Our next destination is the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We drove from Beaver, Utah south on I-15 and cut over on Hwy 20 towards Bryce and Panguitch then south to Kanab and on to the canyon. It is a beautiful drive.
The entrance to the Grand Canyon North Rim is about a 45 minute drive from Jacob Lake, Arizona and off the beaten path which makes it an ideal place to go to. Check-in to our reserved site was very easy.
Campground: North Rim Campground
Location: North rim of Grand Canyon National Park (south of Jacob Lake, Arizona)
Site: 20 (pull thru)
Cost: $9 (includes half off with Interagency Pass)
Services: Dry camping
Comments: A beautiful campground on the North Rim. Reservations are quite difficult to get and it took months of trying but we scored 2 nights.
The campground is one big loop with campsites along the roads and campsites in the middle of the loop. The inside sites are more treed but all are nice sites. Many sites aren’t very level so you may have to do some leveling. The outside loop sites towards the bottom of the loop (per the map below) have peek-a-boo views to the canyon. We thought site 18 was probably the nicest site offering the best privacy and the best views.
The campground has both a dump station and a general store which sells firewood, souvenirs, and minimal snacks/food/alcohol/etc. There is also a small gas station near the campground with prices a bit (cough, cough) higher than towns/cities further away.
Since we were not towing a vehicle our activities were limited to walking. There are a number of great drives to do around the park which we have done in the past and highly recommend. So for this trip we hiked around. The Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge is just over a mile hike through the woods. Off we went on the Transept Trail which borders the rim and ends up along the rim below the lodge.
The front of the lodge has a nice driveway entrance, a small coffee shop, a nice sitting area out front, free water bottle fill station, and sits alongside the cabins.
Also by the front of the lodge is a post office, a souvenir store, and a the Roughrider Saloon.
Close to the cabins is the North Rim Visitor Center with park rangers and park information along with a very small interpretive area and gift shop. Note that the park is known for the Kaibab squirrels that live in the ponderosa pines of the North Rim. They are known for their purely white tails. We never saw them but hope to one day. Their relatives on the South Rim do not have the white tails.
Inside the lodge is the reception area, restaurant, lounge area, and a place to book/reserve your tours such as mule rides into the canyon. The lounge area has big windows with great views over the canyon.
The outside back end of the lodge has a number of sitting areas and picnic tables with great views of the canyon also.
From the back of the lodge there are steps leading down to the trail where there are several viewpoints along with a tower you can climb up to with picture window views of the canyon.
It’s a great place to hike to and soak up the views of the canyon.
And, as usual, the canyon is gorgeous and we could just sit all day staring at it.
We like the North Rim so much better than the South Rim due to the less commercialization and less crowds. AND it is a perfect stopping point for our drive home.
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