Cape Royal: A Stunning Sunset Spot at Grand Canyon North Rim

orange, pink and yellow skies over Grand Canyon

While the Grand Canyon South Rim gets the most attention, there are some pretty incredible things to see and do at the Grand Canyon North Rim, too!

Plus, with 1/10th of the crowds, it’s much more likely to enjoy solitude alongside the incredible views at the North Rim vs. South.

Even one more bonus of including the North Rim on your next vacation? Its entrance is located about 1.5 hours from one of the best towns in Southern Utah, making the Grand Canyon North Rim a very well-positioned stop along a jaw-dropping American Southwest road trip.

Here are 4 of the best things to do at the Grand Canyon North Rim, plus one of the most stunning spots in the southwest to watch the sunset!

welcome sign for grand canyon national park

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How to get to the North Rim

If you’re driving from Southern Utah, follow 89 S to 89A S to AZ-67 S to the North Rim Visitors Center. Make a pit stop at Jacob’s Inn for their famous cookies. (The Lemon Raspberry is a must-try!) Kanab, Utah to the Grand Canyon North Rim takes about 1.5 hours.

If you’re driving from the South Rim, follow AZ-64 E to 89 N to AZ-67 S to the North Rim Visitors Center. This drive will take you about 4 hours.

If you’re flying and only visiting the North Rim, it’s likely best to fly into Las Vegas airport. (Las Vegas airport to the North Rim is about 4.5 hours.)

If you want to visit both the North and South Rim, it’s likely best to fly into the Phoenix airport. (Phoenix airport to South Rim is about 3.5 hours. Then it’s another 4 hours to the North Rim.)

If you plan to add the North Rim to a Mighty 5 Road Trip, it’s likely best to fly into the Las Vegas or Salt Lake City airports.

Where to stay

When it comes to staying inside the park, there is one lodge and one campground to consider in the Grand Canyon North Rim.

You can stay at the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim Visitor Center or the North Rim Campground near the General Store.

Both the lodge and campground are open seasonally from mid-May to mid-October (generally May 15th to October 15th). Pets are not allowed at the Grand Canyon Lodge but are allowed at the North Rim Campground.

(We’re not sure if you can request a cabin at the Grand Canyon Lodge, but if you can… we walked around them all and think cabin 306 has the most incredible views!)

If you want to stay outside the park, we recommend the nearby Jacob Lake Inn (the place with the cookies!) or the town of Kanab, Utah.

We visited the Grand Canyon North Rim while spending one month in Kanab, Utah, and can’t recommend this town enough. There are so many incredible things to do near Kanab; Here are just 10 of the most jaw-dropping places to see nearby!

Best time of year to visit the North Rim

Services inside the Grand Canyon North Rim are open between May 15th and October 15th. That makes these months generally the best time to visit the Grand Canyon North Rim. However, although the lodge and campground close, you can still access the Grand Canyon North Rim outside these months.

The North Rim “shoulder season” begins on October 16th and can continue through the month of November. During this time, the North Rim is open from “dawn to dusk” for day use only. The Grand Canyon North Rim closes to vehicle traffic for the season when Highway 67 closes.

Note: This usually happens by December 1st. Once this highway closes for the winter season, the North Rim also closes to vehicle traffic. Access will not open again until mid-May.

If you want to drive into the park, mid-May (generally May 15th) through November are the only months to visit the Grand Canyon North Rim.

Here’s an overview of each season to help you decide when to visit the Grand Canyon North Rim.

May 15th-October 15th: This is the park’s “full season”. All services, including the lodge and campground, are open.

During the summer months of June, July, and August, the national park service recommends you avoid hiking between 10am and 4pm as temperatures in the canyon routinely pass 100°F.

The months of July, August, and September can bring monsoons and lightning storms.

October 16th-November (TBD): This is the park’s “shoulder season”. You’ll find even fewer crowds (since lodging has closed for the season) and generally cooler temperatures.

Note: The later it gets in the year, the more likely there will be snow on the ground. (We were visiting on October 19th, and there was snow already on the ground while walking the shaded forests sections of the Bridle Path.)

December 1st (TBD)-mid-May: This is the park’s winter season. Roads are closed to vehicle traffic.

Based on this, we recommend visiting the Grand Canyon North Rim in late May, early June, late September, or early October.

