The South Kaibab Trail is a 7.1 mile (one way) trail in Grand Canyon National Park, and is one of only three maintained trails within the park. The trail is infamous for its steep grade to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, offering both a quick route down to the Colorado River, and an exhausting but shorter alternative back up to the South Rim to its counterpart, the Bright Angel Trail.

Note that only experienced hikers in excellent shape should attempt even going to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The climb out is unforgiving and dehydration is a very real danger. Also note that the only water along the trail is the Colorado River at the bottom. Please know your limits before attempting this trail.

Of course if you’re sleeping at the bottom of the canyon, this will be the quickest and easiest way down. While the Bright Angel Trail is the longer trail out, it also has water along the way while the South Kaibab Trail has none.

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South Kaibab Trail Description

The South Kaibab Trail begins at the South Kaibab Trailhead near Yaki Point and wastes no time descending, rapidly dropping into the Grand Canyon over large steps that are signature to the trail. The first stretch wanders along a large cliff as you’re brought farther from the rim and into the interior of the canyon, westward views improving and opening up with each step.

At roughly 1 mile in, you reach a switchback in the trail where an eastern view finally opens up, giving you a stunning panoramic vista appropriately named Ooh Aah Point. For those who wanted a taste of the trail and don’t want to tempt fate, this makes for a perfect destination to admire before turning around. The short climb back out will be surprisingly exhausting.

For those pushing onward, the South Kaibab Trail makes a few more switchbacks along the ridgeline that produced Ooh Aah Point on its way down to Cedar Ridge. The views along the way only get more spectacular and more dramatic as you slowly creep deeper into the Grand Canyon.

Cedar Ridge

Cedar Ridge itself is the first of three checkpoints along the South Kaibab Trail, found in the Hermit Shale layer of the canyon, iron producing its strong red color. It has restrooms, sprawling views, and plenty of space to relax and contemplate your climb back out. For hikers who were looking for a great taste of the Grand Canyon, Cedar Ridge makes a great destination. Check out the surrounding terrain, stare into the deep side canyons of the Grand Canyon, and head back out the same way you came in. Most people that continue onward from here aren’t planning on coming back up the same way, or even on the same day.

Beyond Cedar Ridge, the trail continues along the ridgeline, producing increasingly jaw-dropping views both east and west, and of course to the north in front of you. Naturally, as you become more engulfed in the Grand Canyon itself, views both above and below you become more dramatic as you become more a part of the canyon and less a spectator on the rim.

Continued descents and small switchbacks will begin to wind around the eastern side of O’Neill Butte, a massive eroded chunk of sandstone left rising above the surrounding terrain. As you wrap around O’Neill Butte, concentrated sights eastward give you more intimate details of the Grand Canyon.

Soon enough though the butte is behind you and the trail works its way back onto the ridgeline where welcomed views westward open back up. You’ll pass one more smaller butte on your left again before reaching the imposing, Skeleton Point.

Skeleton Point

Skeleton Point is an outcropping of the Redwall Limestone layer of the Grand Canyon and is reached 3 miles down the South Kaibab Trail from the trailhead. Much like Ooh Aah Point and Cedar Ridge, this also makes for a great destination for a day hike for more avid hikers. The Inner Gorge of the canyon is plainly visible here, along with the Colorado River and many more details of the lower parts of the canyon. Below Skeleton Point along the trail awaits a series of brutally steep switchbacks that wrap around the outcropping to bring you deeper into the Grand Canyon.

Along these switchbacks, your eyes are forced back upward toward the trailhead, the Kaibab Limestone layer of the Grand Canyon now dominantly rising high above. It’s a moment that causes you to realize just how quickly and how much you’ve descended in just a short amount of time and distance.

The switchbacks soon come to an end and the trail begins stretching out northward once again as even the vegetation begins to change into a high desert form of life, wildly distant from the forest you began in. After a bit more hiking, you’ll reach The Tipoff, the final checkpoint before the end of the trail.

The Tipoff

The Tipoff is a checkpoint along the South Kaibab Trail, reached after just under 5 miles from the trailhead and producing stunning views of the Inner Gorge of the Grand Canyon as well the Colorado River. It’s at a junction with the Tonto Trail, another trail in the Grand Canyon wandering along the Tapeats Sandstone layer above the Colorado River. It makes for a great place to relax and take a break if needed before pushing onward.

Below The Tipoff the South Kaibab Trail descends directly into the Inner Gorge, made up of the Vishnu Basement Rocks, a strikingly dark layer interjected with moments of color banded through to create a bold contrast. These are the Grand Canyon’s oldest rocks at nearly two million years old!

The trail makes a number of switchbacks and bends as it snakes down the Grand Canyon’s deepest layer. From this point on, the Colorado River will only appear more and more accessible as you continue to drop hundreds and hundreds of feet. On your way you’ll pass by a couple of beautiful overlooks where the river carves through the canyon just below.

Soon enough you reach a small cave. After passing through you emerge on one end of a black suspension bridge, known to most as the Black Suspension Bridge. On top of the bridge, you’re only a few dozen feet above the rushing and mighty Colorado River, the emerald color a byproduct of the Glen Canyon Dam farther upstream. In actuality, the color of the river should be a healthy muddy light brown.

On the other end of the bridge the trail turns into the North Kaibab Trail, following the base of a large cliff just above the river where it soon cuts up with Bright Angel Creek. From here, you hopefully have a reservation at the Bright Angel Campground or at Phantom Ranch, or at least a plan of your visit. Most will head back out via the Bright Angel Trail in the coming days, but plenty of options await! Either way, be smart about hydration and knowing both your routes and limits, and enjoy all you can from the bottom of the Grand Canyon!

Getting There

From Grand Canyon Village, catch a shuttle east toward Yaki Point, getting off at the South Kaibab Trailhead.