Bill Hall Trail, Grand Canyon National Park

The Bill Hall Trail is a beautiful and in-demand permit trail within Grand Canyon National Park. Starting at the Kaibab formation, the trail breaks down into the Coconino with steep switchbacks and incredible views of the western Grand Canyon sections. The trail passes Bridger's Knoll and descends around 1,500ft to the esplanade. From there you can pick up the Thunder River trail down into Surprise Valley and on to Thunder Spring.

An alternative is to take the Thunder Spring trail onto the Deer Creek trail into the lower Deer Creek canyon tributaries. On this trip we headed down the Middle Fork of Deer Creek Canyon — a technical descent into lower Deer Creek. This region has some of the most sought-after permits in the Grand Canyon system — get them early. Very little water on the trail in dry conditions, so bring extra.