On December 1 – or earlier if Old Man Winter has already begun snorting and hissing – a wide, metal gate swings across Arizona Route 67 as it begins it 44-mile run south from U.S. 89A at Jacob Lake and the only paved access to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is closed. While the South Rim remains open year-round the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim rolls up the welcome mat every winter. It may be Arizona but you are in the mountains – 7,000 feet at the South Rim and a frosty 8,000 feet in elevation ten miles across the Canyon on the North Rim.
Food and lodging services at the lodge actually stop on October 15 and only a skeleton crew keeps the gift shop with a few provisions open to visitors until the closing of the gate. And that will be it for park services on the North Rim again until May 15. But it takes a little more than a metal barrier and a “Closed for the Season” sign to shut down a large chunk of a 1.2-million acre park.
Backcountry permits are still sold during the winter for those who want to walk, snowshoe or ski (no personal snowmobiles) across the Kaibab Plateau from Jacob Lake. You can also reach the North Rim in winter by hiking across the Canyon from the South Rim – a multi-day journey that requires winter camping in the National Park Service’s North Rim Campground’s group campsite.
Luxurious Winter Accommodations
There is even a dollop of civilization waiting for winter Grand Canyon visitors at the North Rim Yurt. Located just ten minutes by ski from the North Kaibib Trailhead in a non-wilderness corridor hard by a hub of administrative structures, the yurt can get downright comfy with a table and chairs huddled around a wood-burning stove. The yurt sleeps six and groups can stay as long as four nights; reservations and a nominal nightly fee are required.
Backcountry adventurers on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim can expect snow pack from January through March. Like winter elsewhere it is always possible to catch a temperate winter day with sunshine and 50-degree temperatures at the Grand Canyon – but you can also count on it being COLD at night, every night.
Looks Awesome from Above As Well
The splendors of the North Rim are also accentuated in winter from the air; light plane and helicopter tours operate from Grand Canyon Airport in Tusayan, Arizona throughout the year. The scenic excursions range from half an hour to several hours in duration, flying over the world’s largest Ponderosa pines on the Kaibib Plateau, dressed in their sharpest winter finery. Landmarks include Point Imperial, at 8,803 feet the highest point on the North Rim, and the Dragon Corridor, where the Grand Canyon yawns its widest and deepest. Papillon’s North Canyon Tour is a best bet to see the North Rim.
In the summer the isolated North Rim offers a respite from the tour buses and hustle and bustle of the Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim. When the temperatures drop and the park service packs up and leaves, hardy visitors to the Kaibab Plateau bask in even more intense solitude in a true winter wonderland.
