If you’re prepping for a trek to Phantom Ranch, I hope this post helps you feel more prepared—because I’m sharing everything I wish I’d known ahead of time.
I mentioned before how unimpressed I was with the lack of information available during planning. I get that the reservation staff can’t know everything—but considering people literally die in the summer heat of the inner canyon, it would be nice if you could talk to someone who does.
However, my experience at Phantom Ranch itself was the opposite: the Canteen, the staff, and the cabins were all wonderful! The Canteen is a literal oasis: perfectly air-conditioned, well-stocked, and run by friendly, knowledgeable people.
Here’s everything you need to know!
The Cabins
The cabins are GREAT! The air conditioning works well, and each room has a toilet and sink. Showers are communal and located near the canteen. The beds were far more comfortable than expected, a welcome detail after the grueling hike.
The Duffel Service
We used the mule duffel service, which was nice, but make sure you understand the booking. We assumed we had one duffel per person. Nope. Each duffel requires its own itinerary number. So our itinerary—2 people, 1 cabin, meals for both—only included one duffel.
To send two, we’d have needed a separate itinerary just for the second bag. At $90 per duffel, we decided to ditch the less essential items and we combined our two bags into one.
Duffel Inbound Service:
- Go to the Bright Angel Lodge Activities desk (first desk on the left as you enter)
- Fill out paperwork and take your duffel to the mule barn across the street
- Bags must be under 30 lbs and dropped by 4:00 PM (you can drop off up to 8:00 PM for a $10 fee if you miss the 4:00 PM cut)
- Duffels usually arrive before you do and may be waiting when you get there.
Duffel Outbound Service:
- Follow the instructions at the Canteen – label your duffel and drop it off near the Canteen
- Bags still need to be under 30 lbs and dropped by 6:30 AM
- Duffels are available for pickup at 2:00 PM at the same mule barn where you dropped it off
- Maybe not worth paying for – our return bag was basically just dirty clothes. Pickup at the mule barn was super easy. I tried to give my ticket to an employee, but he said “you look honest enough.” Chris laughed at that and said “why would we want to steal someone else’s dirty clothes?”
That said, if we get the opportunity to do this again, we’d use a duffel bag like this one – it’s lightweight and folds down to a small enough size to stuff in your backpack.- Everything we sent down on the mule was something we needed on the trek back up (Gatorade, trail mix, clean clothes, etc.) so we could have saved $90 by stuffing our dirty clothes into our backpack along with everything else.
Cold Storage Tip: Ask the mule barn staff to note that your duffel needs refrigeration. The Bright Angel Lodge, and even the mule barn employees, will warn you that the Phantom Ranch might not oblige the request, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. I had some frozen Gatorade and heat-sensitive supplements in my duffel. I was hopeful that the ice cold Gatorade would keep the supplements cold enough during the mule trek down.
Upon arrival, I asked about our bag, and they said “oh we put that right in the fridge once we got it” like it was not in any way the big deal that the reservations line made it out to be. They even let me keep it in there until I was ready for it! We kept it there until the last possible moment. The Canteen closes at 9:00 PM and doesn’t re-open until 5:00 AM, and since we were planning on being gone before they re-opened, we grabbed our duffel out of their fridge around 8:30 PM and purchased some ice in an attempt to keep our Gatorade and supplements cold overnight. Then we got our backpacks ready, changed into our clean clothes, and packed our dirty clothes into the duffel to be returned via mule. Then it was off to bed! Our Gatorade was sufficiently cold on our return hike.
Flip Flops
Not a necessity, but we wished we had brought flip flops with us. Walking between our cabin, the Canteen, and the creek with our full-blown hiking boots was clunky. The Croc Flip Flops I use on a regular basis would have been perfect – they have really good traction (I can even do smaller, gentler hikes in them) and they are really easy on your feet.
