Tonto Trail
The long bench trail that ties the inner canyon together
About
The Tonto Trail is the long horizontal connector of the Grand Canyon's inner corridor, running roughly 95 miles along the Tonto Platform, the wide bench that separates the upper canyon walls from the inner gorge. Unlike the rim-to-river trails most visitors know, the Tonto doesn't descend to the Colorado River on its own — it travels east-west across the canyon's midsection, crossing paths with eight major access routes including the Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails.
What to expect
- Most hikers tackle it in sections rather than end to end, using the Bright Angel–to–South Kaibab stretch (about 4.6 miles) as the easiest and most heavily used segment
- Terrain is exposed with little natural shade across the platform
- Water sources along the route must be treated, filtered, or boiled before drinking, with the exception of the tap at Havasupai Gardens
- Camping anywhere along the trail requires a backcountry permit from the park's Backcountry Information Center
Overall difficulty runs moderate to strenuous, with the more remote eastern and western stretches demanding real route-finding skill and occasional bushwhacking through overgrown sections.
Best Time to Hike Tonto Trail
Terrain is exposed with little natural shade across the platform, so cooler shoulder-season months are considerably more forgiving than summer heat on longer sections.
Trail Tips
- Water sources along the route must be treated, filtered, or boiled before drinking, with the exception of the tap at Havasupai Gardens.
- Camping anywhere along the trail requires a backcountry permit from the park's Backcountry Information Center.
- The more remote eastern and western stretches demand real route-finding skill and occasional bushwhacking through overgrown sections.
Getting to Tonto Trail
Most hikers tackle it in sections rather than end to end, using the Bright Angel–to–South Kaibab stretch (about 4.6 miles) as the easiest and most heavily used segment.
What to Expect on Tonto Trail
The Tonto Trail is the long horizontal connector of the Grand Canyon's inner corridor, running roughly 95 miles along the Tonto Platform, the wide bench that separates the upper canyon walls from the inner gorge. Unlike the rim-to-river trails most visitors know, the Tonto doesn't descend to the Colorado River on its own — it travels east-west across the canyon's midsection, crossing paths with eight major access routes including the Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails.
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