Located 3040ft below the South Rim, and a 4.6-mile hike along the Bright Angel Trail, lovely Indian Garden sits along a creek surrounded by cottonwoods, with a ranger station, toilets and year-round drinking water (though pipeline breaks regularly result in closed water supplies). Each of the campground’s 15 sites offers a picnic table shaded by an open-walled, roofed enclosure.
Indian Garden is the only spot to spend the night until you reach Bright Angel Campground and Phantom Ranch on the canyon bottom, about 5 miles further. Campsites, available for a maximum of two consecutive nights (four nights November 15 to February 28), can only be reserved with a backcountry permit request through the Backcountry Office.