Sight · Grand Canyon National Park
A shaded rest stop, 1½ miles below the South Rim.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Grand Canyon Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Grand Canyon National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Grand Canyon audio tourRecorded for this place
Bright Angel Lodge and Lookout Studio“You're coming up on Bright Angel Lodge, a good stop for architecture as well as the canyon. Step into the Fred Harvey History Room for the ten-foot fireplace built to echo the canyon's rock layers.”
Plays as you drive up to Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse in the Parkwolf Grand Canyon Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse is a small shade shelter on Bright Angel Trail, 1½ miles below the South Rim. It’s a natural turnaround for a day hike into the canyon, with a place to sit and rest before heading back up. The route to the shelter and back is 3 miles with about 1,120 feet of elevation change; allow 2–4 hours.
The shelter has benches and shade, and a separate nearby building has vault toilets. This is a trail stop, so pack any food you want for the walk. Carry all the water you need; water service on the trail is seasonal and can be interrupted.
The descent can feel easier than the return. Plan for the uphill walk to take as much as twice as long as the way down. Start at a pace you can keep and turn around earlier if the climb out is more than you want. The resthouse is a worthwhile goal for hikers prepared for that effort; it isn’t a casual stroll from the rim.
Wildlife
718 sightingsCalifornia CondorMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
533 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
169 sightingsAmerican BisonMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,891 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
59 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
27 sightingsGray FoxMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Grand Canyon. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingPlateau Point Trail12 mi · 10.5 hr · 0.3 mi awayA long descent earns a wide view of the Colorado River.
ChallengingBright Angel Trail7.8 mi · 4.5 hr · 0.3 mi awayCanyon layers, mule trains and a 4,400-foot descent to the river.
EasyThe Trail of Time3.3 mi · 2 hr · 1.3 mi awayA paved timeline where every meter spans a million years.
ChallengingSouth Kaibab Trail6.3 mi · 5 hr · 3.1 mi awayA steep ridge descent with a first river view at Skeleton Point.
ModerateRim Trail12.8 mi · 7 hr · 3.1 mi awayThe full 12.8-mile rim walk, easiest to sample by shuttle.
ChallengingRim-to-Rim: South Kaibab to North Kaibab21 mi · 16 hr · 3.1 mi awayA one-way canyon crossing from the South Rim to the North Rim.ChallengingSouth Kaibab–Bright Angel Loop15.8 mi · 14 hr · 3.1 mi awayA 15.8-mile canyon traverse from South Kaibab to the Bright Angel rim.
ChallengingMonument Creek Trail3.2 mi · 2 hr · 3.3 mi awayA steep backcountry descent from Monument Creek to Granite Rapids.
Restaurant · 0.2 mi awayEl Tovar Dining RoomA landmark room and canyon-view seats turn dinner into an occasion.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayLookout StudioA stone lookout where Mary Colter framed the rim in 1914.
Lodging · 0.2 mi awayEl Tovar HotelA storied 1905 hotel on the canyon's edge.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayHopi HouseA 1905 landmark where architecture and art share a complicated history.
Lodging · 0.2 mi awayKachina LodgeA Mission 66 lodge right on the South Rim in the Village.
Restaurant · 0.3 mi awayArizona SteakhouseRegional ingredients give this steakhouse a distinct Arizona streak.
Sight · 0.3 mi awayBright Angel LodgeA 10-foot fireplace turns canyon geology into a room's centerpiece.
Sight · 0.3 mi awayKolb StudioA rimside museum with a story that went down the Colorado River.Parkwolf’s Grand Canyon ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
