The Grand Canyon Lodge was an elusive getaway for nearly a century. Now it's gone
But a wind-whipped wildfire reduced it to a skeleton of itself within hours over the weekend, devastating the many who saw it as an intrinsic part of the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Fortified with Kaibab limestone and logs from the surrounding Ponderosa pine forest, it sat at the edge of the canyon, blending in and enhancing the natural environment.
'It's tragic, it really is,' retired National Park Service chief historian Robert K. Sutton said Monday.
The lodge itself told a key part of history for both the Grand Canyon and the National Park Service.
Gilbert Stanley Underwood, who designed the lodge in 1927, sought to immerse residents in the landscape that now draws millions of visitors annually from around the world with a rustic, organic architectural style. He designed similar lodges in Zion and Bryce national parks in Utah, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Yosemite National Park in California, according to the park service.
The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging within the canyon's North Rim, was built at a time when the federal department was eager to find ways to engage the public with the country's best natural offerings, Sutton said.
For a place as remote as the North Rim, that wasn't an easy task. The lodge was a winding 212-mile (341-kilometer) drive from the more popular South Rim where 90% of the tourists go. Hiking from one side to the other is even more arduous at over 20 miles (32 kilometers) with steep ascents at the end. But the historic building's tranquility is a fundamental part of its appeal.
'You're just on your own. It's just a completely different atmosphere,' Sutton said.
The drive up to the North Rim was a chance to see a bison herd that roams the far reaches of northern Arizona. The highway ended at the Grand Canyon Lodge, built right up to the edge of the rim. Across the lobby inside and down the stairs, visitors got a picturesque view of the Grand Canyon framed through the windows of the 'Sun Room' furnished with plush couches. Navajo woven rugs hung on the walls and elaborate light fixtures from the ceilings.
In the corner of the room sat Brighty, a burro that lived at the canyon and inspired a children's book, immortalized in a statue as a sort of mascot for the North Rim.
Jen Pinegan, 47, trained for months to hike from the South Rim to the North Rim in May 2024. She started before the sun came up to avoid what can be ruthless Arizona heat. After 12 grueling hours, she arrived at the North Rim, stayed the night at the Grand Canyon Lodge and awoke to a view she she said had 'an indescribable magic to it.'
Others hikers were celebrating, too, creating an 'electric' atmosphere as they soaked in the views, she said.
'I think there's what made it more incredible, is knowing that a lot of people don't see it,' Pinegan said.
She returned to the lodge for the Fourth of July weekend to take her youngest daughter and two step sons to lunch at the restaurant known for its elk chili. She said she was brought to tears when she heard it burned down.
For those who enjoy a good road trip, like Erik Ammerlaan, the lodge had an elusive appeal. He's traveled to roughly 30 countries but counts his stay at the Grand Canyon Lodge in 2016 as one of his most memorable trips.
'It was like you were looking at this movie, but its just nature,' he said. 'You're really just one with nature'
The lightning-caused wildfire that consumed the lodge and dozens of other structures at the North Rim began July 4. The National Park Service had been managing it to clear the landscape of fuel when winds shifted and it made a run toward the lodge. Hundreds of people were evacuated.
The blaze wasn't the first time the lodge was destroyed. In September 1932, just five years after it opened, lodge employees and residents watched as a kitchen fire grew and overtook the structure, according to the park service. It was rebuilt in 1938.
Sutton, the retired park service historian, and others are optimistic the Grand Canyon Lodge will get a new life.
'I suspect it will regenerate,' he said.
___
Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fire crews along Grand Canyon are trying to save cabins after loss of historic lodge
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — Crews fighting a wildfire that destroyed the nearly century-old Grand Canyon Lodge and a visitors center were focused Tuesday on stopping the flames from consuming nearby cabins, mule stables and other structures, fire officials said. Firefighters are dealing with a pair of wildfires along the park's less-visited North Rim that together have burned through more than 90 square miles (233 kilometers). That's more than twice the size of the entire Walt Disney World complex in Florida. Each blaze grew overnight into Tuesday, but fire officials expressed optimism that they had slowed the spread of the White Sage Fire, the larger of the two. Tourists standing along the park's popular South Rim on Tuesday could see plumes of smoke rising above the canyon walls and a haze hanging over the sweeping vista. 'By the afternoon, it was completely socked in,' Christi Anderson said of the smoke that had filled the canyon the day before. 'You couldn't see anything, none of that. It was crazy.' Anderson was visiting from California and considered herself lucky because she had shifted her reservation to the South Rim in the preceding days. Otherwise she would have been among those forced to evacuate. The Dragon Bravo Fire, ignited by a lightning strike on July 4, destroyed the lodge and dozens of cabins over the weekend. That fire had been allowed to burn for days before strong winds caused it to erupt, leading to questions about the National Park Service's decision not to aggressively attack the fire right away. Four days into the fire, the Park Service said it was being allowed to burn to benefit the land. Then on Friday, fire officials and the Park Service warned visitors to evacuate immediately as the fire grew by nearly eight times within a day. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has called for a federal investigation into the Park Service's handling of the fire and plans to meet with leaders from the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior, her office said. U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego have asked Interior Secretary Doug Burgum how the administration plans to track wildfire decision-making under a recent executive order to consolidate federal firefighting forces into a single program. The Associated Press has left phone and email messages with Park Service officials seeking comment about how the fire was managed. Over the years, managers at the Grand Canyon have successfully used fire to benefit the landscape, with the park having what some experts say is an exemplary fire management program that has tapped both prescribed fire and wildfires to improve forest health. Andi Thode, a professor of fire ecology and management at Northern Arizona University and the lead at the Southwest Fire Science Consortium, said park managers have even re-burned some areas in multiple places over the years to create what she called 'one of the best jigsaw puzzles' on public land. She noted that fire behavior decreased significantly when the Dragon Bravo Fire burned into the footprint of a previously burned area. 'So creating that heterogeneity across the landscape, using fire is a really critical tool moving forward to be able to help in the future with these wildfire events that are happening at the worst time in the worst weather conditions with the driest fuels,' Thode said. Fire officials on Tuesday said the Dragon Bravo Fire had spread to nearly 13 square miles (34 square kilometers) while the larger White Sage Fire had charred 81 square miles (210 square kilometers). Neither blaze had any containment. Park officials have closed access to the North Rim, a more isolated area that draws only about 10% of the Grand Canyon's millions of annual visitors. Hikers in the area were evacuated and rafters on the Colorado River, which snakes through the canyon, were told to bypass Phantom Ranch, an outpost of cabins and dormitories. Trails to the area from the canyon's North and South rims also were closed. The Dragon Bravo Fire flared up Saturday night, fueled by high winds. Firefighters used aerial fire retardant drops near the lodge before they had to pull back because of a chlorine gas leak at a water treatment plant, the park service said. ___ Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Christopher Keller and Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.
Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Toronto Star
The Grand Canyon Lodge was an elusive getaway for nearly a century. Now it's gone
The nearly century-old Grand Canyon Lodge in far northern Arizona was a refuge for ambitious hikers and adventurous tourists eager to bask in the magnificent views of one of the most remote and renowned landscapes in the world. But a wind-whipped wildfire reduced it to a skeleton of itself within hours over the weekend, devastating the many who saw it as an intrinsic part of the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Fortified with Kaibab limestone and logs from the surrounding Ponderosa pine forest, it sat at the edge of the canyon, blending in and enhancing the natural environment.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
The Grand Canyon Lodge was an elusive getaway for nearly a century. Now it's gone
The nearly century-old Grand Canyon Lodge in far northern Arizona was a refuge for ambitious hikers and adventurous tourists eager to bask in the magnificent views of one of the most remote and renowned landscapes in the world. But a wind-whipped wildfire reduced it to a skeleton of itself within hours over the weekend, devastating the many who saw it as an intrinsic part of the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Fortified with Kaibab limestone and logs from the surrounding Ponderosa pine forest, it sat at the edge of the canyon, blending in and enhancing the natural environment. 'It's tragic, it really is,' retired National Park Service chief historian Robert K. Sutton said Monday. The lodge itself told a key part of history for both the Grand Canyon and the National Park Service. Gilbert Stanley Underwood, who designed the lodge in 1927, sought to immerse residents in the landscape that now draws millions of visitors annually from around the world with a rustic, organic architectural style. He designed similar lodges in Zion and Bryce national parks in Utah, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Yosemite National Park in California, according to the park service. The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging within the canyon's North Rim, was built at a time when the federal department was eager to find ways to engage the public with the country's best natural offerings, Sutton said. For a place as remote as the North Rim, that wasn't an easy task. The lodge was a winding 212-mile (341-kilometer) drive from the more popular South Rim where 90% of the tourists go. Hiking from one side to the other is even more arduous at over 20 miles (32 kilometers) with steep ascents at the end. But the historic building's tranquility is a fundamental part of its appeal. 'You're just on your own. It's just a completely different atmosphere,' Sutton said. The drive up to the North Rim was a chance to see a bison herd that roams the far reaches of northern Arizona. The highway ended at the Grand Canyon Lodge, built right up to the edge of the rim. Across the lobby inside and down the stairs, visitors got a picturesque view of the Grand Canyon framed through the windows of the 'Sun Room' furnished with plush couches. Navajo woven rugs hung on the walls and elaborate light fixtures from the ceilings. In the corner of the room sat Brighty, a burro that lived at the canyon and inspired a children's book, immortalized in a statue as a sort of mascot for the North Rim. Jen Pinegan, 47, trained for months to hike from the South Rim to the North Rim in May 2024. She started before the sun came up to avoid what can be ruthless Arizona heat. After 12 grueling hours, she arrived at the North Rim, stayed the night at the Grand Canyon Lodge and awoke to a view she she said had 'an indescribable magic to it.' Others hikers were celebrating, too, creating an 'electric' atmosphere as they soaked in the views, she said. 'I think there's what made it more incredible, is knowing that a lot of people don't see it,' Pinegan said. She returned to the lodge for the Fourth of July weekend to take her youngest daughter and two step sons to lunch at the restaurant known for its elk chili. She said she was brought to tears when she heard it burned down. For those who enjoy a good road trip, like Erik Ammerlaan, the lodge had an elusive appeal. He's traveled to roughly 30 countries but counts his stay at the Grand Canyon Lodge in 2016 as one of his most memorable trips. 'It was like you were looking at this movie, but its just nature,' he said. 'You're really just one with nature' The lightning-caused wildfire that consumed the lodge and dozens of other structures at the North Rim began July 4. The National Park Service had been managing it to clear the landscape of fuel when winds shifted and it made a run toward the lodge. Hundreds of people were evacuated. The blaze wasn't the first time the lodge was destroyed. In September 1932, just five years after it opened, lodge employees and residents watched as a kitchen fire grew and overtook the structure, according to the park service. It was rebuilt in 1938. Sutton, the retired park service historian, and others are optimistic the Grand Canyon Lodge will get a new life. 'I suspect it will regenerate,' he said. ___ Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
