim with a stranger. Keep in mind…it is not a short drive. It is a multi-hour drive, so, in my opinion, that is a big ask to get a ride from someone you don’t know! 4) There was a guy with a Charleston lacrosse shirt who said his parents live in Mt. Pleasant, that was cool.

Eventually, the shuttles came and started loading. I think that there were 4 vans total. It was about a 30 minute drive to the North Kaibab Lodge. It was supposed to be a short layover but it ended up being a little over a hour. We didn’t depart the lodge until around 7:45pm. The delay was because they were picking back up about 10 people at the North Kaibab trailhead who were not there when it left. You were supposed to be at the trailhead at 5:30pm for the 6pm departure. Of course, I do not know any of these people's situation/reason for being late, but honestly, how can you miss the shuttle. This place is relatively the middle of nowhere.