The North Rim

6 min read Updated November 2026 Compare all tours

The North Rim is the same national park as the South Rim, on the other side of the canyon. It stands about 8,000 feet (2,400 m) high, a thousand feet above the South Rim, and the National Park Service notes that it receives only about 10 per cent of all Grand Canyon visitors. Its roads close every winter, from 1 December to 14 May. Since a wildfire in 2025 and a flood in 2026, even the summer season has been a reduced one.

The Dragon Bravo Fire of 2025

Lightning started the Dragon Bravo Fire on 4 July 2025. On 10 July, 500 visitors were evacuated from the North Rim, and on 13 July the fire destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, the North Rim Visitor Center and many of the old cabins, dozens of buildings in all. The fire also severely damaged the water line and treatment plant that supply the North Rim. By mid-September 2025 the Forest Service put the burned area at about 145,000 acres (roughly 590 km²).

The lodge had a history of its own. Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed it for the Union Pacific in 1928; the original burned down in 1932 and was rebuilt in 1936–37 to a modified design. The park warns that burned landscapes raise the risk of flash floods, debris flows, rockfall and falling trees.

The 2026 season

The North Rim reopened for the 2026 summer season in mid-May. All paved roads were open, including Highway 67 and the roads to Point Imperial and Cape Royal, but the park warned that no drinking water would be available anywhere on the North Rim all season. Grand Canyon Lodge did not operate and there was no visitor centre. Mule rides on the North Rim were cancelled for 2026 because of trail damage.

Since 15 October the North Rim has been in a limited autumn day-use period until 30 November 2026. The campground, gas station, general store and backcountry information office have closed for the season, and drinking water and food are not available. The scenic road to Point Imperial and Cape Royal was closed from 15 October and reopened on 3 November.

Many trails remain closed because of the fire’s impacts, among them the Bright Angel Point, Widforss, Transept, Uncle Jim, Cliff Springs, Cape Final and Point Imperial trails and the trails at Cape Royal and Roosevelt Point. The Bridle Trail from the North Kaibab Trailhead to the former lodge parking area is open.

The flood of August 2026 and rim to rim

On 29 August 2026 a flash flood swept through Bright Angel Canyon and the area around Phantom Ranch. Phantom Ranch, its campground and canteen, the entire North Kaibab Trail from the North Rim trailhead down to Phantom Ranch, and the Black and Silver Bridges were closed until further notice, and nearly all footbridges over Bright Angel Creek were destroyed. On 27 October the park said there was no estimated reopening date. From the South Rim, the Bright Angel Trail was open to the River Resthouse and the South Kaibab Trail to the Black Bridge, but no further.

That means a rim-to-rim hike is not possible as of November 2026. The Trans-Canyon Shuttle, which normally drives hikers between the rims in 4 to 5½ hours, has suspended its service until further notice. The Bright Angel and South Kaibab page covers what is open below the South Rim.

Getting there, if you still want to

By road the North Rim is 212 miles (341 km) from the South Rim, about four and a half hours each way according to the National Park Service, and 275 miles (443 km) from Las Vegas. The park entrance is on Highway 67, 30 miles south of Jacob Lake. Jacob Lake, 45 miles north of the rim, has the nearest food, fuel and places to stay. Fill up before you turn south, because nothing is open inside the park this autumn. From 1 December to 14 May all North Rim roads are closed to vehicles, snowmobiles included, and the North Rim averages 142 inches (about 3.6 m) of snow a year.

What comes next

From 6 October to 6 November 2026 the park invited public comment on concepts for the long-term recovery of the North Rim. According to press reports, they range from rebuilding the developed areas to modern standards to turning the North Rim into a year-round destination, and Visit Arizona describes a planning process expected to take about two years. No dates or services for 2027 had been announced by 11 November 2026.

Seeing the canyon from the South Rim instead

Every tour we list runs on the South Rim, which is open all year. For a view towards the north side, the closest you can get this year is from the air. A 45-minute helicopter flight from Tusayan, just outside the South Entrance, lists views of the Kaibab National Forest, the Painted Desert, Point Imperial and Marble Canyon. Flights need at least four passengers and must be reconfirmed 72 hours ahead, and weather can cancel them.

All scenic flights start outside the park, and this flight-only ticket lists no park fee. Ground tours are different: on day trips into the park, non-US residents aged 16 and older pay a 100-dollar nonresident fee on top of the entrance fee, while children aged 15 and younger pay neither (National Park Service, as of November 2026). How it is collected depends on the tour; the entrance fees page has the details.

From Sedona, a full-day tour includes park admission, Grand Canyon Village and the Desert View Watchtower, and leaves between 7 and 7:30 am. Non-US residents pay the nonresident fee to the tour company by card before the day. From Las Vegas, a 14-hour day trip with lunch reaches the South Rim; the nonresident fee is not included there either.

If you are deciding between the rims for a future trip, our page on whether the South Rim is worth it sets out what the South Rim offers in any season.