Grand Canyon — Bright Angel Trail
Grand Canyon, AZ
Elevation Profile
Current Conditions
Bottom Line
Good window for Bright Angel — clear skies, light winds, and no fires. The real issue is cold nights: 29-30°F in the canyon means freezing temps at the trailhead and potentially icy sections on the upper trail in the early morning hours. Stream flow data in this briefing is from California gauges and not relevant to Bright Angel Creek — expect normal late-fall flows at Pipe Creek and Indian Garden (Havasupai Gardens) based on seasonal patterns.
58°/29°F · Partly Sunny
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0" depth
Elevated flows · 5 gauges
No active fires within 50 miles
10h 25m daylight · Sunrise 7:01 AM · Sunset 5:26 PM
Full Briefing
The overnight lows are your primary planning factor this trip. 29-30°F forecast every night through Thursday at the South Rim means the upper sections of Bright Angel — especially the switchbacks above the 3-Mile Resthouse — will likely have ice on shaded trail surfaces in the early morning. Plan your descent to start after 8:30-9 AM when solar warming has had a chance to work on those north-facing sections, or move carefully through them early. Afternoon highs of 56-58°F are comfortable in the inner canyon, but that temperature swing of nearly 30 degrees means layering is critical at camp. Inner canyon campsites at Bright Angel Campground sit around 2,480 ft and will be warmer than the rim overnight, but still cold enough to freeze water bottles left outside your sleeping bag.
The stream flow gauges included in this briefing are all California Central Coast stations — none of them reflect Bright Angel Creek or Pipe Creek conditions. For actual crossing conditions, Bright Angel Creek at the campground is typically straightforward in November under normal snowmelt and precipitation patterns, and there's been no recent precipitation or snowmelt event to drive elevated flows. No snowpack at any of the nearby SNOTEL stations and stable trends confirm there's no melt-driven surge coming. Crossings should be routine on logs or rock hops.
Daylight is tighter than summer — 10h 25m with sunset at 5:26 PM. If you're doing the full rim-to-river descent today, that's workable, but don't start late. A noon departure from the South Rim gives you about 5.5 hours of light — enough to reach Bright Angel Campground (9.5 miles, ~4,400 ft descent) for a fit hiker, but it's tight. Tomorrow and Thursday are sunny with light easterly winds under 13 mph, so you'll have clean hiking days for your time in the canyon and on the ascent.
No fires within 50 miles and no precipitation in the forecast means air quality is clean and trail conditions are dry. The South Rim area and upper trail will be the coldest part of your experience — once you drop into the Redwall and below, temperatures moderate significantly. Time your ascent on the return for an early start: out of camp by 6:30-7 AM to clear the exposed upper switchbacks before early afternoon, and you'll be back at the rim well before the 5:26 PM sunset.
Waypoints
Bright Angel Trailhead
South Rim trailhead near Bright Angel Lodge. Water and restrooms.
6,857 ft
1.5-Mile Resthouse
Water (May-Sep), shade, and an emergency phone. Turn around here in summer heat.
5,951 ft
3-Mile Resthouse
Year-round water, toilets. Many hikers turn around here. Havasupai Gardens visible below.
5,000 ft
Indian Garden / Havasupai Gardens
Campground and ranger station. Cottonwood trees and year-round water. 4.6 miles from rim.
3,799 ft
Colorado River / River Trail
The river at the bottom. Suspension bridge connects to Phantom Ranch on the north side.
2,480 ft
Route Details
Distance
19.0 mi
Elevation Gain
4,501 ft
Elevation Loss
4,501 ft
Max Elevation
6,857 ft
Estimated Days
1
Trailhead
Bright Angel Trailhead (South Rim)
Best Season
Spring and fall. Summer kills—do not hike below the rim in July/August. Winter cold but manageable.
About This Route
The Bright Angel Trail is the most accessible and heavily used corridor trail into the Grand Canyon, descending 9.5 miles from the South Rim (6,860 ft) to the Colorado River (2,480 ft). The trail follows a fault line, providing water at 1.5 and 3-mile rest houses that makes it more hospitable than most canyon routes. The most common overnight trip combines Bright Angel with the South Kaibab Trail: descend South Kaibab (steeper, more exposed, no shade, no water), camp at Bright Angel Campground or Phantom Ranch, and ascend Bright Angel. This rim-to-river round trip is 20+ miles with 5,000 feet of elevation change—no small undertaking. The primary hazard is heat. The NPS issues "heat kills" warnings from May through September and strongly advises against attempting the rim-to-river trip in a single day during summer. Dozens of people require helicopter rescues each year, usually hikers who descended too far and ran out of water. The canyon wall geology—600 million years of rock strata exposed in cross-section—is a moving experience. The Vishnu Schist at the bottom is 1.7 billion years old.
Plan This Route
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Plan This Route