Infos zum Grand Canyon NP

Grand Canyon officials warn visitors to beware of wild rabbit carcasses

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The National Park Service is asking visitors at Grand Canyon National Park to take caution and not to approach wildlife, especially wild rabbits. Rabbit hemorrhagic disease was recently detected in a dead jackrabbit found within the park, making it the first detected case in the park.
According to a press release from the park service, the disease, RHDV2, is a highly contagious and lethal viral infection among domestic and wild rabbits. The virus does not infect humans, but other causes of illness and mortality of rabbits can. The public is instructed to remain cautious and to follow the instructions below to protect themselves, pets and rabbits while in the park.
If you see sick or dead rabbits in Grand Canyon National Park:
Do not touch or handle the animal.
Contact the Wildlife Program office by calling 928-638-7752 as soon as possible.
Provide the following information: date observed, species if known (cottontail, jackrabbit, other), specific location, and a photo is helpful.
Protect your pets:
Keep dogs on a leash of 6 feet or less.
Do not allow dogs or other pets to interact with sick or dead rabbits or other wildlife.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center, RHDV2 is considered a foreign animal disease, meaning the disease is not typically found in the United States and is a threat to domestic and wild animal health. This virus is not related to the coronavirus causing COVID-19 in humans.
This virus can be transmitted among rabbits through contact with an infected rabbit, with body fluids or feces from an infected rabbit or with a contaminated environment. The virus can survive on clothing, plant material or other items that may be accidentally moved from an infected area. Before visiting other wild areas, wash clothing and disinfect footwear.
Rabbit owners should exercise extreme caution to avoid accidental exposure of rabbits to this disease. Domestic rabbits should not be housed outdoors in areas where contact with wild rabbits is possible. Contact your veterinarian for more information about this disease in domestic rabbits.

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11 Amazing Airbnbs Near the Grand Canyon

Sleep in a Navajo Nation earth home, a vintage camper, or a dome tent, all just a short drive to the South Rim

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High Water Coming To Grand Canyon National Park

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The Colorado River will be rocking and rolling through Grand Canyon National Park later this month as a "spring disturbance flow" is released from Glen Canyon Dam upstream.
The release is set for March 15 to 26. The operation will coincide with required maintenance on the concrete apron downstream of the dam and powerplant. The spring disturbance flow will not affect the monthly or annual release volumes from Lake Powell.
Lake Powell releases through Glen Canyon Dam will be reduced to 4,000 cubic feet per second beginning March 15. Flows will begin a gradual increase on March 20, will peak at 20,150 cfs on March 22 and will remain steady at that level until March 25. Typical flows in March range from a daily low of 8,000 cfs to daily highs around 15,000 cfs.
Standard operations will resume on the morning of March 26.
The disturbance flows are designed to simulate a spring-timed runoff event. As the changing flows disturb river bottom habitats, ecosystem responses may include elevated algae and insect production resulting in increased aquatic insect prey for endangered humpback chub, non-native rainbow trout, and other wildlife.
The flows also may affect the non-native brown trout in Glen Canyon by reducing survival of emerging young, which may help protect native fish in the river. Scientists will study the effects of the modified flows in Glen, Marble, and Grand canyons and the resulting data may be used to make future recommendations on how to better support the Colorado River ecosystem.
"Scientific studies like these are an important part of our obligation to effectively balance the need for water and power resources with responsible stewardship of the Colorado River ecosystem," said U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Upper Colorado Basin Regional Director Wayne Pullan. "This spring disturbance flow was developed and proposed by agency experts from the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Geological Survey, and Western Area Power Administration in close collaboration with Colorado River stakeholders, with strong support from environmental and recreational interests. I applaud the partnership and collaboration of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group, including all seven basin states and five Native American tribes, to continue our successful adaptive approach to managing Glen Canyon Dam."

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Grand Canyon To Become Park Service's First Inter-Tribal Cultural Heritage Site

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The iconic Desert View Watchtower at Grand Canyon National Park will soon be the home of the Park Service’s first Inter-Tribal Cultural Heritage Site. The project is a collaboration between the Park, the Grand Canyon Conservancy, and 11 tribes with historical, cultural and spiritual links to the Canyon, including the Hopi, Navajo, Havasupai and Hualapai. For thousands of years, Indigenous people have lived on what are now Grand Canyon National Park lands.
Desert View Watchtower was built in the 1930’s, designed by renowned architect Mary Colter. She created it to echo the structures of Ancestral Puebloan people found at what is now Hovenweep National Monument and Mesa Verde National Park. Work by Indigenous artists, including Fred Kabotie, adorn the watchtower.
Plans for the new heritage site include a tribal welcome center and expanded cultural demonstrations, including silversmithing and pottery making. The Tribes involved with the project say it’s an opportunity to share not only their rich histories with millions of annual visitors to the Park, but also a chance to showcase their evolving and complex cultures. The Park Service believes the site will promote and acknowledge the diverse tribal cultures connected to the Grand Canyon, incorporating vital First-voices and perspectives into park interpretive programs.
There are a number of groups funding the project, including the National Park Foundation, American Express and the Arizona Lottery, which recently donated $100,000 to the project. And though the Desert View Watchtower is currently closed to visitors because of the COVID-19 pandemic, work on the heritage site continues. Eventually, the area will re-open to the public, highlighting the history of the Grand Canyon, not just as a cherished national park, but as a home to many.

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Grand Canyon verlost Teilnahme an der Bisonjagd

Im Grand-Canyon-Nationalpark in den USA werden einige Bisons zum Abschuss freigegeben.
Die Tiere hatten sich zuletzt stark vermehrt.
Umweltorganisationen kritisieren das Vorhaben.

