Hiking Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim in One Day – Travel With a Positive Altitude

Hiking across the Grand Canyon in one day was one of the most grueling, yet rewarding experiences of our lives. Many people elect to break the hike into two large chunks, spending the night at Phantom Ranch in the bottom of the canyon. Getting a reservation here involves logistics and luck, as there is a lottery system for the few spots available. Short on time and with our dates locked in for late May, we set our eyes on making the traverse from the North to the South Rim in one big push.

The devastating Dragon Bravo Fire in July 2025 means this hike is not currently possible to complete as we’ve written it here. The historic Grand Canyon Lodge burned down in this fire and damage was done to the North Kaibab trail, resulting in a closure. But we wanted to document and share our experience in the hopes that this type of itinerary can be resurrected soon, and maybe even some tidbits of the information shared will prove useful to those planning their own hike.

Pick Dates

Due to extreme summer temperatures in the inner canyon and to align with the opening and closing of North Rim services, there is wide consensus on the best time to hike Rim to Rim. And guess what? It’s a really short window! May 15-30 and October 1-15. We hiked on May 22, 2025. Picking your dates early is important for the next step…

Secure Lodging

Lodging on the North Rim is extremely scarce, especially if you want to stay right on the rim. While the historic Grand Canyon Lodge was destroyed in the Dragon Bravo Fire, we stayed there on our trip in a Frontier Cabin. Reservations opened up 365 days prior to the North Rim opening on May 15th, and we booked our room that very day, one year in advance. These rooms sell out very quickly, so this is something you’ll definitely want to stay on top of. The room was rustic, but got the job done for one night. We really hope there are plans to rebuild the lodge whose location and interior were gorgeous. It was such a special place.

Secure Transportation

If you have friends and family who are willing to help with transportation to/from one of the rims, that is excellent. If not, we found the most convenient option to be booking a seat on the Trans-Canyon Shuttle. The shuttle picked us up outside Bright Angel Lodge on the South Rim at 1:30pm the day before our hike. We then made the 5-hour drive to the North Rim and were dropped off at the Grand Canyon Lodge.

While it was certainly a long drive, it was beautiful and broken up by two stops. One was at a gas station to load up on snacks and use the restroom. The second was at the Navajo Bridge in Glen Canyon which also had restrooms and some really great views of the Colorado River. Our driver was friendly and efficient and we had a great experience with the service.

We also used Trans-Canyon Shuttle to send our “luggage” (a small bag of clothes, toiletries, and electronics we didn’t need for the hike) back to the South Rim the next day while we hiked across.

Train and Test Equipment & Nutrition

It’s probably obvious, but in the months leading up to the hike, training is crucial. This will look different for everyone but for us we spent as much time hiking, with full backpacks, as we could. Anything with lots of elevation changes and time on feet was key. To help prepare for the extreme elevation changes during the hike, I also added weighted step ups to my workout routine. Coming from the East Coast near sea level, we were at a slight disadvantage in terms of heat and elevation training. We were fortunate enough to arrive in Arizona nearly two weeks before our hike and were able to reasonably acclimate to both.

Make sure to test all your equipment and put it through its paces before arriving in Arizona. Everything from hiking boots to socks to backpacks. We made sure to test out equipment on our training hikes that was new to us, like the water filtration system we purchased. Testing nutrition is key too, in order to make sure your body agrees with what you’re ingesting that may be out of the norm. For example, for us that meant testing the Liquid IV hydration packets on longer hikes.

Plan Your Route

It may seem simple to plan a route to hike Rim to Rim, but in reality there are a myriad of different trails to take you across the two points. Checking the Grand Canyon National Park’s Key Hiking Messages when planning your trip and even in the days prior is absolutely recommended. Here you can find out about planned trail closures, seasonal water availability, and weather forecasts.

When we did our hike in May 2025, the Trans-Canyon Waterline Project was in full swing. This meant that when hiking North to South, the “shortest” and most common route was closed to us. Instead, after reaching Phantom Ranch, we had to cross Black Bridge, hike up a portion of South Kaibab and then over on the Tonto Trail until it met up with Bright Angel at Havasupai Gardens.

Pack Lots of Snacks!

It takes a LOT of fuel to hike Rim to Rim in a day. While water is a huge component, so are salty snacks. The goal is to avoid hyponatremia, where you drink too much water without enough salt to replenish sodium levels, creating an electrolyte imbalance that can have serious consequences.

We essentially reverted to our 8th grade selves when packing snacks for our hike. I assembled PB&J sandwiches in our hotel room the day before and we amassed a pile of sweet and salty goodness. Beef jerky, Cheez-Its, roasted nuts, trail mix, mango slices, Nerds Gummy Clusters, protein bars, peanut butter-filled pretzels, and cookies.

The Big Day | Our Experience

After a night of lying in bed, full of nervous anticipation, we only got something barely resembling sleep before our 3am alarm went off. We hopped out of bed and downed a small cup of coffee in our room before packing up and heading to the lodge to drop off our extra bag for luggage transfer. At 3:28am we set off under a sparkling canopy of stars down the Bridle Path Trail which would connect us with the North Kaibab trailhead. While this added a bit of hiking to our overall trip, we actually appreciated the flat, easy, peaceful path. It gave us the chance to warm up, work out some jitters, and eat our breakfast bars. In 30 minutes we arrived at the trailhead with plenty of other headlamped hikers.

