Grand Canyon South Kaibab, Tonto, and Bright Angel Trails Trip Report - October 10, 2026

Written By Angie

This was a fundraising hike through The Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure, a nonprofit program dedicated to closing the gender gap through outdoor adventure and uplifting women’s stories. I host the See Her Outside Podcast where you can hear more about Get Out, Give Back adventures. Join our email list to join a future trip, and follow us on Instagram! Big thanks to Sunny Stroeer, our Executive Director, for taking and sharing the photos used in this post.

Arrival + Camping at the South Rim:

  • In October 2026, the North Rim facilities and trails are still closed due to the flood event in late summer. The floods also knocked out the water pipeline, so there is currently no running water on the South Rim either. Bring all the water you think you’ll need, plus treatment in case you need to treat from a creek.

  • I rented a car in Phoenix and took about 3.5 hours to arrive at the South Rim. Entrance fee was $35 (I’m a US citizen — unfortunately, it’s much more expensive for international visitors).

  • I parked in a lot near Mather Point with no problem at about 4pm, then found a spot a 2 minute walk to the Bright Angel Trailhead.

  • Arizona Steakhouse had a reservation for us at 4:45pm, but they didn’t open until 5pm. (Their hours are limited with the limited water situation). When they opened we were immediately seated. Folks who didn’t have reservations were turned away at that time. It was my birthday, and we had a wonderful dinner even though it was served on paper plates and in plastic cups!

  • I had a reservation at a tent site in Mather Campground. With the pipeline closure, they had porta potties next to the closed bathrooms, and rental sinks with soap next to them. There were no paper towels because, according to a sign, the ravens were having too much fun stealing them. :) The porta potties always had toilet paper, soap, water and hand sanitizer when I used them! (The campground is overall very noisy with people and traffic, so I don’t personally get a great sleep here.)

Bighorn spotted less than a quarter mile down!

Descent Route via South Kaibab Trail:

We caught the shuttle bus at 6:10am from the backcountry lot, where there were plenty of parking spots at 5:55am. The bus was quite full, but we managed to fit everyone in line, and pick up a few more from the Visitor Center stop. The next stop was the South Kaibab Trailhead, where everyone got out.

There are two vault toilets at the South Kaibab trailhead, so we waited in line as the sun came up. After we finished adjusting our layers and shoes, we didn't have any need for headlamps, and we started off at a slow-for-us pace to be gentle on everyone's knees. We had 5-10 minute stops at the marked lookouts on the way down the South Kaibab trail. There’s no water access along this trail and it warms up very quickly. I took off my puffy almost immediately and didn’t put it back on until we returned to the rim in the evening. I wore running shorts and my sun hoodie (and sometimes a thin rain poncho) for the entirety of the hike.

We spotted a bighorn sheep walking the trail less than a quarter mile from the trailhead!

Rain threatened a couple times, but just very brief drizzle. I put my poncho on at first, but it was quickly not necessary. We mostly had partly cloud, partly sunny skies, and warm temps (probably mid-70s; high at Phantom Ranch weather station was forecast to be about 84).

Traverse via Tonto Trail:

The South Kaibab Trail is closed at the Tipoff, so those looking to get to the river (still ~7-8 miles away) need to take the Tonto Trail west from there, which is in great condition and relatively flat, nothing steep to note. These were our speediest miles, although in direct sunlight (luckily we had clouds coming in and out which cooled it off). I splashed myself down when we crossed little creeks.

We were about 2/3 of the way across when a thunderstorm rolled in. The rain (and small hail) started very quickly, so we rushed to put on our rain layers. I put my poncho on over myself and my backpack in 10 seconds, and was already wet in that time, but comfortable temperature-wise. Was not comfortable being in an open plateau during a thunderstorm, so we got moving towards Havasupai Gardens as soon as we had our new layers.

The storm was centered a bit west of us and coming in from the south, likely due to Tropical Storm Rachel remnants. Although it wasn’t directly overhead, we felt/saw/heard plenty of lightning and thunder and could watch the storm rolling across. The thunder echoed off the endless canyon walls, which was pretty cool despite it being scary!

We got to the junction of the Bright Angel Trail (about 4 miles from Tipoff) just as the storm rolled out. The trails were puddling and a couple sections had a good amount of flowing water. Side drainages were flowing with chocolate milk colored water, creating brown waterfalls. We knew we wouldn’t be descending to the river as planned at that point (both to be mindful of floods, and also for thunder and rain safety).

Havasupai Gardens / turnaround point:

As the sky cleared and the rain drained, we decided to go about a quarter mile down towards the river to have a snack in what we call the “Havasupai Gardens Narrows.” There were nice places to sit and watch the post-storm ecosystem (and some massive puddles where we had no choice but to walk through). We relaxed there, content with our change of plans to shorten the trip and go directly up to the rim instead of down to the river first.

Then we went the less than half a mile up to Havasupai Gardens for the toilets. There is still active construction here. Beware of very well-fed and comfortable squirrels. They’ll get extremely close to humans and attempt to take food from you or your pack. Watch your pack closely! And please do not feed any wildlife or leave scraps of food or trash around. It’s easy to accidentally drop small bits of trash, and a great act of kindness to pick up and pack out bits of trash you find even if you didn’t leave them yourself.

We had plenty of water left (we all carried 4L or so just to be careful), but we refilled our shared spare gallon with creek water and treated it with AquaTabs.

Ascent Route via Bright Angel Trail:

We expected the possibility of more storms, but luckily, the weather held and we were given cloudy skies and pretty lighting for the hike up. We broke into two pace groups (a group of 4 and a group of 3) and regrouped at each resthouse (one 1.6 miles from Havasupai Gardens, and another 1.4 miles after that).

Just below the rim, the faster group waited for the others, but then rain started to quickly roll in, so they walked to the lodge for cover. The slower group got caught in the rain (thankfully without thunder or lightning, but very uncomfortable nonetheless!) for the last quarter mile or so. We got a quick photo at the Bright Angel sign, then we had to beeline to the Bright Angel Lodge for cover and warmth. It was still light out; the whole hike took about 10 hours at a relaxed pace and plenty of stops.

We went back to our respective campsites/hotels for a change of clothes in the pouring rain, then we all met up at Foodie’s in Tusayan for group dinner. Great day, even though it wasn’t as planned!

If you include the resthouse bathroom side quests, my watch logged 15.5 miles, 4,196’ of elevation gain, and 4,524’ of loss.

Impact of our Grand Canyon Women’s Fundraising Team:

This was our “women’s 50+” group, and we had 3 hikers in their 60’s and 2 in their 50’s! Our oldest participant was 69 and was SO strong on the uphill, wow.

This team fundraised $10,100+ that will go directly towards wilderness scholarships for girls and women through our nonprofit, the Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure!

My favorite part is that each of these women will share their experience and stories with others in their lives, showing the strength and impact that women have when they spend time in nature. The ripple effect of women’s outdoor storytelling is incredible. When I was 15 years old, standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon for the very first time, I would’ve never known that it was possible for me to hike across it and back, raft 300 miles of river through it, or lead a fundraising hike for other women. We are all showing other girls and women — of ALL ages — that it’s not only possible, but an approachable option for them to explore.

The team, ages 50-69!

Get Out, Give Back adventures are life-changing for both those hiking and those who receive scholarships because of them.

Listen to the See Her Outside Podcast! We share stories of women who adventure so we can shift media to be more inclusive of all adventurers.

More from me, Angie:

Angie https://itsangiemarie.com
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