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Im Grand-Canyon-Nationalpark in den USA können sich erfahrene Jägern darum bewerben, einen Bison zu schießen. Die Freiwilligen sollen dabei helfen, die Zahl der Bisons im Norden des US-Staates Arizona unter Kontrolle zu bekommen, die sich dort stark vermehrt haben. Eine Lotterie entscheidet, wer im kommenden Herbst auf die Jagd gehen darf. Wer sich bewirbt, sollte aber nicht nur gut schießen können, sondern auch körperlich fit sein.
Umweltorganisationen haben das Vorhaben kritisiert. Die Tötungen seien weniger effektiv als andere Methoden, erklären sie. Außerdem würden die Schüsse Wildtiere erschrecken, die gar nicht Ziel der Aktion seien. „In unseren Augen ist das nicht die angemessene Art, mit dem Problem umzugehen“, sagt Alicyn Gitlin von der Organisation Sierra Club.

Tausende Freiwillige bewerben sich für Bisonabschuss
Ab Montag können für 48 Stunden Bewerbungen eingereicht werden, wie die Parkverwaltung mitteilte. Tausende Interessenten aus dem ganzen Land werden erwartet. Nur zwölf werden per Los ausgewählt und Mitte Mai informiert. Im Herbst soll dann die Jagd beginnen: Die meiste Zeit bewegen sich die Jäger auf einer Höhe von rund 2400 Metern am nördlichen Ende des Canyons. Weder motorisierte Fahrzeuge noch Packtiere dürfen eingesetzt werden, um die erlegten Bisons abzutransportieren, die mehr als 900 Kilogramm wiegen können. Allerdings darf jeder Jäger Helfer mitbringen.
„Es ist ein einzigartiges Erlebnis und man kann lange laufen, bevor man einen sieht und dann muss man noch zum Schuss kommen“, erklärt Dave Arnold aus Sun City, der schon einmal einen Bison erlegte. „Dann ist der Spaß vorbei. Es ist viel Arbeit, wenn man ein anständig großes Tier erwischt.“ Er kennt einige Jäger, die an der Lotterie interessiert sind. Er will sich mit 78 Jahren nicht bewerben: „Wenn ich 20 Jahre jünger wäre, wäre ich der Erste in der Schlange.“

Parkverwaltung des Grand Canyon berichtet von großen Schäden durch Bisons
Mitarbeiter der Parkverwaltung erklären, die Bisons richteten immer größere Schäden an, zertrampelten archäologische Funde und verunreinigten Teiche. Sie dürfen in einem angrenzenden Waldgebiet gejagt werden, was die Tiere in den Grand Canyon getrieben hat. „Sie sind sehr geschickte Kletterer“, sagt die Parksprecherin Kaitlyn Thomas. „Sie können Orte erreichen, die Menschen nicht erreichen können.“
Am Nordrand des Parks leben den Angaben zufolge zwischen 300 und 500 Bisons. Die Parkverwaltung will ihre Zahl auf 200 reduzieren. Einige Tiere wurden bereits in Gehege gebracht oder umgesiedelt. Jeder Freiwillige darf nun im September und Oktober einen Bison schießen und behalten. Für die Zukunft ist geplant, dass auch Stämme der Ureinwohner die Gelegenheit bekommen, Bisons zu schießen.

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Havasupai, NPS Aim To Rename Site In Grand Canyon

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The National Park Service says a process has begun — in collaboration with the Havasupai Tribe — to rename a site currently known as Indian Garden in the Grand Canyon.

The NPS and the tribe are aiming to rename the area Havasupai Garden.
The Havasupai are indigenous to the canyon area, predating the National Park Service. After Grand Canyon National Park was created in 1919, federal officials forced the tribe to leave the site now known as Indian Garden, which sits about 5 miles beneath the South Rim.
A spokesperson for NPS says park representatives and a Havasupai tribal consultant toured the area earlier this month, and that NPS is working to include more educational information about the Havasupai Tribe.
“The name change and new interpretation are a first step in repairing relationships with the Havasupai community that are still impacted by past NPS policies and actions,” the NPS said in a statement.
Havasupai tribal leaders, meanwhile, have continued to advocate for a ban on area uranium mining to further protect the Grand Canyon.
“Each day uranium mining threatens contamination of Havasu Creek, which is the sole water source that provides life to Supai Village, our tribal homeland located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon,” Chairman Matthew Putesoy, Sr. told the Center for Biological Diversity last week.

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Grand Canyon Phantom Ranch: History, Hiking and Exploring

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Sahara and I walked down the Bright Angel Trail, then stayed 2 nights at the historic Phantom Ranch which opened in 1922. Lots of history and beauty here, no wonder so many people throughout history have been drawn to this location. I hiked and explored while my mule Sahara enjoyed just munching and hanging out in the corral, watching the world and taking naps.
Where: Phantom Ranch, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Elevation: 2,470′
Date: December 5-7, 2021
Dog Hike? No
I have been waiting a few years to do this trip, putting in for it back in 2019. It is a popular trip that you have to put in for at least 1 year ahead of time. So, I planned on going in December 2020 but COVID started happening around January 2020 and I delayed the trip to 2021 so this was the year. There were modification made for this mule trip due to COVID such as limiting the size of the riders to 10, not sharing cabins at Phantom Ranch and requiring masks while in all buildings in Grand Canyon National Park, regardless of vaccination status.

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Video: Enjoy a rare rim-to-rim trek across the Grand Canyon in beautiful HDR

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he average visitor to the Grand Canyon spent an average of 17 minutes looking at the canyon before leaving in the 1990s.
That's according to survey data from the National Park Service reported by the Chicago Tribune in 1996. It's unknown if that's still the case but it's a puzzling phenomenon considering they've come to see one of the greatest natural wonders on the planet.
Comparatively speaking, this video requires only a fraction of that time and shares so much more than most park visitors will ever see in stunning HDR.
Less than 1% of Grand Canyon visitors get to experience what you are watching, according to the National Park Foundation. It adds that while more than 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon each year (at least, before the pandemic), only a tiny fraction wander beneath the rim. Fewer still undertake the arduous journey across the canyon — a trek known as rim-to-rim.