4 Best Things to Do at the Grand Canyon North Rim

The South Rim might be better known, but the North Rim has plenty of its own beauty, too! And since only 10% of the park’s visitors access the North Rim, your exploration will come with waaaaaay smaller crowds.

Here are 4 of the best things to do and see while visiting the Grand Canyon North Rim.

canyon views in soft daylight — Midday view from the North Rim Visitor’s Center

Bright Angel Point

Make the North Rim Visitor Center your first stop and enjoy your first look at the Grand Canyon North Rim from Bright Angel Point.

This is a short 1/2 mile roundtrip walk to expansive canyon views. Park at the Visitor Center and begin this paved trail near the cabins.

Bright Angel Point in the North Rim (which is not to be confused with Bright Angel Trail at the South Rim) has one of the best views in the park and is the perfect place to begin your exploration of the Grand Canyon North Rim.

Allow for at least 30 minutes for this short hike. (Not dog-friendly.)

Day Hiking: North Kaibab or Widforss Trail

You have two main options for day hikes at the Grand Canyon North Rim: (1) You can hike into the Grand Canyon by following a portion of the North Kaibab Trail, or (2) You can hike along the rim for expansive canyon views.

To day hike into the Grand Canyon from the North Rim, follow the North Kaibab Trail to the Coconino Overlook (1.5 miles roundtrip), Supai Tunnel (4 miles roundtrip), or Roaring Springs (9.4 miles roundtrip).

This is the furthest it’s recommended for you to hike in one day. See the section below for backpacking into the canyon and hiking the entire North Kaibab Trail.

If you’d prefer not to hike into the canyon or are looking for something with less elevation, there are plenty of other great day hikes at the North Rim that give you stellar views with less effort. For these trails, you’re generally following the rim of the Grand Canyon.

We highly recommend the short Bright Angel Point Trail and the Cape Royal Trail for shorter paths with expansive views. For a substantial day hike option that doesn’t take you into the canyon but offers amazing canyon views, consider the Widforss Trail.

Backpack into the Grand Canyon: North Kaibab Trail

Want an epic adventure?

While driving from the North Rim to the South Rim requires you to travel 220 miles (and drive about 4 hours), hiking from the North Rim to the South Rim requires just 21 miles of trekking.

Although it’ll take you substantially longer than 4 hours to hike from one rim to the other, what a feat this would be! You’ll be able to say you’ve hiked through the Grand Canyon.

For this, most people choose one of three main hikes into the canyon: (1) The Bright Angel Trail (from the South Rim, and not to be confused with the Bright Angel Point on the North Rim), (2) The South Kaibab Trail, or (3) North Kaibab Trail.

Note: To hike the 21-mile Rim-to-Rim Trail from the North Rim to the South Rim, you’ll need to figure out transportation (there are shuttle options). The North Kaibab Trail meets up with the South Kaibab Trail and Bright Angel Trail at the Bright Angel Campground (at the bottom of the canyon). It’s 14 miles from the North Kaibab Trailhead on the North Rim to Bright Angel Campground and another 7 miles from Bright Angel Campground to the South Kaibab Trailhead on the South Rim. Hence the 21 miles between the North Rim and South Rim!

Without transportation, the best option is to start at the North Rim and return to the North Rim. The North Kaibab Trail is currently the only maintained trail from the North Rim that enters the canyon. This is a 28-mile hike. (It’s 14 miles one way from the North Kaibab Trail to the Bright Angel Campground, which is near the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.)

Plan for this hike to be an overnight backpacking adventure that requires a backpacking permit. Learn more about hiking into the Grand Canyon from the North Rim here!

Drive Cape Royal Road (North Rim Scenic Drive)

One of the best things to do at the Grand Canyon North Rim is drive Cape Royal Road. From here, you can access Point Imperial and Cape Royal, two of the best viewpoints in the park.

Point Imperial is the highest point on the North Rim and overlooks beautiful views of the Painted Desert and the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon. You’ll be able to see sections of the canyon that are not visible from Bright Angel Point, so for the most diverse views of the Grand Canyon North Rim, make sure both of these viewpoints are included in your itinerary!

Cape Royal also has some of the best, most stunning views in all of the Grand Canyon North Rim. Although we’ll recommend it for sunset, Cape Royal gives you access to both east and west vistas, making it popular at sunrise, as well.

