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We are leaving this Friday for Grand Canyon and our hike to/from Phantom Ranch. Two questions (which have actually ended up as more!):

1. What is currently the best/safest place to park overnight on the South Rim while we are at Phantom? We are planning to take the early shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead so we need easy access to Bright Angel Lodge, where the SK hiker morning shuttle takes off. Is the dirt parking below the RR tracks a safe place to leave a vehicle? Do they allow overnight parking at BAL (if you can find a space)?

1. What is the current water situation on the BAT? Is there water at Indian Gardens, 3 mile and Mile-and-a-Half? I assume Phantom Ranch is okay with water? Is Bright Angel Creek flowing less? With the drought problems we are having elsewhere, I thought I better check out the scene in the Canyon before we go.

Thanks!

Can't speak to the parking situation, Diane, but water's no problem; at Phantom Ranch they're asking folks to conserve, i.e. don't let the water run while brushing teeth, etc. Water is available at Indian Garden and at both rest houses.
Have a ball!

Park at the backcountry office info center just up the road from the tracks..(it's like a couple hundred yards from the Bright Angel Trailhead)...ya know where their hanging scale is...I think it is even a shuttle bus stop, there are rest rooms and PLENTY of parking...plus you have a better chance of getting a spot....no one really "hangs out" in that area, whereas the rr tracks are somewhat of a busy area..

The only time Indian Gardens is out of water is in the winter when the pipes freeze...ran into that one in 96.