Hiked the Rim Trail at Grand Canyon last month and the crowd situation was insane

I went in what I thought was off-season (early November) and there were still like 200 people at Mather Point at sunrise. Had to wait 15 minutes just to get a spot on the edge for a photo. Has anyone found a quieter stretch of that trail where you can actually feel alone?

3 comments

3 Comments

paul_taylor2124d ago

Oh man, that's rough. A buddy of mine went last March and told me he found a spot about a mile past the first big overlook where he sat for like an hour and only saw three other people. He said the crowd just thins out real quick once you get past the main viewing areas. Why does everyone just pile up at the same spot instead of walking a little further, you know? Might be worth just pushing past the first few viewpoints until the trail opens up.

torres.thea24d ago

Wait, @paul_taylor21, did your buddy say the trail got sketchy at all past that first overlook, or was it pretty chill?

betty_kelly924d ago

@torres.thea Paul's right about the trail thinning out, but I wouldn't call it sketchy past the first overlook. The rim trail is paved and wide for the first few miles west of Mather Point, then turns to packed gravel. I go every year in October and just walk past the main overlooks, and it's way different. Past the first mile the crowd drops to maybe ten or twenty people. Even five hundred feet past Mather makes a big difference.