Camping in the Grand Canyon

Heading to the Grand Canyon for the first week of March... as a result of not planning ahead we are unable to camp at the Corridor Trail campsites as they're full. Does anyone have experience hiking the Threshold Trails and staying at the campsites in the Threshold areas? Details such as difficulty of the trails, access to water, etc would be appreciated.

Also considering the Hualapai Trail in the Havasupai Reservation - any info about this trail would be great too. (The entrance/camping fees seem outrageous here compared to the National Park!)

Thanks and happy trails.

Sandra

Hi sandra...

Where to begin... first off, lets deal with the "hualapai trail". This is the trail to the famous "Havasupai falls" area, about which there are numerous posts on TT. Althought the falls are deservedly world-famous, I consider this area to be a poor choice for your first and/or only GC hike. For one, you never really get to see the main part of Grand Canyon - you're in a large side canyon the whole time. The main destination are the falls themselves, and the hike there is long and mostly pretty tedious. if you're looking for anything resembling a wilderness experience, this ain't it. The trail is also the main commerce route for the Havasupai Village - which, BTW is pretty grubby and uninteresting beyond the inherent interestingness of a town at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The campground is nice when empty but tends to get crowded and dirty on spring weekends. In early march the hordes won't have arrived yet, but it'll still be too cold to swim in that gorgeous creek. And its really expensive. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my several trips there and the falls deserve to be as famous as they are, but I don't consider it top-notch Grand Canyon backpacking by any means.

If memory serves, the "Threshold" trails include Grandview, Tanner, and Hermit, and the sections of Tonto trail around Horseshoe mesa and between Hermit and Bright Angel...right? All are nice areas, all are different. All are more difficult than the main corridor trails...with the exception of the Tonto trail, which is a mostly level trail that connects the major up-down trails (very handy). As far as which one I recommend, well, at this point that doesn't matter - they're all good and you'll be much more limited by which permits are available. I'm going to assume that you're both fit, experienced hikers, which may or may not be a bad idea. if you are not, don't read the rest of this post - try to pick up one of the few spots they hold in the corridor areas for last-minute walk-ins. if you are experienced backpackers, read on...

How long do you have? here's some 3-day or longer itineraries:

Down Hermit, 2 nights (day hike to Colorado river middle day). Water at Santa Maria Spr (2 miles) Hermit Creek Camp and the river.

Down Grandview to Horseshoe Mesa, loop around hance and Cottonwood Creeks using Tonto trail. Water at Page Springs, Hance Creek, Cottonwood Creek (NONE at Horseshoe Mesa campsites). nice hike, but you never get to the river.

Down Tanner to River. Water only at the river. Tanner is a long and punishing decent (9-10 miles) but its very beautiful and there's a fine campsite 1/2way (dry) if you want to break up either the descent or ascent.

Hermit to Bright Angel via Tonto trail (3 - 4 days). Water at hermit camp, Monument Creek, MAYBE a few other springs (talk to rangers for latest conditions).

Hermit to Boucher trail (3-4 days), water at santa maria spr., hermit camp, boucher creek, river, and Dripping Spr. Boucher Trail is more primitive than others, but still a great route.

New Hance to Grand view (3-4 days), one of the best routes off the south rim, New Hance is more difficult than others but still very reasonable for fit and experienced hikers. Water at river, as well as Grandview trail water sources listed above.

This list should be enough to get you a permit, especially if you are willing to make a few unconventional detours along the way (backtracking, camping in dry or unusual locations). any route can be done in reverse also, so that should help. Get out your map and familiarize yourself with the the geography. That way you can have more rational conversation with the backcountry officer - and they'll think you have a clue, which goes a long way towards getting them to help you plan an itinerary in the threshold and prmitive areas. if you have any additional or more detailed questions, post back or drop me a PM.

Wow..I had to apply in January 2006 to hike to the bottom and camp in May 2006. Not sure if you can get a permit for March with it being February already.

May is harder to get permits for than the beginning of March. Also, it depends on the areas you are trying to get a permit for. The main corridor areas are almost always full...some of the remoter wild areas are almost always available. The areas I suggested above are sometimes, but not always full in advance. Given enough options and some creativity, you can usually get a permit for one of the these areas.

1 did as good a job as anything I've seen. Only thing to add is to also check with Phantom Ranch. Sometimes when the campgrounds are full they still have dorm accomodations open.

Ed