While over five million visitors come down to Grand Canyon National Park in an average year, the majority make it only to the park’s South Rim.
The much more accessible part of the Grand Canyon is where visitors can find some of the most picturesque canyons and desert vistas for which the park is known.
It also has significantly more infrastructure for a non-strenuous visit — while the South Rim has five campgrounds and countless restaurants and eateries, the North Rim has just one lodge and attracts more hardened adventurers. Getting to the latter from the main entrances will require either a four-hour drive or a shorter but very strenuous hike in desert-like conditions.
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Want to visit North Rim? Here is when it reopens
Due to its remote nature, North Rim also closes to visitors for the winter season. Roads leading to the park closed to traffic on December 1 of last year (accommodation became unavailable just under two months earlier on October 15), and heading into the summer season, will reopen in mid-May.
“The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park will open on Thursday, May 15, at 6 a.m. to mark the official start of the 2025 season,” the National Park Service (NPS) shared. “Grand Canyon Lodge and Grand Canyon Trail Rides will also commence their 2025 seasonal operations on this date.”
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Certain facilities, such as the visitors center and the campgrounds, will open at 8 a.m., while park rangers will be available daily between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. until October 15.
After that, accommodation will no longer be available, but day visits will be possible until Nov. 30 or the first snowstorm of the season. Since North Rim has significantly higher elevation than its southern counterpart, it also has a very different ecosystem and is one of the few places in Arizona where one can experience snow.
This season will not see the opening of Bright Angel Point Trail, which leads to the Bright Angel Point scenic view and is currently undergoing construction.
Want to stay in Grand Canyon? Prices are about to surge
The NPS has also started taking reservations for campground slots on the park’s website and encouraged those planning summer trips to book now, as spaces during peak days will fill up fast.
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Doing this will, however, cost a pretty penny. The NPS recently approved raising the price of parking a tent or an RV at a number of both South and North Rim campgrounds from $18 to $30 per night for the 2025 season.
“Recreation fees provide essential funding for maintaining and improving facilities and visitor services,” the NPS wrote in justifying the increase that is the first since 2005. “Projects supported by these fees include campground repairs and improvements, increasing accessibility, and facility restoration.”
The cost of staying at group and walk-up sites will remain the same at $55 per night.
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