Rim To Rim Car Rental?

My wife and I will be flying into Las Vegas in mid-May and renting a car to the North Rim. We%26#39;ll then be backpacking down to Bright Angel Campground, staying overnight and then hiking up the next day to the South Rim. I know there%26#39;s a shuttle that leaves back to the North Rim around 1:00pm each day (for about $65/person) but was wondering if it%26#39;s possible to rent a car at the South Rim.

If not, any other options (other than hiking the whole thing in reverse) would be appreciated.

Rim To Rim Car Rental?

I think the shuttle is the best option, unless you can persuade a friend to come along and drive the car around for you.

We are doing this ourselves in September, and planning on using the shuttle. We don%26#39;t want to be forced to complete the hike up by 1:00 pm (although we have done it in the past in 5 hours), so we have booked rooms at the South Rim for a night, before taking the shuttle back the next day.

Rim To Rim Car Rental?

I do not think there are car rental places at the GC or in Tusayan. Shuttle would probably be best.

The shuttle is your best bet! I did this, but did it the oppisite way. We took the shuttle from the NR to the SR, stayed overnight at SR and started our hike there and ended at the NR where our car was. This worked for us and we plan on doing the same thing in Sept.

I%26#39;m thinking you are experienced hikers, but if you%26#39;re not, you do know that it%26#39;s a 14 mile hike from NR to Bright Angel campground? Just wanted to give you a heads up in case you didn%26#39;t. There is a campground half way called Cottonwood that you can also overnight at. Also know about the Backcountry permit to do this?

Enjoy

SJG

Confirming what CasaAzul says, there are no car rentals at the GC. Closest would be in Flagstaff.

Thanks Gang,

I suspected the shuttle was the only option but wanted to confirm with the experts. We hiked part of the North Kaibab trail last May but, as we got a late start and were only planning for a day hike, we only went four miles down and then back up again. We%26#39;re pretty experienced hikers (though living in Florida we%26#39;re pretty INEXPERIENCED when it comes to altitude) but feel the hike - even with packs - is doable with just an overnight stay. Living on a horse farm out in the country, carrying 50lb feed sacks around for great distances is second nature and we walk at least 4-5 miles each day. Of course, we%26#39;ll start a more serious training about four months prior to the big adventure. And thanks for the reminder on the permit...my understanding is we can%26#39;t fax a request till January 1 for our May trip but will make sure we have it (along with some alternatives) in as soon as we%26#39;re allowed.

We did Rim to Rim a couple of years ago. We drove to the South Rim and spent the night. We took the afternoon shuttle the next day to the North Rim and left our car with our luggage in the trunk at the parking lot near the El Tovar. We spent one night at the North Rim and left early in the morning for our hike. When we finished our hike, we checked in at the El Tovar and then got our luggage from the car. It worked out great.

Have fun, this is a great hike.

John

Yes, January 1 is the earliest you can fax. Might want to find out if they will be accepting them on Jan 1 since it is a holiday!

Also...might want to look into booking your rooms if you haven%26#39;t done so already. They go quick especially at the North Rim!

SJG

The closest place you can rent a car I believe is Flagstaff. We had one at the GC rail road station in Williams for about a year but I believe they backed out. There is no rental company at the GC or Tusayan. You can check www.backpackers.com and see who might be doing this the opposite direction and see if you can hitch a ride with them. I know of several people who have done this.

The NPS website says that the backcountry office is open ';daily';, and the fax machine accepts faxes 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. So January 1 is the day, regardless of the holiday.

The website also states that all faxes received on the first day of the month are treated the same. So, you don%26#39; t need to stay up until 2:00 am to send that fax so it arrives at midnight, MST---you can send it in the morning at a decent hour, your time.

Just be sure it does not arrive there BEFORE midnight. It will be treated as sent on December 31, which is the wrong day, and ignored.

Good luck with your permit!

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. We did fax in our request and received our permit (cross-country here in Florida) in the mail yesterday. Ended up getting our second alternative (Bright Angel Campground for two nights starting May 18) so we%26#39;re planning on parking our car at the South Rim and grabbing the May 17 afternoon shuttle to the North Rim. Unfortunately, all hotel rooms on the North Rim are booked so we%26#39;ll camp that night (at least it%26#39;s only $18 rather than the $$$ they want for the rooms) and then head down the North Kaibab trail the next day. We figured spending two nights down at BA will allow us to enjoy the basin (afterall, it%26#39;s not every day you%26#39;re there). Then we head back up on May 20 and will spend a night at the Mather Campground. Again, thanks for the helpful advice...I%26#39;ll pay it back with a trip report upon our return.