GRAND CANYON: which is better, the North rim or the South rim?

I would say go with the North Rim. The National Forest is really cool, there's tons of dirt roads that lead right out to the rim of the canyon, and if you are spending a night there's lots of free camp sites right on the rim.

I know when I was staying in Zion Canyon, taking a trip to go to the GC and get to hike through some forests was great. Also we hiked through a recovering burn area that was full of gorgeous wildflowers.

It depends a lot on what you are looking for. To ask which is 'better' is really meaningless. It just depends.

First of all, the North Rim is closed until mid May, so if your trip is soon, you can't get there.

If you are going for a first visit, just to look into the Canyon from the rim, or to do some day hikes, the South Rim is much more accessible. There are many, many more viewpoints from the South Rim, and many trails - ranging from the very developed Bright Angel and South Kaibab, to intermediate trails like Grandview and Hermit, to much more wilderness trails like Tanner and New Hance. View points on the South Rim can be crowded, but all you have to do is walk a few hundred feet into the forest and you'll be alone.

Views are better from the South Rim. The Canyon is assymetrical. The South Rim is much closer to the river than the North Rim. From the North Rim, you will mostly be looking into huge side canyons - very impressive - but you will not see the actual inner gorge or the river. Hiking is very limited from the North as well, at least for a casual visitor. There is really only the North Kaibab Trail and a few rim trails.

Locals like the North Rim because it is higher, and thus cooler, in summer. Visitation is also less, but because there are fewer trails and viewpoints, North Rim visitors get concentrated into a smaller area.

Either is great, but we always steer first time visitors to the South Rim. Take a hike down the Grand View Trail and you will not be disappointed.

This is coming from a local who has lived and hiked at the Canyon for the past 25 years.

A few years ago I visted the Havasu Indian reservation. I hiked in and sent my stuff on a mule. It's a differnt world down there, no roads or cars, super poor, people who barely speak English and fantastic views.

The north rim is better simply because it's closer to Zion, which is a much cooler national park than the grand canyon.

I've only been to the North Rim (twice) so I can't really say which is better.

The North Rim has a really rustic feel with an awesome lodge on the edge of the canyon (you've probably seen it in pictures) and some great small cabins available for rental (those probably fill up 12 months in advance though). Hiking there wasn't all that great. It seemed like you were either in the forest and couldn't see the canyon or you were hiking down into the canyon, which is neat, but pretty exhausting on the way out. My primary reason for going to the North Rim is that it's closer to two of my favorite National Parks (Bryce and Zion). The hiking in those parks is awesome.

I'm sure you'll have fun in either place. It's a special place.

this is all dumb, because it all looks the same

unicyclemichael wrote:

A few years ago I visted the Havasu Indian reservation. I hiked in and sent my stuff on a mule. It's a differnt world down there, no roads or cars, super poor, people who barely speak English and fantastic views.

Those Havasu are something else. Since they built that glass platform they've been raking in tons of money. Once you turn off the country road onto their property it's 20 bucks a car to drive down their rutty, shitty, gravel road. Then you have to pay to go out on their glass walkway. Of course you can't take pictures with your own camera. They claim they don't want someone to drop a camera on the glass. But they're more than happy to charge you even more money to take a picture for you!

Rim job.

north rim for sure. less people go there.

[quote]Injun Fighter wrote:

Those Havasu are something else. Since they built that glass platform they've been raking in tons of money...

Paybacks are a bitch.

The South Rim will give you many more opportunities for different views and different hikes down into the canyon.

If you're gonna hike down, pick your trail based on how far you want to go. If you want a short hike with some good views, take South Kaibab. About 1.5 miles down you'll end up on top of some unbelievably high cliffs with amazing views. There are also a lot less people on this trail.

If you want to hike deep into the canyon then take Bright Angel, because it has water stops every 1.5 miles (these are pretty much necessary). It will be somewhat crowded for the first 4.5 miles or so. Once you past the last water stop it will be probably be just you and a few other scattered people along the last 3 miles down to the river. Its a long hike and its tough, but its safe (with all the water stops) and very worthwhile.

I'm suprised they haven't found a way to build casinos out there!

North Rim wins just on account of these Bad Boys:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_55GLukgbBwo/SpVSFWfT0sI/AAAAAAAAC0I/Nz_0Wu2eF8Y/s400/04%2BKaibab%2Bsquirrel%2BGRCA%2BAZ%2B%281024x768%29.jpg&imgrefurl=http://geogypsy.blogspot.com/2009/08/kaibab-squirrely-park-ranger.html&usg=__P3ggJcth9NyRr_Fv28BOHeB0CUg=&h=300&w=400&sz=38&hl=en&start=0&sig2=c8xbUgfsuIO7qD7P8Q2R5g&zoom=1&tbnid=ATix8FFGf--fYM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=178&ei=3LlITYuGE4f0tgOikLj_Cg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkaibab%2Bsquirrel%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D583%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C42&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=547&oei=t7lITZPJHI24sAPrlfGeCg&esq=4&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&tx=65&ty=48&biw=1280&bih=583

south rim is a little too close to the hole

Depends when you go. North rim is closed through mid-May but in my opinion is a better way to go.

canyoneer wrote:

Either is great, but we always steer first time visitors to the South Rim. Take a hike down the Grand View Trail and you will not be disappointed.

Yep. I have to agree with this. I've only been to the South Rim and stayed at Phantom Ranch once with some friends. You have to book the place a year in advance but well worth it. Best time to go is in the spring March/April and even then you have to make sure you bring plenty of water/snacks. Dress in layers. We started out wearing long pants/jackets and then had to strip down to shorts and short sleeves by the end of our journey.

The road at Jacob Lake will indeed be open before Mid-May if there is no snow. I've been up there as early as mid-April (and could have went in earlier if I wanted) and other years they had to plow it to get employees in to set up the lodge. I used to work there. And to those that say the hiking is no good off of the North Rim...then spread the word and let's keep it that way.

The north rim feels more secluded and woodsy. I found it much more enjoyable than the south rim.