Shuttle for our Grand Canyon rim-to-rim backpacking trip, Grand Canyon, Arizona

After getting our backcountry permits and knowing when and where we were going under the rim, we had to decide whether we wanted to drive to the north rim, start our hike, and get transportation back to our car at the end, or drive a bit further (we’re in Portland, Oregon), get transportation to the north rim before we hiked, and have the car waiting for us upon our return. We chose the latter, since we wanted to have a bit more flexibility on when we left to drive home, and have a car available since we assumed out legs would be tired after nearly 24 mile! Also, in hindsight, the north rim did not have the cool “I hiked rim-to-rim” shirts we purchased after the hike! :-)

Shuttle service is provided by TransCanyon Shuttle at a cost of $80 per hiker. They provide daily shuttle service, leaving the north rim at 7am daily, arriving at the south rim 11:30am, then leaving the south rim at 1:30, arriving at the north rim at 6pm. They use large vans, which can comfortably sit 8 people, a bit less comfortably 12 people. However, they do not seem to cram you into the van, as 3 vans went in our group, all with 8 hikers each. Here’s a tip – sit in the front, or as far front as you can. We were in the back seat & got tossed around a lot! And here’s an important fact that everyone asked (and they should state on their website), yes, they do stop for potty breaks – twice.

So we spent the night on the north rim (actually in a terrible hotel room) and hiked into the canyon the next day…..