Phantom Ranch Meals
- Skip the sack lunch. At $27 per person, it’s just a collection of Canteen snacks (frozen bagel with PB&J, apple, peanuts, jerky, Babybel cheese, etc). You could easily assemble the same for half the cost, and better tailored to your preferences. If you do opt to pay for the sack lunch, they will give it to you whenever. The itinerary says it will not be available until 6:30 AM, but they happily gave it to me the night before.
- The “early” breakfast is too late. The inner canyon temperatures are high enough that rangers panic and scare you and make you think you’re going to die if you leave the Phantom Ranch later than 4:00 AM, yet the earliest you can get breakfast is 5:00 AM. So skip paying for breakfast if you plan to leave earlier than that.
- Dinner was $75 per person, and it was decent enough. We had the steak dinner at 5:00 PM family style. It was nice to chat with other hikers and swap advice. They also offer stew at 6:30 PM. The staff is very friendly and make sure you have everything you need and give trivia.
Downtime
Plan your downtime. We arrived by 8:45 AM but our cabin wasn’t ready until 11:30 AM. It was over 100°F by then, and though we considered hiking to Ribbon Falls, it’s 13 miles round trip from Phantom Ranch, and despite being told it’s an easy 13 miles, we didn’t want to overdo it. We cooled off in the creek and relaxed in the Canteen instead. Next time, we’d try to stay for two nights – hike down day one, visit Ribbon Falls day two, hike out day three. The Canteen has some games and books you can borrow.
The Truth about Lemonade
The lemonade is touted as legendary – but it’s just Minute Maid. The way people go on about it, I assumed it would be handmade and fresh squeezed. Don’t get me wrong, the first ~$16 spend on lemonade was definitely worth it! First cup is $6.75, but you get $1 refills if you keep the cup. Chris went through 2 refills in the first 10 minutes upon arrival!
TLDR: Questions Answered
- Is there air conditioning at Bright Angel Lodge, where we’d stay the night before and after?
- NO – they did have a fan in the room. However the South Rim is 10-20°F cooler than Phantom Ranch.
- Is there air conditioning at Phantom Ranch cabins?
- YES! And it works great!
- Can we use a freezer at Bright Angel Lodge to freeze our Gatorade for the hike?
- NO – and only one of their cabins even has ice. We had frozen our Gatorade at home and put it in a cooler full of ice, but it had already started to melt after the 10-hour drive to the Grand Canyon. Even if they had let us use a freezer, we had to turn in our duffel bag by 4:00 PM anyway.
- Is there a freezer at Phantom Ranch?
- For whatever reason, I didn’t dare ask. They were SO NICE down there and had put my duffel bag in their fridge, and I didn’t want to push it by asking for freezer space. Comment and let me know if you use their freezer!
- What time do we need to turn in our duffel bags for the mule service? When will they be available again?
- Duffel service down – turn in by 4:00 PM and available when you get to the Phantom Ranch
- Duffel service up – turn in by 6:30 AM and available after 2:00 PM
- The early breakfast at Phantom Ranch isn’t until 5:00 AM, but countless advice says to leave much earlier than that. Can we get breakfast earlier?
- NO – they serve breakfast family style, same as dinner. The Canteen doesn’t open before 5:00 AM. Luckily I was able to get a refund on the breakfast of $38 per person
- Same with the sack lunch—scheduled for 6:30 AM. Can we get it sooner?
- YES – they will give it to you whenever the Canteen is open.
- What should we do during our downtime at Phantom Ranch?
- It depends on your legs and your heat tolerance! It was over 100°F when we were there, and we didn’t want jelly legs on the hike up the next day. You can hike to Ribbon Falls, or even all the way to the North Rim if you are feeling ambitious. We just cooled off in the creek, took a nap, and played games in the Canteen.
If you’re planning a Grand Canyon adventure, stay tuned—I’ve got more posts coming soon! I’ll be sharing our visit to Hermit’s Rest, our complete itinerary, our packing list, and how we’d plan the trip differently if we did it again.