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Grand Canyon National Park Proposing To Charge For Tuweep Access

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Should you have to pay to enter the Tuweep Visitor Use Area at Grand Canyon National Park? Park staff wants to know, as it is proposing to levy a $2 ticket fee per vehicle entering that part of the park.

Several other parks have been experimenting with charging such fees and requiring reservations in an effort to manage crowds. At Shenandoah National Park this year you need to make a reservation to hike to Old Rag. Great Smoky Mountains National Park used a fee on a trial basis last year for parking at the Laurel Falls Trailhead. Zion National Park requires reservations this year to hike Angels Landing. You'll need reservations to enter Arches National Park this summer, and to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road at Glacier National Park.
The proposal at Grand Canyon is for a three-year trial period requiring advance reservations to visit the Tuweep Visitor Use Area, including all park areas within Toroweap Valley and the Kanab Plateau.
Increasing popularity of the Tuweep area has led to excessive day use for vehicles and visitation, resulting in crowding and congestion along the roads and parking lot, organized groups traveling in vehicle convoys, vehicles exceeding noise limits, and the degradation of natural and cultural resources, a park release said.

Day-Use Ticket Reservation
The park’s 1995 General Management Plan set a carrying capacity to maintain the character of Tuweep. Public comments and participation helped to develop the plan and envision the future of Grand Canyon National Park. As part of that plan, the NPS outlined a potential entry reservation system for Tuweep to mitigate vehicle congestion diminishing access, degradation of area features, and impacts to safety and the visitor experience. Visitation has since grown 250 percent.
Building from these previous efforts and public input, Grand Canyon is proposing to implement an advance day-use reservation system in 2022. This means visitors would be required to obtain a day-use ticket prior to arriving at the Tuweep area. The pilot day-use ticket reservation system would be available on recreation.gov. Visitors with a valid Tuweep backcountry permit for overnight camping will be able to enter without purchasing a day-use ticket. Visitors must also possess a valid park entrance pass or site pass.
The day-use ticket system will authorize 20 vehicles for daily entrance plus existing backcountry permit holders. Of the 20 vehicles with day-use tickets, 18 tickets will be reserved for private vehicles and two tickets will be reserved for authorized Tuweep Tour commercial use authorization holders. This is a change from the previous daily allotment of up to two vehicles per authorized Tuweep Tour commercial use authorization holders per day. By issuing the designated day-use vehicle tickets, the recommended number of vehicles should reduce congestion on the roads, parking lot, and campground and improve the overall experience while reducing exposure to sensitive resources.
To implement the day-use reservation system, a new park-use fee would be introduced. A $2 fee would be used to cover the administration cost for recreation.gov to build and operate an online, reservation platform. Up to six tickets would be available for private vehicle owners to purchase 120 days in advance, and the remaining 12 will be available for purchase up to two days prior to the reservation date. Commercial use authorization holders can purchase tickets for commercial vehicles up to 120 days prior to the reservation date.
A more formalized system to visit Tuweep will provide an equitable process that prioritizes visitor safety while ensuring park resources are protected and desired visitor experiences are available. The system would be closely monitored and adjusted to allow park managers to learn and improve the application of the day-use reservation system. If successful, the day-use reservation system may be adopted permanently as part of a larger visitor use planning effort.
Public comments on the day-use ticket pilot at Tuweep are being accepted from March 24 through April 6 at this site.

Tuweep
The ancestral home of the Southern Paiute people, "Tuweep" refers to Grand Canyon National Park’s broad volcanic valley and surrounding western park lands on the Northwest Rim. Today, based on an extensive public process, the area is managed for an uncrowded, rustic, and remote wilderness experience dominated by nature and solitude.
The Tuweep area is reached by one of three challenging and unmaintained single-lane dirt roads, which can take approximately three hours each way to navigate. The roads require visitors to travel in high clearance vehicles with reduced tire pressure, adequate fuel, and repair items like tire plugs and a bike pump. Seasonal weather conditions of summer monsoons and winter snow can make the roads hazardous and potentially impassable, which is why driving in muddy conditions is prohibited. After departing developed highways to the dirt roads, there’s no cellular or Wi-Fi service available, so towing or mechanical services may not be available. At Tuweep, there’s no water, gas, food, or lodging, and all trash must be packed out.
The Tuweep Campground consists of backcountry campsites available for reservation only by applying for a backcountry permit in advance. The backcountry permit provides certainty in securing a campsite prior to arriving to the remote area. Amenities at the Tuweep Campground include picnic tables and composting toilets. Water, electricity, showers, and trash cans are not available, and wood and charcoal fires are not authorized.
Additional information about the Tuweep reservation system and backcountry permits is available on the Grand Canyon Tuweep website.

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North Rim of Grand Canyon to reopen May 15 for 2022 season

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The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park will open on Sunday, May 15 at 6 a.m. to mark the official start of the 2022 season. Grand Canyon Lodge and Grand Canyon Trail Rides will also commence their 2022 seasonal operations on this date.

Visitor services, including the campground, Grand Canyon Conservancy bookstore and the Backcountry Information Office will open at 8 a.m. Information on daily Park Ranger programs will be available at the Roaring Springs Overlook Kiosk through October 15. Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim operations, including lodging, groceries, retail, food and beverage services, shower and laundry and the gas station, will also open May 15. The lodge dining room will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with reservations required for dinner service. The last day of the 2022 season for most commercial services will be October 15, 2022.

