Grandview Trail to Horseshoe Mesa
Updated: Nov 17, 2022
Grandview Trail to Horseshoe Mesa
Distance: 7.5 miles RT to the viewpoint at the far edge of the mesa
Elevation Gain: 2500 ft
In early April of 2019, B.P.E. (Before Pandemic Era), my friend and I set off for the Grand Canyon for some epic hiking, something that was high on both of our bucket lists. We were in the process of obtaining walk-up permits to camp at the bottom of the canyon, so we decided to hike the Grandview Trail on our first full day at the Grand Canyon in order to gain some trail legs. We spent the morning enjoying an epic sunrise along the rim and taking pictures by the official park sign before driving down the main road to Grandview Point.
Grandview Point is a gorgeous overlook with plenty of parking and an elusive glimpse of the Colorado River. We set off down the trail, quickly passing all the other tourists who were taking pictures at the trailhead. There were a couple of isolated patches of snow and ice but nothing requiring spikes. The views were absolutely stunning here and we slowly meandered down the first part of the trail, taking way too many photos.
Interestingly, this trail was not originally built for recreational enjoyment, but rather as a way to reach a copper-rich area on Horseshoe Mesa. The Hopi originally used copper from this area in their paint. Later in the late 1800s, miners built this trail and created the Grandview and Last Chance Mines. Mules would carry up to 200 lbs of copper ore back up the trail to the rim, where it would then be transported to the nearest railroad. The business was fairly profitable, but eventually the overhead costs caused the mining operations to shut down in the early 1900s.
The trail is not regularly maintained by the NPS (only the main corridor trails are), so there were a couple of sections that were sketchy, and some that were rather unique in character. Several sections had a type of cobblestoning, where the stones were placed in a way that was more reminiscent of an old European town than a hiking trail. This section was quite steep and I knew coming back up was going to hurt!
We quickly reached a neat area called the Coconino Saddle, a gap between the cliffs of the South Rim and a mesa that offers views into the canyon.
After the saddle, the trail continued to drop but did level out a fair amount. To be honest, this section of trail was scary. The trail, narrow and made of a fine red dirt at this point, hugged a steep slope for maybe fifty yards. I tried not to look at the steep slide down the canyon that I would have if I lost my footing. As the NPS website so nicely puts it, “A fall here could have catastrophic consequences.” Heart racing, I quickly made my way to sturdier ground before remembering to breathe. At least the views were nice?
As the trail got closer to Horseshoe Mesa, we began seeing some signs warning about radiation in the area from the mines and the radioactive rocks. They didn’t have to tell me twice to not go past that sign! We also came upon the ruins of what I believe was the cook’s quarters of the Last Chance Mine. There is a cave around here too that is normally open to the public, but it had been closed at the time that we went. I would love to go explore it someday!
The trail on the mesa was relatively flat with beautiful views all around, but at times seemed more like a social trail and we ended up having to do a little scrambling after we had gotten off course a bit.
The best views are found at the very end of the mesa’s “arm” that juts out a bit on the western side. My jaw literally dropped when I walked to the edge and the expansive views of the canyon’s depths opened up. It was really neat to now be looking up at some of the buttes and mesas that I had been looking down on earlier that day; it gave me an entirely different perspective of the canyon that made me appreciate its grandeur even more.
As expected, the climb back up to the rim was tough and my calves cried the whole way. We didn’t stop for many breaks though because I wanted to watch the sunset from the rim and we were going to be pushing it. Thankfully we made it back in time to heat up some ramen and enjoy a lovely sunset over the canyon. While the South Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails are absolutely incredible (for good reason), the Grandview Trail was also stunning and a great option for those looking to get off the beaten path a bit.
