Accessible Hiking Guide to the Shoshone Trail

 

This chapter recounts a family’s evolving relationship with Grand Canyon National Park through three visits and the author’s experiences “pushiking” trails with Kellisa, who uses a mobility chair. The author explains that choosing the Grand Canyon for the book was easy because it held unfinished ambitions from earlier trips. On the family’s first visit in March 2006, when Kellisa was seven, they expected typical Arizona heat but instead arrived to frigid temperatures, snow, and ice along the South Rim. Although winter conditions limited them to paved sidewalk trails, the canyon’s gray and blue tones still left a powerful impression. The author departed eager to return and explore natural-surface trails with Kellisa.

Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona

October 2019

In June 2009, the family returned for their first overnight backpacking attempt with Kellisa on the North Rim. The author secured a permit for the Cape Royal Trail, believing that an old roadbed would be manageable with a jog stroller loaded with water and camping gear. That assumption quickly proved wrong. The combination of altitude, steep terrain, large rocks, extra stroller weight, and a heavy backpack made progress extremely difficult. Rather than abandon the experience, the family pushed less than a half-mile up the trail, then found an off-trail campsite among tall pines. The author set up camp, prepared dinner, and the family slept soundly after the exhausting effort. The next day, they returned to their vehicle and spent the rest of the visit sightseeing from accessible paved viewpoints.

The main account takes place in October 2019, when the author selected Shoshone Point along the South Rim after carefully reviewing trail possibilities. Remembering past mistakes, the author was better prepared and eager to reach the trailhead early because parking was reportedly limited. Finding the unmarked trailhead proved confusing, but after several passes along East Rim Drive, the family located a hidden gate at the back of an unmarked parking lot. Despite uncertainty from other hikers, Kellisa was transferred into her mobility chair, and they began the trail.

The Shoshone Point route followed a broad, rocky old road through pine forest. Compared with the difficult North Rim attempt a decade earlier, the author found this trail manageable, aided by experience, lower elevation, and gentler grades. After about a mile, canyon views appeared through the trees, leading to a developed rim area with picnic tables, a bathroom, and families enjoying the overlook. The author pushed Kellisa beyond the picnic area to take in expansive views and photograph her near the canyon edge.

A narrower, rockier path continued toward the point itself, but increasing foot traffic, visitors moving carelessly near the drop-off, and the proximity to the edge made the author uncomfortable. Choosing safety, the author retreated with Kellisa to more secure ground. 

They spent about an hour enjoying the view before descending quickly back to the trailhead. At the parking lot, hikers admired Kellisa’s chair, and she responded happily by blowing kisses. The chapter ends with the author reflecting on the possibility of returning to the North Rim’s Cape Final Trail for another backpacking attempt.

Trail Highlights
Trail Name	Shoshone Point
Location	Grand Canyon National Park
Distance	2.1 mi
Duration (active)	57m
Average speed	2.2 mi/h
Total Ascent	144 ft
Highest Point	7,314 ft
Difficulty	Moderate

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