On May 15, Fire Point on the Kaibab Plateau will be reopened to the public. Closed due to the Ike’s Fire in September 2019, Fire Point is a popular destination for backcountry car camping, sight-seeing, photography and mountain biking. All overnight use in this area requires a backcountry permit.

The NPS will continue its operations including the Backcountry Information Office through October 31. Once Highway 67 is closed for the season, the North Rim is only accessible to the public via non-motorized travel.

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Tusayan Route Shuttle Bus “Park & Ride" begins May 28

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Starting Saturday, May 28, the National Park Service (NPS) will offer shuttle bus service between Grand Canyon National Park Visitor Center and the gateway community of Tusayan, Arizona. The Tusayan Route will run at 20-minute intervals between 8 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. daily through September 9, 2022.

Summer can be very busy at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. During busy periods, visitors can expect up to two-hour wait times at the South Entrance Station between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and parking lots can reach capacity as early as 12 p.m. Riding the shuttle from Tusayan can help visitors avoid entrance station lines and parking frustrations and reduce vehicle congestion in the park.

Visitors must have a valid park pass, including lifetime or annual passes, to board the shuttle in Tusayan. Visitors can purchase standard entrance passes for vehicles, individuals and motorcycles at the IMAX, Canyon Plaza Resort, Red Feather Lodge, and Westwind Air Service at the Grand Canyon Airport. Visitors can also purchase these passes from automated machines at The Grand Hotel and the IMAX as well as online through https://www.recreation.gov/sitepass/74282

Visitors can park anywhere in Tusayan, including near stops at the Best Western Premier Inn, Grand Hotel, Big E Steakhouse, IMAX, and the park-and-ride lot on the north end of town near the roundabout. Unless visitors have a campground reservation in the park, those with RVs and those pulling a trailer should park their vehicles in Tusayan at one of the “park and ride” lots and take the shuttle.

The first bus into the park leaves Tusayan at 8 a.m. from the IMAX Theater. The first bus from the park to Tusayan departs the Grand Canyon Visitor Center at 8:25 a.m. The last buses leave IMAX at 9:45 p.m. and Grand Canyon Visitor Center at 9:30 p.m. each night.

After making four stops in Tusayan, the shuttle bus heads to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, where visitors can access trails, scenic viewpoints, and the free in-park shuttle bus system. Shuttle buses are wheelchair accessible, fueled with clean-burning compressed natural gas, and have bike racks that can hold up to three bicycles.

“We are pleased to provide this service to park visitors and local residents again in 2022” says Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Ed Keable. “Riding the shuttles helps protect resources, reduces crowding on park roadways, and reduces our carbon footprint. The Tusayan Route has not operated since the start of the pandemic in 2020, so we hope visitors and residents will use and enjoy it this year.”

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US Senate holds hearing on permanent Grand Canyon uranium mining ban

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The U.S. Senate held a hearing Tuesday on a bill that would permanently ban new uranium claims on more than a million acres surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.
The Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining heard from supporters of the Grand Canyon Protection Act.
Advocates, including Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema who sponsored the legislation, say the more than 600 active uranium claims near the canyon could eventually turn into mines without a permanent ban.
“Uranium mining around the Grand Canyon is a bad idea. It’s as simple as that. It presents an unacceptable risk to aquifers and springs inside Grand Canyon National Park. And it threatens the Havasupai Tribe, which has lived in the Canyon for more than 800 years. The bill that Senator Sinema and I introduced would ban mining on roughly 1 million acres of federal land surrounding the Park," said Kelly during the hearing.
Environmental groups and tribes say increased uranium mining would threaten springs and groundwater in the Grand Canyon.
The Havasupai Tribe has long opposed mining in the area and says it threatens their sole water source and existence.
In 2012, the Obama administration banned new claims in the area for 20 years. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protection Act last year.
The uranium industry has consistently said new mining methods are safe and won’t contaminate area aquifers.
But tribes and conservation groups, like the Grand Canyon Trust, dispute that assertion.

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Grand Canyon National Park opens first new hotel in 50 years

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For the first time in 50 years, Grand Canyon National Park is getting a new hotel on the South Rim. Xanterra Travel Collection just opened its latest project, Maswik South Lodge, which was reconstructed for $35 million on top of an old hotel site.
You can book your stay at Maswik South Lodge online, and the original 90 rooms have been expanded to include 120 rooms across 4 separate lodging structures on the 4.5-acre property. Rooms will include private balconies, elevators, access to Maswik Lodge that will include a food court and activities desk, and access to the Village Loop Blue park shuttle line. All are a 10-minute walk from the South Rim itself.
“Maswik South aims to prepare Grand Canyon National Park for the next 100 years,” said Marc Ducharme, general manager. “As stewards of the parks, Xanterra is proud to offer modernized lodging that will serve millions of visitors across its lifetime and enhance the national park experience.”
The new structure nods to the original lodge built in 1927 by the Fred Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railroad. The original stone pillars from the historic lodge buildings were preserved, and each room will be decorated with textiles inspired by southwestern Native American artwork. There will also be a fossil showcase, after which each building on the property is named as well as a historic map of the canyon.
Designed and constructed to the LEED Gold standard, the hotel construction is comprised of sustainable building materials, high-efficiency lighting, outdoor solar lighting, efficient mechanical systems, and much more including the coming use of reclaimed water. Electric vehicle charging and water bottle filling stations will also be available on-site.

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Grand Canyon implements Tuweep pilot day-use reservation system

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Grand Canyon National Park will implement a new pilot advance day-use ticket reservation system for the Tuweep Visitor Use Area, July 21, 2022. Park staff are managing for significant and steadily increasing visitation at Tuweep since 1995, along with limited park staffing in the area, ongoing vehicle safety, and natural and cultural resource concerns.

