New Hance / Tonto / Grandview Trail 27.8M Loop Run - GCNP, Arizona
4,800 feet elevation gain/loss*
October 9, 2015 - 

Parking to New Hance Trailhead: .1 miles/0 feet elevation gain/loss

New Hance Trail: 8 miles/4,400 feet elevation loss

Tonto Trail: 9.9 miles/1,200 feet elevation gain

East Horseshoe Mesa Trail: 1.6 miles/1,200 feet elevation gain

Grandview Trail: 3.2 miles, 2,400 feet elevation gain

Grandview Trailhead to East Rim Drive: .5 miles/0 feet elevation gain/loss

East Rim Drive back to Parking: 4.5 miles/400 feet elevation loss

*according to 'Official Guide to Hiking Grand Canyon Revised Edition'

After taking a bit of time placing a drop bag near Grandview Point to be used for the last few miles of road back to my car and finding the closest legit parking spot for the unmarked New Hance Trailhead, I parked the car in a dirt pull out on the side of the road and quickly put my things together. By 6 am I was jogging the .1 miles of road to the start of the New Hance Trail by headlamp and with microspikes in hand just in case there was still lingering ice on the trail.

Once on the New Hance Trail things got interesting fast. The first short section wanders flat to the rim but then the trail spills off the rim in steep little switchbacks on pretty narrow, scrambly singletrack. Cairns are liberally sprinkled along the trail to remind you that you are indeed on a trail although this trail is nothing like any other trail I have been on in the canyon except maybe the Boucher Trail. By headlamp, I had to have complete focus on where I was going so that I didn’t miss key turns in the rubble strewn, steep path.

Once a bit lower and near the limestone layer it was light enough to finally pack away the headlamp and following the trail became much easier. There were still many spots where a green backpacker could get themselves in a bit of trouble and lost but cairns mark the way pretty well and I felt pretty comfortable route finding from here on out on the New Hance.

Even though the trail was easier to follow, I still found that the rugged terrain made for tough running conditions. Pretty much the whole section above the limestone layer was a mix of running, hiking and scrambling. Not to fast but plenty interesting.

There were a couple false gullies in the limestone when trying to find the break that the trail follows through it but, again, as long as I kept following the cairns I continued to find my way. Once through the limestone layer I entered a new world. One where I could run (the trail got really good for the next few miles) and I entered Red Canyon with super beautiful red soil contrasting with the surrounding Grand Canyon colors (unlike anything else I have seen in the canyon).

As I neared the wash of Red Canyon I saw my first backpacker. I caught her sipping tea in the early morning light. It was extremely peaceful where she camped and as I went by we had one of those cool back country moments where we just nodded heads and smiled as I went by. As if we didn’t have to say a word about how special the morning was for each of us. We just knew and were able to silently agree.

Once in Red Canyon, the terrain changed again. No good trail here, just cairns in a wash. I followed the trail less wash for the rest of the New Hance Trail to the river.

It was easy traveling though and there were amazingly good quality boulders strewn all over the wash for the whole bottom section near the river. I freaked out a bit in this section stopping every so often to grope some features and invision the lines I would climb if I had climbing shoes and time. There is literally dozens of world class boulders down there! I even saw one of the boulders pictured online of Beth Rodden climbing on their famous climbing/rafting trip down the Grand Canyon a few years ago. The line she was on was as cool looking in person as it was in the photo. Amazing rock.

Less than a mile down wash from the Beth Rodden boulder I found myself standing on the shore of the Colorado River and Hance Rapids. It was a really cool beach and I was welcomed by my second silent encounter with a backpacker cleaning some dishes on the shore slightly upstream. It took a few minutes for him to notice me and I had that moment where I thought “what the hell does he think of a guy like me way down here in the middle of no where with only a little Nathan pack on? Is he surprised, concerned or doesn’t give a s—t?”

