SOLITUDE at even the North Rim of the Grand Canyon can be hard to find these days. Yes, the South Rim is way overrun and crowded with visitors, yet the North Rim can sometimes feel overrun as well.
One possible solution is the Widforss Trail.
Located as a turnoff the main road to the west, just before the North Kaibab trail parking lot, this is a 0.6 of a mile dirt road that leads to the trail's parking lot. The turnoff the main road is signed.
(Look for the parking lot, as the dirt road continues well past the trailhead.)
The trail is a maximum 5 miles long, one-way, but after 2.5 miles it goes into the deep forest before emerging with the final Grand Canyon view.
The trail climbs steeply for the first 1/2 mile, but resides in a cool forest of pines and aspens. It offers a variety of viewpoints into the Grand Canyon without a crowds. For as short as 3 miles, one could see a worthwhile viewpoint.
Even the San Francisco Mountains are visible at these viewpoints along the trail.
There is a restroom in the parking lot, but no water available.
The trail is named for Gunnar Widforss, a parks employee who loved painting scenes of the canyon in this area during the 1930s.