There will be two types of reservations available. One ticket will be for private vehicles and the other will be for authorized Tuweep tour Commercial Use Authorization (CUA) permit holders. The day-use reservation system will apply to the Tuweep area of Grand Canyon National Park, including all park areas within Toroweap Valley and on the Kanab Plateau. It excludes the North and South rim developed areas and overlooks.

Reservations to enter the Tuweep area will go on sale through Recreation.gov at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, July 5. The day-use vehicle tickets will cost $2. Visitors must also possess a valid park entrance pass. Two CUA and six private vehicle ticket reservations will be available to reserve up to 120 days prior to a visit. Reservations for the remaining 12 private vehicle day-use tickets to enter the Tuweep area will be available to purchase two days prior and up to the day of a scheduled visit.

Visitors with a backcountry permit for overnight camping in the Tuweep area do not need to make a day-use reservation for their permit date(s). The pilot reservation system does not change existing policy for tribal communities’ ability to use their traditional homelands within park boundaries.

This pilot program will include monitoring and review of visitation patterns to make further adjustments, with the potential to raise the proposed day-use vehicle limit, implement a timed entry system, or other actions. This system will be adaptable to changes in visitation trends and commercial transportation patterns and used to enhance the overall visitor experience and improve public information resources.

The Grand Canyon National Park 1995 General Management Plan (GMP) was developed based on National Park Service (NPS) management policies and extensive public participation and input to preserve the character of Tuweep as an uncrowded, rustic, and remote experience that is dominated by nature and solitude. The GMP set a carrying capacity of 30 vehicles or 85 visitors in the Tuweep area. The NPS selected roadside signs and other information sources to achieve this limit, and if unsuccessful, the GMP outlines that a reservation system may be required.

The intent of the pilot day-use reservation system is to facilitate the management of the carrying capacity set for the Tuweep area. Housing the reservation system on Recreation.gov will enable visitors to easily secure reservations online and plan a safe visit to this remote location by reading the Tuweep preparation material.

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Water Conservation Implemented on South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park Due to Water-System Issues

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Effective immediately, Grand Canyon National Park will implement mandatory Level 2 water conservation measures due to diminished water resources. At Level 2, measures require that all concessions operations switch to disposable dishes and utensils; alter menus to use less water for food prep and dish washing; adopt low water use for hotel room cleaning; and serve drinking water at restaurants by request only.

Mandatory water conservation includes not watering lawns/plants or washing cars; filling the sink with water while washing dishes; reporting drips, leaks, or other water loss to appropriate offices; turning off the water while you shave or brush your teeth; running dishwashers or washing machines with only full loads- in eco mode if available; and taking shorter showers. All visitors and residents must implement water conservation measures immediately in homes, hotel rooms, and at the campgrounds.

Since Tuesday, July 19, Grand Canyon’s Water Utilities crew have been working to fix a total of four leaks along the Transcanyon Pipeline on the North Kaibab and Bright Angel trails.

A valve installed at Pipe Creek has failed, resulting in the inability to fully pressurize the Transcanyon Pipeline. A new valve will be installed, and research is underway to determine the cause of the failure. Water pressure is being continually monitored and gradually charged, and repairs are in progress.

Water on the North Rim is unaffected. Water at Phantom Ranch is only available at the Canteen and hikers and backpackers should be prepared to carry all drinking water or be able to filter and treat creek water for drinking. Water conservation is still important due to the situation on the South Rim as well as the current wildfire on the North Rim. Potable water is currently NOT available along the North Kaibab Trail including at Supai Tunnel, Manzanita Rest Area, and Cottonwood Campground.

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Throwing bolts at Grand Canyon: NPS reminds visitors of lightning hazards

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Grand Canyon National Park is a remarkable place to be during thunderstorms, but lightning hazards do exist on the exposed mesas and canyons.
When sightseeing or hiking in the park, Grand Canyon officials give these tips to avoid storm hazards:
Be aware of the nearest safe structure or vehicle and how long it will take to reach it; learn where emergency phones are located on the trails.
Listen for thunder, watch for lightning, and observe the direction of storm movement.
If your hair stands on end, a strike is looming, move away from the canyon edge; leave open areas immediately; and avoid rocky outcrops, lone trees, the tallest trees, poles, railings, and bodies of water.
Get to a shelter—a building, vehicle with the windows closed, or shuttle bus—as quickly as possible.
If camping, wait out the storm in a safe structure or vehicle, not a tent.
Do not touch rock walls or any metal on vehicles or structures.
Monsoonal moisture is forecasted to bring showers and thunderstorms to Grand Canyon region through next week, according to the National Weather Service in Flagstaff.
The greatest threats will be the potential of flash flooding due to heavy rain, along with frequent lightning, gusty winds and small hail.
Thunderstorms capable of producing 1 to 2 inches or more of rain in one hour and in some locations producing dangerous flash flooding.
Grand Canyon National Park reminds visitors to never drive or walk into floodwaters. It is impossible to know how deep the water is just by looking at it.

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South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park lifts water conservation measures as water tank levels return to normal

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Grand Canyon National Park lifted its mandatory water conservation measures for the South Rim when water storage reached an acceptable level on August 15.

Water conservation measures are generally prudent in the desert west to conserve water resources. Measures such as watering lawns/plants only as needed, washing cars infrequently; filling the sink with water while washing dishes; reporting drips, leaks, or other water loss to appropriate offices; turning off water while not in immediate use for shaving and brushing teeth; running dishwashers or washing machines with only full loads (and in eco mode if available), and taking shorter showers are all good conservation practices to have everyday.

