Trailblazers are ready to brave the Grandview trail in the Grand Canyon.

Tom, Michael, Li, Greg, Kat, Carol and Cindy.

Grandview Trail was built in 1893. The main purpose of the trail at that time was to transport copper ores from Horseshoe Mesa to the top for commercial use. It later became a popular place for people to visit since the rim provides beautiful views of the canyon. To accommodate the influx of new tourists, a hotel along with some other large buildings were built. This is the only mine that made money in the Grand Canyon with out government help. Later, the trail was abandoned and the hotel and other buildings were demolished because the mine was not able to produce enough profit for it to continue. Now it has become a hikers’s paradise since the Grandview Trail now provides not only a glimpse at the beauty of the canyon but also the history of the old west.

Starting the steep descent.

We met Scott who was hiking up the canyon in the early morning.

A few of us took advantage of the long weekend, and decided to explore this part of the canyon. As far as I know, the club has never done this hike before so I posted it as an exploratory hike.

Looking down on Horseshoe Mesa.

Grandview trail view into the canyon.

We started early in the morning to beat the heat since this trail was completely exposed and lacked any shade. In the afternoon it would be impossible to hike this trail in the hot summer of Arizona. The weather was between mid-40-high 70 on forecasts and we started the hike at 7:30 which was quite late.

My awesome group.

We are halfway down to the mine.

The first mile and a half was the toughest since it was a steep descent. One of the hikers had shoes with no traction, so had to return to the top. Two hikers then returned to the top. Five of us continued since we were excited to see what this trail would offer. It turned out the trail was in a much better shape than I expected. Except for a few landslides in a few places the trail was very well maintained and clearly marked. The landslide spots had many carins so we had no trouble at all following the trail. We only saw a few hikers and backpackers on the trail and the rest of the time we had the trail all for ourselves which was truly a plus.

It is passable and watch your step.

Tom and Cindy are happy walking on stairs.

Some parts of the trail were narrow but we all passed without any difficulty. In my opinion, this trail was better than Bright Angel trail since it consisted mostly of flat cobblestones instead of big boulders steps. This made the hike much easier on the knees.

Greg and Tom at Horseshoe Mesa.

Cindy and Li enjoy the Grandview

Dispute the narrow paths, we followed each other's steps and got to the top of Horseshoe Mesa in no time. I was happy that everyone was in good shape. Tom had knee surgery recently but he decided to hike the whole trail with us and even consistently stayed in the front leading us the whole way. We reached Horseshoe Mesa around lunchtime and took a good lunch break while two of our hikers decided to turn around without taking a break.

Trail junctions.

Radioactive, no camping here.

We met a few hikers on the way up and they were all young and in good shape. Some of them were going to camp at New Hance Trail while the others were doing a Tonto loop. The weather was much warmer in the afternoon when we came up but still tolerable considering how exposed the trail was and how late in May it was. Four of us all returned to the trail at relatively the same time. Though one hiker finished and went home early.

Old mine building.

It is beautiful view!

We all agreed that this was one of the most beautiful trails in the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and intend to repeat this hike again next year with the Cave of the Domes exploration if possible.

Happy to lead!

Tom enjoys the hike!

Kat is happy in the canyon!

Beautiful stones!

Camp site, on the way up..