Burro Spring

Burro Spring is one of only two perennial water sources along the stretch of the Tonto Trail between the Tipoff and Pipe Spring, deep in the inner canyon below the South Rim. You won't find it on a drive-to itinerary — it's a backcountry water source for hikers connecting the South Kaibab and Bright Angel corridors, sitting roughly a mile past the Tipoff junction at around 3,717 feet.

What you'll find there

The spring feeds a small side drainage, and the crossing itself is choked with bulrush and maidenhair fern, hemmed in by cottonwood trees, two-needle pinyon, single-leaf ash, and serviceberry — a dense pocket of green against the bare Tonto Platform. Some hikers have found the vegetation thick enough to make reaching open water a bit of a scramble.

• Reached via the Tonto Trail, about a quarter mile before Pipe Spring
• Any water taken here needs treatment before drinking
• No facilities — this is a remote backcountry water source, not a maintained stop