Parts of Grand Canyon’s Bright Angel Trail reopens after 4-month closure

PHOENIX — Part of the popular Bright Angel Trail that closed last year reopened earlier this month, according to Grand Canyon National Park officials.

The stretch of land between the trailhead of the Bright Angel Trail and Silver Bridge, including the campground near Havasupai Gardens, closed in December and reopened on April 8.

Now, four and a half months later, the area is scheduled to reopen on April 15.

Why part of Bright Angel Trail is reopening

National Park Service (NPS) officials shut down the area to accommodate for the Transcanyon Waterline Project.

NPS spearheaded this project to improve the water delivery service at the South Rim and parts of the inner canyon.

This 12.5-mile water pipeline has seen 85 major breaks since 2010, which is costly to maintain, NPS said.

The popular Bright Angel Trail is composed of a natural route along a fault line that hikers can use to enter the inner canyon and see the spring at Havasupai Gardens (formerly known as Indian Garden). Located along the South Rim trails, the Bright Angel trailhead has an elevation of 6,860 feet.

There are multiple different trails to take: Bright Angel to Havasupai Gardens is 4.6 miles, Bright Angel to Plateau Point is 6.1 miles, Bright Angel to the Colorado River is 7.8 miles and the Bright Angel trailhead to the campground is 9.3 miles.