Our Rim to Rim Itinerary

(Note: Hiking the Grand Canyon is not limited to hiking it on the nicely maintained trails of the north rim to the south rim, or south rim to the north rim. There are many trails and routes other than these people enjoy, but for this blog, I'll be discussing all things rim to rim.)

When it comes to booking a trip to the Grand Canyon if you're going to be descending below the rim, planning is crucial and can be a bit tricky. I'm still a novice on all things Grand Canyon myself, learning as I go, but here are a few important things I can tell you thus far.

When you decide that you're going to tackle a rim-to-rim adventure (meaning you plan on starting at one rim, going down into the Canyon, and climbing out the other rim), the first thing you're going to have to decide is when you will go. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon closes for half the year (closed from October 15- May 15). It's not that you couldn't venture towards or down the North Rim, however, there are no facilities (water stations, bathrooms) or lodging of any kind open. If you were wanting to hike rim to rim during these months, you would be looking at a rim to rim to RIM, meaning after starting from the south and heading to the north, you would need to turn around and go back south to conclude your adventure and climb out of the canyon (making it a round trip of 40+ miles).

That being said, many (not all) people who have their hearts set on hiking Rim to Rim, whether doing it in one or more days, will book their trip during the May 15-October 15 time frame when facilities and lodging are open on both rims of the canyon.

The next catch is that it's hot in the dog days of summer (think June through September). It's not that you can't hike it during these months (or that people don't.... they sure do!), but it is not recommended. Hiking the Grand Canyon rim to rim (especially in one day) in the super-steamy months will vastly increase the risk of dehydration and heatstroke. If you physically get to a point where you cannot continue, I've read that a nice group of people will show up and complete the hike for you, carrying you the rest of the way on a stretcher. Or, in the case of a true medical emergency, the helicopter ride to be airlifted out is not pretty nor cheap. I imagine there's a lot of paperwork involved too.

So, considering the North Rim closure for half the year when it's cold, and the increased health risks of hiking it during the extremely hot months when everything is open, you're left with a handful of weeks to chose from if you're trying to nestle into the sweet spot of open facilities AND bearable weather.

The North rim is very VERY remote, with only one lodging option on the rim itself (The North Rim Lodge), and the next two lodging options miles and miles away not within walking distance (Kaibab Lodge 18 miles and Jacob Lake Inn 45 miles). The South Rim is a bit busier and less remote, with significantly more options for lodging.

For these reasons, lodging in and on the rims of the Grand Canyon is fairly hard to come by during the Goldilocks time frames, and it's critical to book your trip way in advance.

I booked our May 2022 trip in November 2021, and in hindsight, I got really lucky to have found any availability.

Once you have decided when you want to go, start looking at what lodging is available during that time slot. If there is no lodging available, consider flexing your dates if possible, or looking to the following year if your dates are not flexible.

Hiking North to South or South to North is one of the biggest decisions the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hiker will need to answer for themselves, and it will potentially be made for them depending on the availability of lodging.

Another thing to consider if you are doing a rim to rim hike is how you are going to get back to where you started. It may take an entire day to hike from one side to the other, but the drive from one side to the other isn't exactly quick either, clocking in at about 4.5 hours.

Enter the Trans-Canyon Shuttle. https://www.trans-canyonshuttle.com/

The Shuttle Runs from May 15-October 15 and carries hikers twice daily from one side of the Canyon to the other. You must book this shuttle in advance and it costs $90/person.

Staying overnight in the Grand Canyon below the rim could be another post in and of itself. But in short, there are two options. 1. Reservations at Phantom Ranch, the only lodge that exists below the rim (very hard to come by, to give you an idea, there's a lottery you can enter to try and land a room) or 2. Camping. Camping requires a permit and/or a reservation at an established campground. This would also include carrying all of your backpacking equipment on your back during your hike.

Due to the difficulty level involved in scoring a coveted reservation at the allusive Phantom Ranch Lodge, and the less than ideal prospect of carrying more weight on an already difficult hike to be able to camp, this is where many people decide to power through and get themselves from one side of the canyon to the other, all in one day.

In my opinion, the most ideal Rim to Rim Grand Canyon Hike would include a stay at Phantom Ranch in between, so it could be divided up among 2 days, but I have read about people who have been trying to get a reservation for 10-20 years with no success, so frankly it seems on par with a pie in the sky dream to me. I will certainly try and land this dream trip for us at some point, but in the meantime, I didn't want to put my Rim to Rim aspirations on hold indefinitely, so here is the itinerary I have successfully booked.

Sorry for the lengthy lead-in, but hopefully the explanation above has given an idea of the prep and planning it takes to simply book this type of trip. So without further ado-

Friday May 27th:

Fly direct from Detroit to Phoenix

Pick up rental car

Drive to south rim

Stay overnight at Maswik Lodge

Saturday May 28th:

Shuttle from Grand Canyon Village to South Kaibab Trailhead

Hike South Kaibab to North Kaibab (Approximately 21 miles)

Walk from North Kaibab Trail head to North Rim Lodge

Dinner at North Rim Lodge Dining Room

Stay overnight at North Rim Lodge

Sunday May 29th:

Take Trans-Canyon Shuttle from North Rim Back to South rim

Pick up rental car from south rim

Drive to Phoenix

Stay overnight in hotel near airport

Monday May 30th:

Drop off Rental Car at Phoenix Airport

Fly back to Detroit

There it is. All parts of the above itinerary have been booked.

Of note, the most difficult one to the book was the room at the North Rim Lodge. I originally had a room booked at the Kaibab Lodge, which is about 18 miles north of the North rim trailhead. The prospect of getting ourselves from the north rim post-hike to the lodge was very difficult. Kaibab lodge told me that they have a shuttle that they send once a day during the open season to the north trailhead to pick up hikers around 6 pm, BUT... they "don't wait around". That meant we were going to have to make it from the South Rim, 21 miles across the Canyon, to the North rim, BY 6 pm, or we were sort of SOL and potentially stranded on the North Rim. I immediately started looking into booking a room at the North Rim Lodge instead (which is approximately 1.5 miles off the trailhead, a short walk comparatively speaking), but it was completely booked. I checked the North Rim Lodge website three times daily for months until I was finally able to snag a room in February. That was a big relief and will allow us to hike the Canyon without any sort of time crunch or pressure to arrive by a certain time.

In summary, my best advice if you are looking to book a Rim to Rim adventure is to first start by deciding when you want to go, take a look at what lodging is available, and know going into it that lodging at the North Rim will likely be your biggest hurdle. Get your lodging squared away first before anything else, then go from there.

I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into the complete and total pain in the butt that was planning and booking a South to North Rim to Rim in one-day adventure! But of course, it will SO be worth it! We are very excited.

Be on the lookout for upcoming posts outlining training, the importance of hydration/planning out water stops, footwear, essential gear, and more!