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001 No Fault, No Trail — Hermit Road Transfer Station

an exhibit panel that talks about Bright Angel Trail and shows historic black and white photos of the trail, and an early tourist camp built on the edge of a Havasupai farm field.

Exhibit Panel Text

No Fault, No Trail

Looking into the canyon, notice the winding Bright Angel Trail and the lush green patch of plants that mark Indian Garden, once home to Havasupai Indians. The Bright Angel Fault —a break in the Earth’s crust —defines this side canyon, providing passage for animals and people into the inner canyon for centuries. Throughout Grand Canyon, where you find faults you find American Indian trails, past dwellings, and often water. Faults encourage the flow of water to seeps and springs, which native people depended on for drinking water and farming. Relatively easy access and reliable water sources likely made Bright Angel Canyon a popular thoroughfare for American Indian travel.

Photo Caption 1
The Bright Angel Trail hugs tightly to the fault line. The fault has provided animals and people access to the inner canyon for centuries.

Photo Caption 2
Early prospectors and miners required a wider, more developed trail along the Bright Angel Fault to accommodate their pack animals and horses.

Photo Caption 3
Indian Garden is a canyon oasis first farmed by native people and later developed as a tourist camp by early Bright Angel Trail owners.

Photo Caption 4
These American Indian pictographs, found just below 1.5-Mile Resthouse, might have served as a prehistoric trail marker.

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360 Panoramic View of the Location

Click on photo and tilt down to view panel just below the railing. Pan around to view the panel location in relation to the shuttle bus stop. This panel has faded and is delaminating.

a faded exhibit panel that is not legible. In the background colorful peaks and cliffs are visible within a canyon landscape

Detail of Panel Condition — May 15, 2023

Last updated: May 15, 2023