16. Trail View Overlook

You are now looking down at the Bright Angel Trail, the principle route used for centuries to enter and exit the Grand Canyon. The trail follows a natural path created by the Bright Angel Fault Line. This earthquake causing fault provided sufficient breaks in the major formations in the canyon to allow Native Americans to gain relatively easy access to Indian Gardens and the Colorado River. With the arrival of miners in the late 19th century, this route was developed to allow for mule travel up and down the corridor. Pioneer miner Ralph Cameron gained rights to the route and established the Cameron Toll Road. For the cost of $1, visitors to the canyon could pass down the trail for visits to the canyon. Although a popular destination for tourists, the trail was considerably steeper than the one you see before you today. With the arrival of the park service, efforts were made to purchase the toll route and allow easier access into the canyon. To bypass this route, the Park Service decided to create another route into the canyon. The South Kaibab Trail – located five miles to the east, was created in 1924 and is still in use today.  With a free route to the bottom, business for the toll road quickly dried up and Cameron sold his rights to the trail.

Let your eyes follow the trail down into the canyon. The switchbacks before you allow the Bright Angel Trail to pass through numerous geological formations. Each one has a different character. The limestone and sandstone layers tend to erode away in large chuncks, making for sheer cliff walls. The redder mudstone or shale layers erode away like mud, creating much more gradual slopes. For hikers and riders going down the Bright Angel Trail, they will experience a gradual change in weather and climate. By the time they get to the bottom, the canyon will be about 20-25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer. The plant and animal life will have also changed considerably. As it gets dryer in the canyon, they will leave behind the Ponderosa and Pinyon Pines you see it the top. These will be replaced by scrub oaks, service berry and a host of other bushes. As they make it down to Indian Garden, a thin ribbon of willows and cottonwoods thrive along the banks of the spring, providing much needed summertime shade. A trip all the way to the bottom recreates the landscape of northern Mexico – cacti, ocotillos, and cats claw acacia become the dominant desert plant species. Summer time high temperatures down at Phantom Ranch usually stay above 100 degrees throughout the summer months, with an average annual rain fall of 9 inches. At the top of the Canyon, temperatures seldom go above 80 degrees, with annual precipitation of nearly 16 inches.