General info about hike down to the Grand Canyon - Grand Canyon - General Tips & Advice Reviews

If you have few days to spare at the Canyon, it's seen totally different from the bottom. Do not try to do this trip down and back in one day! Most probably, it will not end happy! Warning: Results seen!

If you wanna do it all the way to the Bright Angel campground, get ready for a great ranch house on the bottom just few minutes away from the campsite! They have ice cold beer and other drinks (non-alcoholic). They also serve dinner, wich you need to request in advance, and a nice choice in breakfast. I only wish I knew that, before we carried all the (dried) food down there!!! There are normal restrooms (just for people who sleep at the ranch... but who knew?!) with regular sinks, and SHOWERS!!!!

You need to take water with you, but once you get down there, there is plenty. And contrary to what many said before we got there, it did not need to be filtered!

Bright Angel campground was beautifully situated, just few steps from the creek! The only thing to cool you off on a hot day! It did get 120F in the sun, however in the shade it wasn't much cooler. At night ranger and interested people met up in the specified place and ranger spoke about different things concerning the Canyon. It was really, really interesting and educational. You can get all the info, once you're down there. There were bilborads there!

On the other hand, Indian Garden was far from the creek, had no activities and there was lots of people there! (A lot of one day hikers.) Plenty of fresh water, no filtration needed, and only portable potties (no sinks, nor showers). Although, it was a great idea to travel from Bright Angel Campground to the Indian Garden, because it's about half way up, therefore it was a pretty easy walk to and from Indian Garden. Also, the rangers down there were pretty nice (we had the campsite right next to the ranger's house). We got some free snacks and ice cold lemonade! They really took care of us there.

Please, remember to pack light! My bag was over 50 lbs, and it was horrible hiking down and then up with it! Dried food wasn't that bad, but get some other food as well, coz you might get sick after 2 days of eating the same thing! And get ready for the dried food to be very salty! ehhh! Getorade and Powerade were the drinks of my choice, since there was plenty of water. They give you much needed energy and taste much better than warm tap water! Do not take too many power bars.... u'll get sick after few days of eating few of them per day! And it's just going to be an uneccesary weight.

Last but not least, you need a permit for an overnight stay! Plan ahead! We requested ours few months before. Not many get lucky and are able to get one few days before their planned stay.

More questions? send me a msg! I'll be glad to help! Enjoy the views!