Roaring Springs

Roaring Springs is a powerful spring that spills straight from the cliffs of Bright Angel Canyon, tumbling over moss and fern to form Bright Angel Creek. Reaching it from the North Rim is a full-day commitment, not a quick stop: the North Kaibab Trail round trip is 9.4 miles, with 3,050 feet of descent to the spring and the same climb back out. Allow 7 to 8 hours. This is one for hikers who want a long descent into the canyon and a close look at the water pouring from the rock.

The trail drops through lush switchbacks, passes Supai Tunnel, then follows Redwall Limestone cliffs, with sections blasted into the rock, before reaching Bright Angel Canyon. Start before 7 a.m.; the climb out is long, and day hiking farther down canyon is not recommended. Mules also use this trail, so be ready to give them room.

Roaring Springs feeds the park’s water system through a pipeline that runs beneath the North Kaibab Trail toward the South Rim. Installed from 1965 to 1970, it can be seen again under Silver Bridge over the Colorado River. For more than 30 years, canyon artist Bruce Aiken tended the pump house and raised a family at the bottom of the canyon. The spring is part of the water system, but don’t drink untreated spring water; natural spring water needs treatment.

Rain and snowmelt seep through the plateau’s rock until they reach the Muav Limestone above the less-permeable Bright Angel Shale. The shale redirects the water, which emerges under pressure at Roaring Springs. The cascade is a rare place where the canyon’s underground water route becomes visible.

The spring comes right out of the cliff, then drops over moss and ferns. Frame the cascade with some of that vegetation; it shows how the water breaks out of the layered canyon wall.