Parking
Use the Greenland Lake pullout on Cape Royal Road. Its capacity and facilities are not documented. The road is usually seasonal, generally open from mid-May through November when weather allows.
Overview
About Greenland Lake Trail
Why go
- A very short walk with a distinctive karst lake and geology story.
Heads up
- A tiny destination and a brief outing, rather than a substantial hike.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Grand Canyon map
Full mapElevation8,442–8,484 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
4 active Grand Canyon alerts
- ClosureInner Canyon and North Rim trail closuresMentions North Rim, referenced in this guideDo not enter the closed trails, bridges, campgrounds, and inner-canyon areas.Official details
- ClosureNorth Rim scenic roads closed for repairsMentions North Rim, referenced in this guideCape Royal Road and Point Imperial Road are closed from sunset October 15 through sunrise November 3, 2026. - The roads are closed to accommodate critical road repair and rehabilitation work.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Grand Canyon Tour Guide
Your drive to Greenland Lake Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Greenland Lake’s Limestone Basin0:00 / 0:27
“You're coming up on the Greenland Lake pullout, a chance for a short forest walk away from canyon overlooks.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Grand Canyon Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Rain That Never Lands
- Why the River Changes Color
- The Trail with a Toll Booth
- Vista Encantada’s Picnic Stop
- 79 audio storiesacross Grand Canyon’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor California Condor, Bighorn Sheep, American Bison, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 73 trails, 96 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Greenland Lake Trail
A quick North Rim detourGreenland Lake Trail is a 0.
Greenland Lake Trail is a 0.3-mile out-and-back from the roadside pullout on Cape Royal Road to a small lake in a forest opening. The mapped path is about 0.15 mile each way, so the total counts the return on the same route. Allow 30–60 minutes if you want time at the lake. I'd stop here for a short nature break, not as one of the day's main hikes.
The path and the lakeA narrow dirt path winds through aspens and conifers before opening into a grassy basin.
A narrow dirt path winds through aspens and conifers before opening into a grassy basin. The lake is small, and its water level varies: some photos show a shallow pool amid tall grass, while others show more water. The route evidence doesn't establish a maintained shoreline loop, so the mapped walk goes to the lake and back rather than circling the basin.
Why the lake holds waterLook for the sign about karst topography and sinkholes.
Look for the sign about karst topography and sinkholes. Rain works through cracks in the water-soluble Kaibab Limestone, gradually dissolving underground chambers. When a chamber collapses, the depression can collect soil and mud that seal its bottom and hold water. Greenland Lake is one of the small lakes formed this way on the Kaibab Plateau.
Access and rulesStart at the Greenland Lake pullout on Cape Royal Road.
Start at the Greenland Lake pullout on Cape Royal Road. The road is usually seasonal, generally open from mid-May through November when weather allows. On the North Rim, leashed pets are allowed only on the designated Bridle Trail and the Arizona Trail section by the entrance station, not on this route. Trail-specific drinking water and toilets at the pullout were not confirmed.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Grand Canyon
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.
