Bright Angel Trail

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This article is about the hiking trail from the south rim of Grand Canyon. For the trail at the north rim, see Bright Angel Point Trail.

Bright Angel Trail
Indian Garden and Three Mile Resthouse from Bright Angel Trail
Length	8.1 mi; 13.0 km
Trailheads	Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon (South Rim)
Use	Hiking
Elevation Change	4380 ft (1335 m)
Highest Point	South Rim, 6860 ft (2091 m)
Lowest Point	Colorado River, 2480 ft (756 m)
Trail Difficulty	Strenuous
Season	All year
Sights	Grand Canyon Colorado River
Hazards	Severe Weather Overexertion Dehydration

The Bright Angel Trail is a hiking trail located in Grand Canyon National Park in the U.S. state of Arizona.

Contents 1 Description 1.1 Condition 1.2 Water availability 1.3 Camping 1.4 Hazards 2 History 2.1 Ralph Cameron 2.2 Kolb brothers 2.3 Competition with Cameron 2.4 NPS control 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Description

Mileages and features along Bright Angel Trail ^[1]

Distance (mi)	Elv (ft)	Location	Trail Junction
0	6860	Trailhead, South Rim	Rim Trail
1.5	5729	Mile-and-a-half Resthouse
3	4748	Three Mile Resthouse
4.9	3800	Indian Garden	Tonto Trail
8.1	2480	River Resthouse, Colorado River	River Trail

The trail originates on the south rim of Grand Canyon and descends 4380 feet in elevation to the Colorado River. It has an average grade of 18% along its entire length. At trail's end, the River Trail continues another 2 miles to the Bright Angel Campground and Phantom Ranch. These two trails combined are the most common method used to access Phantom Ranch by hikers and mules.

There are two trails that cross or join this trail. The first being the Tonto Trail at Indian Gardens which leads towards the Monument Use Area to the west (the east leads to the South Kaibab Trail 4.7 miles from the junction), and the River Trail which officially begins when the Bright Angel Trail reaches the Colorado River at the River Resthouse, although some consider that the Bright Angel Trail officially ends after crossing the Colorado River at the Silver Bridge.

[edit] Condition

Grand Canyon National Park categorizes the Bright Angel Trail as a corridor trail. With this designation it receives regular maintenance and patrols by park rangers. ^[2]

[edit] Water availability

Water is available from the trans-canyon pipeline at the Mile-and-a-half Resthouse, the Three Mile Resthouse, and Indian Garden. During cooler months (usually October-April) the two resthouses are shut off from the water supply to prevent the pipeline from freezing.

Below Indian Gardens, both Garden Creek and Pipe Creek flow year-round (perennial). Water is also available at the River Resthouse from the Colorado River. All water from natural sources must be filtered, treated, or boiled prior to consuming. ^[3]

[edit] Camping

Hikers may only camp at Indian Garden, where they can stay overnight with a permit issued by the Grand Canyon National Park Backcountry Information Center. Use of the campground overnight is regulated by the National Park Service, and they call for a maximum number of groups (7 to 11 people) and parties (1 to 6 people), as well as a maximum total number of persons. ^[4]

Overnight camping areas along Bright Angel Trail

Area	Name	Type	Group(s)		Parties	Max People
CIG	Indian Garden	Campground	1	and	15	50

Use permits are available on a first-come, first-serve basis from the park's Backcountry Information Center. Requests are taken beginning on the 1st day of the month, up to four month's before the requested first night of camping. ^[5]

[edit] Hazards

Hazards hikers can encounter along the Bright Angel Trail include dehydration, sudden rainstorms, flash flooding, loose footing, rockfall, encounters with wildlife, and extreme heat. At the Colorado River, additional hazards include hypothermia (due to the river's consistently cold temperatures), trauma (due to collisions with boulders in rapids), and drowning. ^[6]

[edit] History

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The trail was originally built by the Havasupai (Havasu 'Baaja) Native American tribe for access to the perennial water source of present day Garden Creek. The Havasu settled seasonally in this area, now known as Indian Garden.

[edit] Ralph Cameron

Ralph H. Cameron, who would later become a United States Senator (R-AZ 1921-1927), settled on the canyon rim in 1890 and began improving the old Havasupai trail. It was at this time that the trail was extended all the way to the Colorado River. Once official control of the trail fell to Cameron, he named it the Cameron Trail and began charging a $1 toll to access it.

[edit] Kolb brothers

Ellsworth Kolb ^[7] arrived at Grand Canyon to work at the Bright Angel Lodge in 1901. He was employed as a bellboy. The next year, Ellsworth invited his brother Emery to come to the canyon as the possibility of mine work opened up. However, John Hance's asbestos mine closed before he arrived, leaving Emery unemployed.

Shortly after this, Emery discovered a photography business for sale in Williams, Arizona. He purchased the business for $425 and moved the operation back to Grand Canyon. He and Ellsworth began taking photographs of visitors who took the mule rides down Cameron's trail, charging a fee for the pictures. The Cameron family leased a small piece of land nearby to Emery, where the two brothers set up a photography studio in a tent to develop and sell their photos.

The business was extremely profitable, and after a few years the Kolb brothers built their permanent studio building on the rim of the canyon. Rock was blasted away to provide the foundation for the building, which is perched slightly below rim level.

Ellsworth left the venture in 1924, but Emery continued operating the studio until his death in 1976. The present-day Kolb Studio is operated by the Grand Canyon Association as a gift shop, art studio, and history center.

[edit] Competition with Cameron

To compete with Cameron, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad improved an existing horsetheif trail in Hermit Canyon (the Hermit Trail) in 1910. Beginning in 1918, the newly created National Park Service began construction of the South Kaibab Trail near Yaki Point as an additional bypass for Cameron's tolls. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] NPS control

After a long series of legal battles, Cameron ceded control of the trail to the National Park Service, who stopped charging the $1 toll. The NPS renamed the trail Bright Angel Trail in 1937.

[edit] References

1. ^ Grand Canyon National Park, Overnight Use of Trans-canyon Corridor Trails, Winter edition
2. ^ Backcountry Management Plan, Grand Canyon National Park, Appendix G, Section C, p.39
3. ^ Grand Canyon National Park Backcountry FAQ, Treating Water
4. ^ Grand Canyon National Park Use Areas
5. ^ Grand Canyon National Park Backcountry Use Permit Procedure
6. ^ Grand Canyon National Park Summer Hiking
7. ^ Kolb Brothers Bio Grand Canyon Explorer

[edit] See also

• Ralph H. Cameron
• List of trails in Grand Canyon National Park

[edit] External links

• Grand Canyon National Park, Official site
• Grand Canyon Explorer

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 36.05743° -112.14284°
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Satellite image from Google Maps
  • WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
  • Aerial image from TerraServer-USA
  • Location in the United States from the Census Bureau