Grand Canyon North Rim closes for winter on Oct. 15
Scott Craven
It may seem like a long way off for desert dwellers, but winter is coming and so is the annual shutdown of services at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
The Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge closes Oct. 15 when workers spend the day prepping the lobby and rooms for the annual closure that lasts until May 15. Food service, ranger programs and mule rides come to an end.
The entry station, campground and visitor center stay open until Oct. 31. From Nov. 1 to Dec. 1, visitation is from dawn to dusk only. Be sure to bring your own water if you plan on visiting after Oct. 31, when the water is shut off.
The Arizona Department of Transportation typically closes State Route 67, the highway to the North Rim, on Dec. 1, sooner if significant snowfall affects travel conditions. Hikers, snowshoers and cross-country skiers can enter the park if they have backcountry permits.
With a spate of mild winters, tourism officials in southern Utah are floating the idea of keeping the North Rim open past Oct. 15. Yet snow is not the main reason for the closure. The North Rim’s infrastructure, with pipes buried just a few feet underground, can’t tolerate the extreme cold.
Park officials are in "listening mode," Jan Balsom, senior adviser to the park superintendent, said. But any alterations to the winter-closure dates are years away, if they occur at all.
"We want to be open to those communities interested in (shortening the closure)," Balsom said. "But we need to find out how to maintain services that people expect. And out infrastructure is far short of what it needs to be to provide water through the winter."
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