Bright Angel Trail and Shelters - Grand Canyon National Park AZ

City:: Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon Village, AZ
Site Type:: Paths and Trails, Parks and Recreation, Shelters
New Deal Agencies:: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Work Relief Programs
Completed:: 1939
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: No
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted development work at Grand Canyon National Park, 1933-42, including extensive reconstruction work on the Bright Angel Trail, completed in 1939.

The National Park Service’s CCC Walking Tour says that: “[In 1929 the National Park Service] began a major reconstruction of the trail. With help from the CCC, the NPS completed the work in 1939. The early trail was only two to three feet (less than one meter) wide in spots. With pick, shovel, drill, and dynamite contractors and the CCC boys rerouted and reconstructed the trail to its present four to six foot (1.2 – 2 m) width.

During the same period, the CCC completed rustic rock and timber shelters at 1.5-mile, 3-mile, Indian Garden, and Pipe Creek near the Colorado River. These pleasing shelters are still protecting tens of thousands of trail users from inclement weather each year. All of these resthouses have emergency telephones connected to the Transcanyon Telephone Line and most have water, although the water is turned off in the colder months.”

Source notes

CCC Walking Tour:
"The Civilian Conservation Corps: A Legacy Preserved at Grand Canyon Village," by the National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/CCC-Walking-Tour-GRCA.pdf

Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on April 28, 2022.