Water is available at Supai Tunnel on the North Kaibab trail. However, the water at Mile-and-a-Half and Three-Mile rest houses will remain off until crews are able to complete repairs to the damaged pipe above the rest house at Mile-and-a-Half. For the most up-to-date information on water availability in the inner canyon, visit the Critical Backcountry Updates page.

Day hikers and backpackers should always be prepared to carry drinking water or be able to filter or treat creek water for drinking purposes.

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The Grand Canyon’s Phantom Ranch Turns 100 This Year

A century after it was built, the secluded resort below the rim is still an architectural marvel

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A labyrinth of trails branches miles and miles out from the bustling, tourist-packed South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
The hike down the South Kaibab Trail is intense: seven-and-a-half miles of sunbaked switchbacks and thousands of feet of elevation change, past endless prickly pear and alien blooms of agave. After five hours of descent, calves wobbling and fortitude waning, you cross a foot bridge spanning the Colorado River and round a final corner, and there it is, against all odds: Phantom Ranch.
Currently celebrating its centennial, Grand Canyon’s Phantom Ranch is considered one of the world’s most exclusive accommodations, requiring a win in a lottery system more than a year in advance to nab a reservation. Accessible only by foot, mule or raft, it is secluded, and, like the canyon that cradles it, it’s a place frozen in time. Cell phones don’t work. There is no internet. Instead, people sit around and swap tales over stew from the canteen while mule deer graze mere feet away. Once the day hikers depart, you’re left in solitude, silence and perpetual stars, a feeling that is at once jarring and wondrous.
Designed to channel a dude ranch, the site consists of a handful of cabins and dorms situated around a canteen that’s home to the ranch’s kitchen and dining hall. But in those modest buildings is an aesthetic that would help define the look of nearly all the historic buildings at the park, from the Bright Angel Lodge to the Desert View Watchtower and beyond—and others around the country dating to the National Park system’s formative years.
Even today, Phantom Ranch, nearly one vertical mile below the canyon’s rim, is a marvel—a fact that only underscores its improbable construction a century ago.
Which raises the question: Why was it built here in the first place?
The Grand Canyon, a place that appears devoid of human life from the rim, has long brimmed with it. The Ancestral Puebloan, Cohonina, Havasupai, Zuni, Navajo and other Native American tribes traversed the inner canyon for thousands of years before European explorers arrived. Beginning in the late 1800s, a wave of prospectors began descending into the canyon in search of copper, asbestos and other ore.
“These places were all open for exploitation,” says former Kaibab National Forest historian Teri Cleeland, who has richly documented the significance of Phantom Ranch and the surrounding canyon corridor, while making a case for its preservation. “That was the default—go homestead it, go put a mining claim on it.”
As Cleeland has noted, explorer Joseph Christmas Ives declared the area “a profitless locality” in 1861. After investing time and effort into developing mining sites, the return was, in most cases, pretty dismal.
Tourism, however, was a much easier way to turn a profit. The railroad arrived at the Grand Canyon in 1901, and entrepreneurs charged curious visitors a $1 toll to explore the inner canyon on privately owned trails that had been used for mining not long before. Meanwhile, Ellsworth and Emery Kolb—photographers whose work is a hallmark of the canyon’s early days—captured images of these tourists on mules, developing the photos in a mineshaft nearby to sell to them on their return. In 1907, deeper in the canyon, the enterprising David Rust set up a tent camp near a crossing of the Colorado River—laying the foundation for Phantom Ranch as we know it today.
Rust planted cottonwood trees and other flora, and in the absence of any bridges spanning the Colorado, ferried tourists and their (likely terrified) mules from one side to the other with a gravity- and crank-driven cable car, a precarious cage that dangled 60 feet above the river. National Park Service documents quote one early rider who described the experience as like “being the clapper in a bell” on a windy day.
Theodore Roosevelt, who delighted in riding it multiple times, was a fan of the cable car. Rust’s development was later renamed “Roosevelt Camp” in honor of the president—and after the Grand Canyon became a national park in 1919, plans began to take shape to offer the first (and to this day, only) inner-canyon hotel for tourists trekking to the bottom.
The first order of business was building a critical piece of infrastructure: a bridge to bring tourists and building supplies from the South Rim to the property’s site just across the river. According to the journal Construction History, an excess of 40 tons of materials for the bridge were ferried in on daily mule trains. The most difficult task came when it was time to haul the 1,000-pound, 550-foot-long cables down; through a carefully choreographed distribution of man and mule, “the whole procession slowly moved down the perilous and torturous trail.” At one point during construction, three “unruly” horses hauling more than 150 pounds of TNT slipped over a cliff.
Completed in 1921, the wooden bridge was only marginally better than the cable car. Prone to flipping in high winds, the structure could only support a single mule at a time. According to the National Park Service, the bridge moved with such force in the wind that it made those mules seasick. But, despite its flaws, it linked the North and South Rim at the Colorado River, establishing a firm route to the planned development that was being dubbed “Roosevelt Chalet.”
An architect named Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter would have other plans for the name.
“Colter was, I think, quite an enigmatic person,” says Robert W. Audretsch, author of Grand Canyon’s Phantom Ranch.
The chain-smoking, Pittsburgh-born designer and architect had developed an interest in Native American art at a young age. A lone female in a male-dominated field, especially at the turn of the century, Colter began working for the Fred Harvey Company, a key Grand Canyon development concessionaire, in 1902. Lore and legend tend to play a role in most discussions about Colter, and definitive facts about her personal life can be fleeting. What experts agree on is that her work was her life, and she was wholly invested in it.
As Virginia L. Grattan notes in her biography Mary Colter: Builder Upon the Red Earth, at the time when Colter began her professional career, American architecture was still heavily influenced by European trends. “Foreign style superimposed on the American landscape,” she writes. The National Park Service, meanwhile, had decreed that park developments should be in harmony with the surrounding landscape. And that was something Colter wholly excelled at.
“Her approach was to infuse the landscape and geology of the Southwest, and its cultural history, into the exteriors, interiors and settings of her buildings,” says Arnold Berke, author of Mary Colter: Architect of the Southwest. “The results were cleverly comprehensive, A-to-Z bundles of expression designed to delight—and inform—travelers.”
After initially working as an interior designer for the Fred Harvey Company, Colter soon ascended to the position of architect, and began her work at the Grand Canyon with the Hopi House in 1905. She followed it with Hermit’s Rest and Lookout Studio in 1914. When the idea for a tourist hotel at the bottom of the canyon began percolating, Colter would have likely been an ideal contender to continue building out the park’s architectural language.
No known record exists of when Colter first visited the site that would become Phantom Ranch. “There are no drawings of any kind of Phantom Ranch that I've ever seen,” Cleeland says. Berke concurs, speculating that Colter might have figured the project just wasn’t going to be feasible at the outset given the remoteness of the location.
“But she was so driven and so imaginative,” he says. “I think at a certain point, she and her colleagues all agreed, well, we can do this. And this will be something new, because it'll be the first time we get people down into the canyon.”
Per Colter’s approach to design, the site dictated the materials: rocks and boulders from the area were gathered and used in the creation of the buildings. Everything else—quite literally, from doors to windows and everything in between—had to be hauled down by mule. Cleeland says nothing could be longer than the length of a mule because of the trail’s tight turns and switchbacks. She adds that upon close inspection of the Phantom Ranch buildings, one can identify where rafters and beams were spliced together.
“The remoteness of [this project] necessitated an attention to material and resource efficiency that anticipated today’s sustainable approach to materials in design and construction,” Construction History notes.
Colter was a perfectionist, famously exacting, confident and tough. “She picked every color and design used on the inside and outside of the structure,” Audretsch writes “She even stood over individual workmen, picking out specific materials and directing their exact position.”
While primary documents about the original build are elusive, Phantom Ranch officially opened on November 9, 1922, with a lodge with a dining hall, and four distinct Craftsman bungalow cabins. It was built at a cost of $20,000.
Thanks to the organic nature of the build, the structures appeared to be born of their environment, rather than created by a designer working intently behind the scenes.
“It takes a lot of art to do something that looks artless,” Berke says. “And that's Colter.”
Eight cabins, a rec hall, a shower house and more would be added later in the ’20s, completing a loop of buildings anchored by the canteen. From the outset, the ranch was a perfect embodiment of the “Park Rustic” style that Colter played a key role in pioneering and that would become the dominant look of National Park architecture from 1916 to 1942. As the National Park Service breaks it down, “Infused with native materials, natural whole logs, and built by hand (or meant to look as if it was), ‘Parkitecture’ defines the National Park Service experience in the collective memories of visitors just as much as our natural landscapes.” Popular examples include the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone, and Colter’s other buildings at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
As for how “Phantom” Ranch got its name—well, that’s another mystery. Newspapers told tales of apparitions and haunts at the site. Most sources today agree that Colter was unsatisfied with the perhaps banal “Roosevelt’s Chalet,” and wanted something with a bit more mystique.
Berke says the nearby Phantom Canyon—a slot canyon that could be difficult to find depending on the time of year and the time of day—no doubt inspired the name Phantom Ranch.

