North Kaibab Trail

American Indians used this canyon access route for centuries, aided by the Bright Angel Fault's access and drinking water. When cartographer Francois Matthes began mapping the Grand Canyon in 1902, there was no rim-to-rim trail and no bridge over the Colorado River, so he had to swim his horses across the river to reach the north side, then took six days with his crew to reach the North Rim on the Kaibab Plateau. In 1906, David Rust and his crew, hired by the Grand Canyon Transportation Company, built the original rim-to-rim connector trail, then considered an extension of Bright Angel Trail. That trail began at the head of Bright Angel Canyon, crossed the river by cable car, and connected with Bright Angel Trail on the south side. The Santa Fe Railway built Phantom Ranch in 1922 for the Fred Harvey Company, replacing Roosevelt Camp. The National Park Service began improving Rust's trail in 1920, replaced his cable car with a suspension bridge in 1921, completed the present trail route from here to Roaring Springs in 1928, and renamed it the North Kaibab Trail. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps made many further improvements, and National Park Service trail crews blasted rock cliffs to carve out sections of the trail.

Arizona · United States