Temperatures were in the mid-30s and it was very windy at the start, but we were fine in shorts coupled with sun hoodies and gloves. North Kaibab heading down had some areas of loose rock and sand-covered slippery stone, but for the most part we were able to fly down the trail and felt very strong. The loss of over 5,700 feet of elevation along this trail was something we trained for, and it paid off. As sunlight began to illuminate the canyon, we smiled at the spectacle and removed our headlamps around 5am, just as we crossed our first bridge on trail. The North Rim is SO different than the South Rim, with trees and gorgeous rock formations. We’d argue it’s more beautiful.

Before hiking, we had mapped out each of the key points along the way, noting rough mileage to reach each site and whether or not there were toilets and/or water turned on for the season. Trying to keep a strong pace to take advantage of the low temperatures, we treated these as if they were pit stops in an F1 race. Refill water, hit the toilet, gobble handfuls of food, and go!

At the bottom of the canyon we hiked along the narrow creek as the walls really squeezed in creating an oven-like effect. We had reached the infamous “Box”. This stretch from Cottonwood Campground to Phantom Ranch is notorious for sweltering temperatures and is the hottest part of any Rim to Rim hike. Thankfully, temperatures still felt really comfortable for us as it was early enough in the morning and we were able to stay in the shade all the way until reaching Phantom Ranch.

After 6 hours of hiking, we reached Phantom Ranch at 9:30am, 30 minutes ahead of our planned goal of 10am! Phantom Ranch, a historic lodge at the bottom of the canyon, held an almost mythical spot in our mind. You can only reach it on foot, by mule, or by rafting the Colorado River.

While it was amazing to finally stand at this storied place, it honestly felt kind of dumpy and was one of our least favorite parts of the hike. It was home to a bottleneck of hikers stopping as part of their own Rim to Rim journeys. The toilets were not working and squirrels ran rampant, ransacking unsuspecting hikers’ unattended packs.

On the bright side, the icy cold lemonade was as life-giving as we expected. And, we were able to mail postcards to be taken up by mule!

After Phantom Ranch was where the heat really set in. We had wet our Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad Cooling Towels at the ranch and slung them around our necks to offer at least some relief. We crossed Black Bridge over the Colorado River and saw lots of passing rafters. At this point the sun was insanely brutal with temperatures soaring to 104 degrees.

As we climbed up South Kaibab, there was zero shade. Although some people elect to take the shorter South Kaibab trail all the way to the rim, that was not in our plan due to the lack of shade and water sources. Arduous as our climb was, we knew salvation in the form of a shaded shelter was available at the Tip Off point. I had to take breaks in the two tiny patches of shade offered by rock overhangs. Here, I gave myself pep talks. I had trained for this and I could do it!

In what felt like one of the longest hours of our lives, after climbing numerous switchbacks, we arrived at the glorious Tip Off. The sun shelter even had benches inside and…there was a breeze! We ate our P&J sandwiches here and had a nice long rest before traversing the 4.6-mile Tonto Trail. This trail would connect us with Bright Angel to begin our climb up and out of the canyon. While Tonto Trail was relatively flat, there was also zero shade here and it felt absolutely endless. By the end, from the extreme heat our cooling towels had dried up and the water in our packs was almost boiling.

At long last we reached Havasupai Gardens. We tried to rest on benches, but even in the shade it was 95 degrees. There was little relief to be found. We also knew we needed to keep eating, but the beef jerky we snacked on tasted like paper, our mouths producing little saliva by this point, and coated with a fine layer of trail dust.

Reluctantly we set out. Just 4.5 miles to the top, with resthouses every 1.5 miles. We’ve got this, right? Well, for me, the first 1.5 miles were absolute hell. My heart was beating out of my chest the entire time, and I felt overheated and just plain exhausted. I needed to plop down on a rock at nearly every switchback. And even then, still felt weak. Mike, on the other hand, was totally rocking the hike and so supportive of me (and patient). It took almost 1.5 hours to travel 1.5 miles, but we made it to the 3-Mile Resthouse! Here, we sat in the shaded shelter for 30 minutes drinking an entire bottle of Liquid IV and eating a lot of food. I felt SO much better after this point and could finally enjoy life again.

As we made our way up more switchbacks to the 1.5-Mile Resthouse, the trail was now mercifully mostly in the shade. Feeling rejuvenated, we only briefly stopped here to stick our heads under the water spiggot and eat a pack of Oreos before heading up.

With the end in sight and the last, long switchback to go, I got kind of emotional. I was beyond thrilled to have made it, but kind of sad it was over after a year’s worth of planning, training, and build up.

At 5:14pm, we topped out at the Bright Angel Trailhead. Elated, we had the most perfect picture taken at the trailhead sign. The woman who took our photo was in a family getting ready to hike down into the canyon the next day and go on a rafting trip. In what may be one of the greatest compliments we’ve ever received, she asked if we were just starting our hike. We were delighted someone would think we looked (or smelled) like people just beginning a hike.

We celebrated this hiking feat in our favorite fashion, by heading over to the tavern and toasting with 2 pints! This was a day that will live on as a cherished memory for the rest of our lives.