The opening of Phantom Ranch
On December 10, 1922, The Arizona Republican headlined an article, “Americans Find Finer Scenery Right at Home Than in Europe,” detailing how the Grand Canyon’s annual visitorship had rocketed to 84,700—and touting the new tourist facility below the rim, Phantom Ranch. That figure would rise to 134,053 by 1925, and more than double by 1929.
Meanwhile, a travel agency’s ad from 1923 detailed a destination “miles wide and colored like a sunset … where you can enjoy an unordinary out-west outing a few days or weeks,” again citing the ranch.
“The specific goal was to lure tourists,” Berke says. “Colter did it. She did it brilliantly.”
Given the small number of available cabins, Phantom Ranch represented the most exclusive and exotic of getaways. In 1926, Swedish Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Louise rode through Phantom Ranch on mules named Bob and Flo. In 1939, the Los Angeles Times noted that “the scenic beauties of Grand Canyon were a poor second in guest interest” when film idol Tyrone Power and his bride, French actress Annabella, visited. Guides drew straws to determine who would shepard them down to Phantom Ranch. Actress and writer Signe Hasso dropped by in 1941. Prince Albert of Belgium followed in 1955. Barry Goldwater and Robert Kennedy arrived via river raft trips in 1965 and 1967—though the former had to be rescued by helicopter when his group encountered impassable rapids.
Shortly after Phantom Ranch opened, the new South Kaibab Trail was blasted and jackhammered in to create a shorter, safer approach to the ranch and the Colorado River than was currently available. The wooden suspension bridge was replaced with a better bridge in 1928 that stands to this day, thanks to the group of 42 primarily Havasupai workers who carried the 550-foot cables down on their shoulders. Construction took place at night to avoid the searing inner-canyon summer temperatures.
Over the next few years, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) completed Phantom Ranch and the surrounding area as we know it today, with the help of a mule train that averaged 200 pounds of freight per animal, hauling 30,000 pounds of supplies every week, according to Audretsch’s research. CCC enrollees built trails, hanging precariously from ropes with jackhammers suspended on lines next to them; they landscaped the area, planting nascent trees that now offer shade; they created the transcanyon telephone line, drilling and pounding iron pipe into rock; they even constructed the storied swimming pool at Phantom Ranch, now closed and filled in.
As Audretsch also documents, in a time of segregation at the rim, Black and white men worked alongside each other, doing the same tasks at the canyon floor. And miraculously, in the midst of intensely dangerous work in such a remote location, not a single person died—even blasting in the River Trail leading to Phantom Ranch, which the foreman assumed would be named after the first person killed in the endeavor.
When the CCC left in 1937, the remarkable feat of a decade-and-a-half of inner-canyon development came to a close—in many ways, sealing Phantom Ranch in time like a bug in amber.
The cabins now have air conditioning units, and infrastructure updates and improvements happen from time to time—including the massive transcanyon water pipeline initiative that is primed to pass through Phantom Ranch, pausing reservations as the National Park Service replaces the nearly 60-year-old waterlines that break numerous times each year, disrupting service to the tourist-heavy South Rim.
But by and large, one gets the impression that not all that much has changed over the decades.
“About the last thing a visitor to the Grand Canyon would expect to find at the bottom of this mile-deep chasm would be a farm—yet that is what has been established there to greet the wayfarer at the end of his thrilling descent,” wrote The Arizona Republican on June 21, 1922. “The Ranch is a veritable pastoral gem set in a wilderness of vividly colored and gigantic cliffs and rocky slopes.”
The same could be said today.

