South Kaibab Trailhead

Welcome, fellow travelers and scholars of the natural world, to the South Kaibab Trailhead. Standing here at the rim of the Grand Canyon, you are about to embark on an intellectual and physical journey into one of the most…

As we step past the trailhead and begin our descent, we immediately encounter a steeply graded set of switchbacks affectionately known as The Chimney. The trail underfoot is wide and deliberately maintained, yet the sudden drop…

We have now descended approximately one mile from the rim, dropping an astounding eight hundred vertical feet to arrive at a dramatic precipice appropriately named Ooh Aah Point. As you turn the corner to face the east, the…

Continuing another half mile downward, we arrive at a broad, relatively flat expanse known as Cedar Ridge. We are now one point five miles from the trailhead, having surrendered over eleven hundred vertical feet to the canyon. …

As we depart Cedar Ridge and navigate along the eastern flank of O'Neill Butte, we must turn our analytical focus downward to the very surface of the trail itself. The descent here momentarily softens, transitioning from…

Three miles from the rim and more than two thousand feet into the abyss, we arrive at the starkly named Skeleton Point. Do not follow the main trail immediately downward. …

For those prepared for the extreme rigors of the inner canyon, the journey from Skeleton Point plunges downward through a notorious sequence known as the Red and White switchbacks. This brutal section forces you to lose five…

Our long descent finally concludes at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, six point three miles from the rim and an astonishing four thousand eight hundred vertical feet below our starting point. Before us spans the Black Bridge, a…