on the southwest slopes of dome-shaped Navajo Mountain.
Warning: There have been vehicle break-ins at this isolated trailhead. Do not leave valuables in your car.
DESCRIPTION The old horse trail starts from the ruins of Rainbow Lodge, a former departure point for guided pack trips to Rainbow Bridge. It contours for about 0.5 mile along the slope through the pygmy forest of pinyon pine and juniper trees and crosses appropriately named First Canyon. This is the first of several canyons you’ll cross. After contouring around First Canyon, the trail heads northwest across another pinyon-juniper slope. Since the miniature forest is open, there are sweeping views of the canyon country to the south and west.
Tip: Although the trip can be done as an overnight hike, it is much more enjoyable as a 3-day trip. Because of the long drive to the trailhead, you won’t have a full day of hiking on the first and last days. Also, a 3-day trip lets you camp in isolated, spectacular Cliff Canyon or Redbud Creek, instead of at Rainbow Bridge, which is crowded with boaters. Plan your trip to allow plenty of time at Rainbow Bridge. You won’t regret it, and you’ll have a chance to have the bridge to yourself during lulls in the boat and airplane traffic, especially early in the morning or late in the day.
After crossing Horse Canyon and a smaller, unnamed drainage, the trail turns to the north. Ahead, massive walls of salmon-hued Navajo sandstone mark the head of Dome Canyon. The trail contours above the head of this impressive canyon and then crosses a small, narrow ridge. Here it starts the steep descent into Cliff Canyon, plunging more than 1700 feet in 1.3 miles. Once the trail reaches the bottom of the canyon, watch for water in the bed. You may find a few pools along this section. Pick up water for a dry camp, and then look for a campsite as you continue downstream. Plan to camp before you reach the turnoff to Redbud Pass.
Natural Bridges
Natural bridges, such as Rainbow Bridge, are created when a stream erodes both sides of a meander. Much of the erosion in these desert canyons takes place during brief but violent floods caused by summer thunderstorms. The floodwater, containing sand, gravel, and boulders, gnaws away at the outsides of bends. Where a canyon loops back on itself, such erosion tends to cut through the narrowing fin of rock separating the two sides of the bend. When it succeeds, the stream takes the new shortcut, rapidly turning it into the main channel. Occasionally the top of the fin remains intact, bridging the new streambed. The underside of the stone bridge continues to erode away, mainly from weathering of the rock surface, and the size of the opening increases. Eventually, of course, the structure is weakened to the point of collapse. Geologically speaking, natural bridges are very short-lived formations.
Rainbow Bridge
Rainbow in Stone
Rainbow Bridge spans 275 feet across the canyon and is 290 feet high, but the deep canyon dwarfs it. To put it in perspective, the dome of the U.S. Capitol would fit under the bridge. But numbers alone do not do Rainbow Bridge justice. Its graceful shape is indeed reminiscent of a rainbow. The Navajo, and several other Southwestern tribes, regard the bridge and its surroundings as an especially sacred site, and the name comes from a Navajo legend that tells of a rainbow frozen forever in stone. Please visit the bridge respectfully.
At 7.9 miles, the trail turns abruptly right (northeast) and climbs up a narrow slot canyon to Redbud Pass, drops into Redbud Creek, and then turns left, downstream. You’ll find more campsites along Redbud Creek and seasonal water in the creek and in Rainbow Bridge Canyon. At 10.1 miles the trail enters Rainbow Bridge Canyon and meets the little-traveled north side trail from Navajo Mountain Trading Post. This trail offers an alternate route to Rainbow Bridge from a different trailhead.
It is less than two miles to Rainbow Bridge, but the intricate twists and turns of the canyon hide the massive stone arch until you reach the remains of an old camp at 11.7 miles. From the old camp, it’s a short walk to the bridge itself. Beyond the bridge, the wellbeaten trail continues to the boat dock on the lake. You’ll find no facilities at this dock, and camping is not permitted near the bridge.
NORTH SIDE TRAIL ALTERNATE ROUTE Another trail to Rainbow Bridge starts north of the old Navajo Mountain Trading Post, which is reached by continuing straight at the road junction 29 miles north of Arizona 98. Drive about 13 miles, past Rainbow City, to the end of the road at the trailhead. The trail, which follows the route used by the Cummings–Douglas party in 1909, circles the north side of the mountain and joins the Rainbow Lodge Trail after 11.1 miles. It’s another 1.8 miles down Rainbow Bridge Canyon to the bridge. This is a remote, unmaintained trail that traverses spectacular canyon country.
Laccolithic Mountains
As you look east through Rainbow Bridge, Navajo Mountain is framed majestically under its span. The 10,346-foot, dome-shaped mountain is one of the sacred mountains that the Navajo believe form the four pillars supporting the sky. It formed when volcanic magma pushed upward into the horizontal sedimentary rocks to create the plateau. The liquid rock lifted the rocks above into a huge blister, but failed to reach the surface to create a volcano. As the dome of rock eroded, the solidified magma at its core was revealed. Today the rounded summit of Navajo Mountain consists of the exposed, intruded core, while the flanks of the mountain are draped with upturned layers of Navajo sandstone. These tilted have eroded into towering fins and buttresses, visible from the trail just before the descent into Cliff Canyon.
Exploration of Rainbow Bridge
Navajo Bridge was first publicized by the Cummings–Douglass party in 1909 after a long, difficult journey from Oljeto Trading Post, 50 miles to the east. The group brought back such glowing reports of the sandstone bridge that President Taft used the Antiquities Act to create Rainbow Bridge National Monument the following year. A few tourists reached the remote bridge during the next few decades, but to do so they had to make an arduous pack trip of many days from Oljeto. Later, the trail was built, shortening the journey considerably. In the 1950s Rainbow Bridge became a popular side hike for river runners traversing the depths of Glen Canyon on the Colorado River. It was still a 7-mile hike from the Colorado River, up Forbidding and Rainbow Bridge Canyons. Mass tourism at Rainbow Bridge began with the filling of Lake Powell in the 1960s, which marked the end of the bridge’s isolation. Now Rainbow Bridge is a major destination for private boaters, tour boats, and aircraft.
3 South Bass Trail to Hermit Trail
MAPS Havasupai Point, Shiva Temple, Grand Canyon, Piute Point U.S.G.S.
SEASON Mid September–May.
BEST October–November, March–April.
WATER Serpentine Canyon, Turquoise Canyon, Slate Creek, Boucher Creek, and Hermit Creek.
PERMITS Required for camping within Grand Canyon National Park.
RULES Campfires are not allowed in the national park backcountry. Pets are not allowed on trails or in the backcountry in the national park.
CONTACT Grand Canyon National Park, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023, (928) 638-7888, www.nps.gov/grca.
HIGHLIGHTS The Tonto Trail winds for over 70 miles
