Overview

The River Trail is a 1.8-mile connector that runs along the south side of the Colorado River between the South Kaibab Trail (east) and the north end of the Bright Angel Trail at Pipe Canyon (west).

Parts of the trail were hacked from the cliffs by hand crews many years ago, and as such often follows the path of least resistance, which was not right along the river. The trail is described (NPS webpage) as having "little elevation variation [as it] follows the Colorado River," but this is not entirely accurate, as there is considerable steep up and down, even if the two ends are roughly at the same elevation. Perhaps the "little elevation variation" comment is relative to starting at the rim and hiking all the way down.

Presented here are photos of the trail in the westbound direction. For a full description of the trail, including GPS waypoints, see River Trail -- Westbound.

Link to map.