Tuckup Trail Panorama
Panorama of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River from the Tuckup Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
The Tuckup “Trail” (if you can call it a trail) is one of the most remote, difficult, and dangerous routes in the Grand Canyon. It extends for some 60 miles, according to the National Park Service, but some sources say 70 miles and a few even claim 100 miles. It extends from 150 Mile Canyon to the gravel road just north of the Toroweap Overlook. What few springs exist are unreliable and have a reputation for making backpackers sick. Potholes that hold water only briefly after one of the rare rainstorms in the region are frequently the only water source. Much of the eastern portion of the trail exists only in fragments, with rare cairns that may or may not indicate the best route.
Fortunately, the first three miles of the western end of the trail follow an old, now-closed 4wd road. During the first afternoon of my visit to Toroweap Overlook in March 2026, I explored the Tuckup Trail to the point where it began dropping into Cove Canyon, then walked cross-country for a few hundred yards to the rim of the main canyon. The Colorado River, some 2,800 feet below me, stretched out for miles in a breath-taking 180-degree panorama. As I was planning my shoot at Toroweap Overlook using Photo Ephemeris Web, I had noticed that the sun would rise almost directly over the river if I hiked out the Tuckup Trail to the point where I now stood. After confirming my calculations with a compass, I picked out the place where I planned to set up my tripod the next morning and returned to Toroweap Overlook to shoot sunset.
In the morning I rose well before dawn and returned to the place I’d selected to shoot my panorama. When the sun rose far enough to paint the canyon rim at my feet with golden light, I shot multiple bracketed panorama sequences. When I returned home, I selected the best panorama sequence and assembled the image you see here. Like the view of the Colorado River from Toroweap Overlook, the view captured here leaves me astonished at the power of the river as it patiently and inexorably carves one of the world’s greatest canyons.