My wife and I have been hiking and backpacking in the Grand Canyon for 25 years. We presently live in the Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim and routinely hike below the Rim several times a week. At times we get frustrated with the crowded corridor trails and the mules, so we seek to satisfy our adventuresome spirits elsewhere. The Waldron Canyon Loop has been a long time favorite of ours, it has tremendous beauty along with scary vertical exposure, it has serious class III scrambling combined with sketchy route finding. There are long stretches of chaparral forest along with desert landscapes. This is a miniature Rim2Rim2Rim that will test the most stout and resolute hikers. Please do not attempt this hike unless you are very confident in your outdoor abilities - there is no one that can help you where you are going.
PREPARATION
This hike will take approximately 6-8 hours and is just a little under 12 miles long. You will need to carry a map and it MUST be the Sky Terrain Grand Canyon version. This map is far more detailed than any other available map and is topographical. You will be lost without this particular map. It is best to carry a backpack with a 3L hydration bladder and an extra liter of water, food, first-aid, sunglasses, etc. It would be a good idea to also bring a GPS, the Sky Terrain map has UTM coordinates on the borders. Long pants are a good idea, there will be a lot of brush and cactus. A utility tool with a pliers is handy for pulling cacti thorns that will inevitably spike your legs. Finally and most importantly, this hike is best performed when the temperature is below 75 degrees. Do not think about attempting this hike during the summer months. The best months are November through April depending on the snow levels above the Rim.
FIRST LEG - Hermit's Rest to Dripping Springs
This is a well known hike and well documented through various media sources. One travels to Hermit's Rest via shuttle or private vehicle during the winter months. You descend Hermit's Trail for approximately one hour until you reach the Dripping Springs/Boucher Trail junction. You head west on the Dripping Springs Trail for another hour, past the Boucher Trail junction until you reach Dripping Springs itself. This portion of the trail hugs the Redwall along the way and is prone to rock slides. It also has some very serious vertical exposure...at times the trail is one foot wide and you can look down into the chasm approximately 1500' below your feet. There are a lot of hikers that turn around on this trail due to the rough conditions and the vertical exposure. Dripping Springs itself does provide water, however true to it's name - one drip at a time. It would take perhaps a half hour or longer to fill your liter bottle.
MIDDLE LEG - Dripping Springs to Eremita Mesa to Waldron Trail
This is the crux of the hike and it is best to take a few minutes rest at Dripping Springs before the next section. The next mile is defined as a route not a trail. You will need to stop often and look around to determine whether you are on or off the route. As you travel beyond Dripping Springs to the north east along the wall, there will be a large rock. There are bushes between the rock and the wall with a very faint upward trail, this is your starting point. You will be traveling in an easterly direction and looking for cairns, (manmade rock piles). The route is very sketchy and prone to rock slides, you will be stepping over and around prickly pear cactus and other obstacles. Try to stay as high as possible, but constantly look for cairns. In about ten minutes you will see an obvious man made staircase wall. This staircase will take you up to the next level and switchbacks for approximately 150' of vertical. The footing is loose and quite often the route is covered by pinion trees. Finally you will end up on a very faint trail with very few cairns which heads westerly over and above the actual Dripping Springs. The faint trail will eventually turn to the northwest and follow a small drainage that widens as you begin to gain elevation. Finally you will turn away from this drainage to a smaller drainage and will finally top out at the rim on Eremita Mesa. This entire section is perhaps only one mile, but can easily take between 1-2 hours to complete.
Once on top of Eremita Mesa you will find yourself in a pinion, juniper and cedar forest. The ground is quite sandy and feels great compared to the roller rocks of the previous few miles. There is not a defined trail right as you top out, but head in a southerly direction and you will find an old two-track road that is now closed. This is the striding portion of the hike where you can cover some serious ground and let your muscles stretch out a bit. After a couple of miles you will come to the termination of this particular road. There is a Dripping Springs Road Closed sign and you will enter an open area. There will be a two-track road heading to the south and another two-track road directly across from you heading in an easterly direction. You want to take the road (across from you) heading to the east which more closely parallels the rim. This road does get vehicle traffic from national park personnel and is likely the old Park Boundary Road. Hike down this road for approximately 3/4 mile and there will be an old two-track road on your left (north) towards the rim. This road is closed to vehicle traffic and has brush piles in the road to keep vehicles out. This is the first road to the left after the Dripping Springs Road Closed sign - don't miss it. There are no cairns or signs directing you onto this road. (Next time though we'll build a cairn monument at the turn.) Hike down this road in a northeasterly direction for approximately a half mile and you will see the Waldron Trail wooden sign on your left. It is pointed in the opposite direction, but you will likely notice the trail as well.
FINAL LEG - Waldron Trail back to Hermit's Rest
The Waldon Trail is a nice respite from the two-track roads of the last few miles. You immediately descend in a westerly direction into a small drainage filled with sage and after a few hundred yards swing back to the north towards the main drainage. You will pass by a small dam and water hole that sometimes has water, but is obviously frequented by deer and elk. Quite quickly you will begin gaining elevation as the canyon to your right begins to get deeper and shows signs of being part of the Grand Canyon. The trail only meanders for about 3/4 mile before you drop down into a small drainage, climb up the other side and top out on a spectacular saddle that commands a view from south to north of Waldron Canyon. There are plenty of places to rest, especially the flat rocks with views of the Canyon itself.
Dropping down on the WaldronTrail is steep for the first couple of switchbacks, but then as the switchbacks become longer, quite easy. Before long you will find yourself on the floor of Waldron Canyon heading in a northerly direction up and over several drainages. In twenty minutes or so you will find yourself at the junction with the Hermit's Trail. Turn right (easterly) and head back up the beautiful rip-rap steps of the Hermit Trail until you reach the Hermit's Rest trail head.
I mentioned earlier that this hike is a miniature Rim2Rim2Rim. Basically, you drop down 1000' of vertical from Hermit's Rest to climb 1000' of vertical from Dripping Springs to Eremita Mesa. Then you drop down 1000' on the Waldron Trail to climb back up 1000' on the Hermit Trail to Hermit's Rest. So, the trail has around 4000' of vertical change and is likely just under 12 miles. There are some wonderful picnic tables to the west of the Hermit Trail parking lot with a nice view into Waldron Canyon to reflect on the days hike and enjoy a well earned cold beverage.