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Grand Canyon National Park initiates water conservation for both North and South rims

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Effective immediately, Grand Canyon National Park will re-implement mandatory water conservation measures on both the North and South rims of the park. This is due to diminished water supplies as a result of a major pipeline break discovered on September 3 in the inner canyon along the North Kaibab Trail. Water conservation measures require all park residents and visitors to conserve and reduce water usage wherever possible in homes, hotel rooms, and at the campgrounds.

Conservation measures require that all concessions operations switch to disposable dishes and utensils; alter menus to use less water for food prep and dish washing; adopt low water use for hotel room cleaning; and serve drinking water at restaurants by request only.Although the park has entered water restrictions, park staff continue to encourage frequent hand washing for at least 20 seconds using soap and water to prevent the spread of disease.

Mandatory water conservation measures include:
No watering lawns/plants
No washing cars, boats, bikes or any outside vehicle
Run dishwashers or washing machines with only full loads (in eco mode if available)
Utilize dry precleaning methods to scrape off food items before thoroughly washing dishes.
Fill the sink with water while washing dishes to avoid running water
Take shorter or less frequent showers
Turn water off while you shave or brush your teeth
Use low water cleaning techniques and reduce toilet flushing to the minimum necessary
Camper Services may implement limited hours for showers and laundry services
Employee and concessionaire laundromats may implement limited hours
Report drips, leaks, or other water loss to appropriate offices
Remove outside hoses from spigots when not in use

Drinking water is turned OFF at the following inner canyon locations: Mile-and-a-Half and Three-Mile rest houses, Cottonwood Campground and day use area, and Manzanita rest area. Hikers in the backcountry should plan to carry all their water or methods to treat water.

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Influencerin schlägt einen Golfball in den Grand Canyon – und könnte dafür sogar im Gefängnis landen

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Eine Influencerin drischt einen Golfball in die Weite des Grand Canyon – das ist nicht nur Umweltverschmutzung, sondern stellt auch eine Gefahr für Menschen und Tiere dar. Der TikTok-Userin drohen nun rechtliche Konsequenzen.

Der Grand Canyon, die 450 Kilometer lange Schlucht im US-Bundesstaat Arizona, ist ein imposantes Naturphänomen, das jedes Jahr Millionen von Tourist:innen anzieht. Nicht umsonst gehört er zu den großen Naturwundern der Erde. Die beeindruckende Kulisse lässt staunen, eignet sich aber auch gut für Selfies und Videos – das hat sich wohl auch die Tik-Tok-Influencerin und Golfspielerin Katie Sigmond gedacht.
Die US-Amerikanerin ließ sich dabei filmen, wie sie einen Golfball in den Grand Canyon schlug und veröffentlichte das Video auf ihrem TikTok-Profil. Dort folgen der 20-Jährigen fast sieben Millionen Menschen. Die sind meist ganz angetan von ihrem Content, mit ihrem Golf-Video hat Sigmond sich aber den Unmut einiger User zugezogen – und muss nun sogar ernsthafte juristische Konsequenzen befürchten.
Die Influencerin hat das Video mittlerweile von ihrem Account gelöscht, auf Reddit haben User allerdings Kopien veröffentlicht. Dort ist zu sehen, dass Sigmond nicht nur den Golfball in die Schlucht befördert, sondern bei dem Schlag auch noch einen Teil ihres Golfschlägers verliert, der ebenfalls im Canyon landet. Viele ihrer Follower:innen hatten kein Verständnis für ein solches Verhalten an einem Ort, der besonders geschützt gehört – nicht nur wegen seiner Schönheit, sondern auch weil er ein Lebensraum für Flora und Fauna ist.
Auch der National Park Service zeigte sich fassungslos. "Müssen wir wirklich sagen: 'Schlagt keine Golfbälle in den Grand Canyon?'", schrieb die Behörde auf Facebook, ohne die TikTokerin beim Namen zu nennen. Der angefügte Screenshot war allerdings eindeutig. Gegen Sigmond wurde Anzeige erstattet. Gegenstände vom Rand der Schlucht zu werfen, sei nämlich nicht nur illegal, erklärte der National Park Service, sondern könne auch Wanderer und Tiere verletzen.
"Wir nehmen solche Vorfälle sehr ernst", sagte eine Sprecherin des Nationalparks der "Washington Post". Sigmond erwartet nun ein Gerichtsverfahren und könnte im schlimmsten Falle sogar hinter Gittern landen: Die Höchststrafe für ihre Vergehen beträgt sechs Monate Gefängnis. Die TikTokerin selbst hat sich noch nicht dazu geäußert, in ihren aktuellen Videos geht sie nicht auf die Vorwürfe ein.

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