Old Bright Angel Trail

The Old Bright Angel trail, although an “official” trail, it is unmaintained, overgrown, and vague in places, having been abandoned for 100 years. The trail was made around 1902, and was for a time the main trail into the canyon from the north. In about 1920, it was abandoned for the newly constructed Roaring Springs trail that is now the official North Kaibab Trail. Good route finding skills are required especially at the top where dead fall and animal trails abound. To plan for this hike, review trip reports, GPS and published tracks, and prepare for a wilderness trail. There are a couple of ambiguous sections that will require route finding skills, so be prepared with descriptions and a GPS trace. The Old Bright Angel (OBA) trail is infrequently traveled and makes for an interesting and rewarding experience. This 13 mile loop starts at the current North Kaibab (Roaring Springs) trail head, hikes the rim top Ken Patrick trail for the first 3.5 miles to the junction with the OBA trail. The OBA then drops five miles down into Bright Angel canyon to meet eventually with the main North Kaibab corridor trail at mile 8.5. The five mile decent which is the OBA trail, is an adventure with beautiful vistas to complement the difficulty of the trail. All the rest of the hike is on the main North Kaibab trail hiking back up to the north rim.