I was pretty psyched to find myself standing on the eastern starting point of the Tonto Trail and the start of the Tonto Platform. I had heard that this is the toughest section of the Tonto in it’s entire length so I was both excited and nervous to check it out. Well, the only way to do it was to get going so, after a minute to orient myself, I started.

The first section of the Tonto Trail follows the beach past some nice sandy campsites and then gets tricky. At the end of the beach, and the start of a big talus slope, there are two ways to go. One was up a sandy hill and the other continued to follow the shore. Both had cairns and but the lower trail had bigger ones so I followed that one. Maybe a mistake, as I spent the next while negotiating loose rubble on a fairly steep hillside trying to follow amazingly unorganized cairns. It seemed that there would be one up high on the hill that I would reach and then I would scan the hillside and find another one low on the hill and then in the middle of the hill, then high, then low and this continued for a while. Finally, I got sick of it and figured that I was traveling too low and needed to get up onto the top of the plateau. This made sense to me because I knew that at some point the Tonto Plateau would become prominent and easy to stay on top as it is a huge mesa for it’s entire length. I was just at the start of it so it hadn’t truly formed yet.

Well, just as I figured, once I scrambled up onto the flat part of the forming mesa a faint trail and more organized cairns formed. As I wandered through an amazing boulder field (world class boulders…reminded me of Ibex boulders but more of 'em) the trail started to get really good and my worries went away. The Tonto Trail had finally formed its’ regular (well, at least what I’m used to) single track form.

This went on past amazing canyons and buttes and I was able to stop scrambling and start running again. Besides some steeper grades and scrambles, this was the best running of the loop.

I especially enjoyed running along Hance Creek, or more appropriately above it. The Tonto follows the rim of the terrifically steep walled and deep canyon of Hance Creek for many miles of exposed running. This was awesome! I fully enjoyed it. There is no describing how deep the canyon for Hance Creek is until you visit it. It looks like its’ own Grand Canyon!

Once the Tonto finally crossed Hance Creek I filled up on water and absorbed the special spot with its’ babbling creek, Cottonwood trees and steep walled canyon. Really cool and psyched to find water too.

Not long after leaving Hance Creek, the trail splits…oh, I forgot to say that there were no trail signs up to this point. Just cairns. This loop is one of those where you need to study up and bring a map to make sure you don’t have an epic finding your way.

So, back to the split…I knew from my map that I needed to take the left split and go up hill, sans signs, so I headed left and up.

The trail that I split onto was the East Horseshoe Mesa Trail and what a trail it was. I think it is only 1 ½ ish miles on this trail to get to Horseshoe Mesa and the Grandview Trail but it climbs like a monster. Luckily, while power hiking most of this section, I was able to enjoy the views of the Tonto Trail below me, check out the many mining shafts and relics and limestone walls, see the Page Springs and talk to hikers (this is where I started to see tons of people again). Cool section that literally is cut out of the limestone wall to gain passage.

Once above the limestone layer, I reached Horseshoe Mesa and turned left onto the Grandview Trail (also unmarked) and my ticket back to the rim.

The Grandview Trail made me work for it every step of the way! Some sections were gentle and smooth but much of the trail was STEEP! Much of the upper sections were built with the same cool cobblestone action that is on a few spots of the Hermit Trail. I have learned, though, that these types of trails mean trouble. They are always excessively steep and unrelenting.

Even though they were unrelenting, all trails come to an end and after some pushing through tourists and hikers I was back on the Rim and on flat ground. I checked the clock and I finished the 22.7 miles of crazy, rugged terrain in 5 hours and 25 minutes. Better than expected with all the picture taking, route finding and general slow moving on a ‘off the beaten path’ trail I have never been on before.

After a few minutes to add layers and check out the views, I jogged the .5 miles to the East Rim Road and filled my Nathan with water and some more snacks from my earlier placed stash and ran (albeit, very slow) the East Rim Road back to my car doing my best to dodge traffic.

Once back to my car I checked the watch and I had gone 27.8 miles, car to car, in 6 hours and 35 minutes.