The Hermit Trail offers fantastic scenery, from the cliffs of Hermit Basin and upper Hermit Creek, to the wide-open landscapes of the Tonto Bench, and then to the enclosed lower gorge, where Hermit Creek flows through a beautiful narrows section with pools and waterfalls, bordered by a strata of Tapeats sandstone. The path ends at a sandy beach along the Colorado river. Early in the 20th century the Hermit Trail was a well used and well maintained route, an upgrade of an old Indian path, used to take visitors to a resort-like campground (operated by the Santa Fe Railroad) beside Hermit Creek. The distance from trailhead (6,660 feet) to the river is about nine miles with an elevation change of 4,340 feet.