Ride Spot: North Rim of the Grand Canyon

By Jon Crowley

The Grand Canyon is magnificent, but in my opinion part of what makes a place special is experiencing it without hoards of people that unload off a bus and spoil the views with their social media selfies.

To me, Toroweap on the north rim of the Grand Canyon has been that go to spot. The views are spectacular, but over the last decade, it has become quite popular as well. It will never be like the south rim, but you do need a permit now (limiting the amount of people per day). If you haven’t gone to Toroweap, put it on your to-do list.

Get your Grand Canyon and Arizona Permits:

Are you planning a visit to Toroweap Valley, Tuweep, or Kanab Plateau? This is all part of the Grand Canyon National Park and permits are required. The area is being patrolled, so don’t forget to get a day use ticket – $2/ticket/vehicle. Other requirements: highway license plate / insurance required. Noise limit = normal conversation; 60 dBA at 50 ft (15.2 m). Driving muddy roads prohibited. UTV’s must display AZ off road sticker.

https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/TuweepSiteBulletin_2023-11-27.pdf

But if you want to get away from almost everyone, there are a few other options that are worth the trip:

Kanab Point

GPS Coordinates: 36.40062, -112.65166

 

SB Point

GPS Coordinates: 36.30055, -112.84111

Both of these locations are fairly easy to reach from either Colorado City, AZ or near Pipe Springs National Monument. There are several different routes you can take, and most are open until you get into the actual National Park boundary.

I am not sure about the permit for Kanab Point and SB point as the sign seems to be referring to Tuweep (Toroweap Overlook), but it sounds like NPS wants you to get a permit for these areas as well which doesn’t make any sense.

Once in the park, we saw several trails to get from Kanab Point over to SB Point that were on Gaia GPS and onX Off-Road.  Unfortunately, the NPS has decommissioned these trails and it forces you to back track further before heading back to the rim. This was a bit frustrating because I am sure these trails have existed for decades.

If you are looking for a route, I did not record ours and we hit a lot of closed trails which made us go to plan b and c. My best advice is to have a GPS app available and plan out a few different routes. Then be flexible and be able to adjust on the fly. I use Gaia GPS and it as very helpful to adapt our routes to what we found or didn’t find on the ground.

Please be prepared because these areas are very remote and cell service is sketchy at best.