While driving Cape Royal Road, consider stopping at the following overlooks:

Point Imperial: highest point on the North Rim
Vista Encantada: canyon views and picnic area
Roosevelt Point: access to the short Roosevelt Point Trail with beautiful views
Cape Final Trail: 4-mile roundtrip hike with a view of the canyon and Painted Desert
Walhalla Overlook: canyon views and a short trail to ancestral Puebloan home site
Cape Royal: stunning vistas and a great spot for sunrise or sunset

large horseshoe rock in canyon — Cape Royal Overlook

Cape Royal: A Stunning Sunset Spot at the Grand Canyon North Rim

Once you drive to the very end of the Cape Royal Road, you’ll be at Cape Royal, one of the only places in the Grand Canyon North Rim to enjoy views of the Colorado River (and also home to one of the best views in the park).

This is one of the most incredible spots to watch the sunset at the Grand Canyon North Rim.

We were recommended to visit Cape Royal for sunset while talking to a ranger earlier in the day. Unsurprisingly this was spot-on advice ( love asking rangers for their top picks in the park as they generally know best!).

Although this trail is not dog-friendly, it’s short, mostly paved, and absolutely breathtaking. Plus, as a bonus, while were visiting, we had it entirely to ourselves!

(Granted, this was shoulder season, right after the park closes for the season, but I love finding gems to experience a place’s beauty with more solitude than national parks typically allow. This is another reason to consider visiting the Grand Canyon North Rim during shoulder season: crowds will generally be smaller!)

Once you park at the Cape Royal parking lot, follow the paved path to the main paved overlook.

We recommend arriving at least 30 minutes prior to sunset and staying for at least 15 minutes past sunset. We parked our car at about 5:15pm on October 19th and stayed until 6pm. (Sunset was listed at 5:47pm.) The view just got prettier and prettier!

Along the walk to Cape Royal, you can walk to a lookout above Angels Window. (Our suggestion: Enjoy the view of Angel’s Window while you’re walking to the Cape Royal Overlook. Then follow the short detour off the main path to Angel’s Window, where you can stand over its natural arch!)

Is the Grand Canyon North Rim Dog-Friendly?

At the Grand Canyon North Rim, pets are limited to the Bridle Path and the Arizona Trail.

Pets can also, of course, join you along Cape Royal Road; however, they are not allowed on any of the trails or overlooks along the way.

Pets are not allowed below the rim of the Grand Canyon (hiking to the bottom of the canyon), which means pets aren’t allowed on the North Kaibab Trail.

Although there is a kennel on the South Rim for those hiking the South Kaibab Trail, Bright Angel Trail, or other trails throughout the Grand Canyon South Rim, there is no kennel on the North Rim.

For lodging, pets are not allowed at the Grand Canyon Lodge but are allowed at the North Rim Campground. (Remember these are only open from May 15th to October 15th.)

Bridle Trail

The Bridle Trail (Bridle Path) is a 4-mile roundtrip hike. (But since it’s out and back, you can walk as much or as little as you’d like, simply turning around when ready to head back.)

It’s a relatively easy, simple walk through the woods without many canyon views, but if your dog is traveling with you, this is a great path for them to stretch their legs and enjoy some time outside. This trail connects the Grand Canyon Lodge with the North Kaibab Trailhead and North Rim Campground, so if you’re camping, this could be a great place for your morning or evening walk.

The Bridle Trail is one of two dog-friendly hikes at the Grand Canyon North Rim.

Arizona Trail

The Arizona Trail is another dog-friendly trail in the Grand Canyon North Rim. This 12-mile trail runs parallel to the park road as you enter until it meets up with the North Kaibab tail. This is also a great trail for bicycles.

Is the Grand Canyon North Rim worth visiting?

The Grand Canyon North Rim is absolutely worth visiting. You’ll find beautiful expansive views of the Grand Canyon with 1/10th of the crowds.

Keep planning your trip to the Grand Canyon

Want to visit the 5 national parks in Utah, too? Click here for a Mighty 5 Road Trip Itinerary (which includes Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Arches National Park).

If you have more time to explore Southern Utah, here are 9 jaw-dropping things to see near the Grand Canyon North Rim!

Plus, here’s everything you need to know about winning a “Wave” permit (and what to expect once you do), what it’s like to hike Angel’s Landing and The Narrows in Zion National Park, and how to visit Bryce Canyon National Park in one day.

Please leave us a comment below!

What would you rather do: Hike the rim of the Grand Canyon or hike to the bottom of the canyon? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

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