It’s been seven months since the Dragon Bravo Fire ripped across the north rim of the Grand Canyon, destroying the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, dozens of other structures and burning nearly 150,000 acres.
And now, the National Park Service announced it’s ready to reopen at least part of the trail there that is frequented by hikers, many of whom are after their elusive “rim to rim” goals.
Annette McGivney is a longtime Arizona journalist who has covered Grand Canyon for decades, and she joined The Show to talk more about this historic reopening.
Full conversation
LAUREN GILGER: So the National Park Service officials called this, "an important step toward restoring inner canyon trail access following the Dragon Bravo Fire." Tell us exactly where this reopening will be. This is not the whole North Kaibab Trail, right? Just part.
ANNETTE MCGIVNEY: That's right, yes. They're planning to reopen in phases, and it's a very kind of tentative situation, depending on weather between now and into the summer.
And so right now, on March 5, they are to open the North Kaibab Trail between Phantom Ranch and the cutoff to Ribbon Falls, which is about 7 miles, the lower 7 miles of what is a 14-mile trail, the North Kaibab.
And so that's the lower section. And the upper section could potentially open up by the traditional opening date, when rim to rim season starts, of May 15. But I talked to the public information officer this morning for Grand Canyon, and so there's some, you know, it depends.
GILGER: It sounds like mostly on weather conditions, right?
MCGIVNEY: Well, on weather conditions — you know, it's been a super dry winter in northern Arizona, so like almost no snowpack. We could get a giant blizzard in March or April, and that would cause a lot of runoff through the burn area of the North Kaibab Trail, which is the upper 2 miles, that could cause rockslides and mudslides that could destroy sections of the trail, even those sections that have been repaired as of today.
But yes. So it's kind of up in the air. Yes.
GILGER: Well, and one of the big warnings that came with this announcement of this March 4 reopening, at least part of the trail, was about flash flooding, which I know can be an issue particularly after a wildfire. And it's always kind of been a risk, though, flash flooding when you're hiking in the Grand Canyon, right?
MCGIVNEY: Right. Absolutely yes. On the North Kaibab Trail, I've been on the upper 2 to 3 miles of the trail during rainstorms. And I felt like I needed to wear a helmet. Like, just rocks coming off the cliffs. So it's always been an issue, and it's the flash flood threat is unproven up to this point because there haven't been really heavy rains or snowpack melting.
But the flipside of that is the park definitely wants to try and help satisfy public demand. You know, who really, they love the rim to rim hike of the Grand Canyon. It's like, you know, the crown jewel of the crown jewel in terms of hiking for bucket list people.
And so they're hoping they can open the whole trail by May 15, possibly. But there's another issue with a water line repair that's happening at Cottonwood Campground, which right around the turnoff to ribbon falls at 7 miles on the North Kaibab Trail, where they may have that section of trail shut down through June 30 just to do water line repairs there at Cottonwood Campground.
GILGER: Yeah. So you mentioned the kind of public pressure to reopen this rim to rim trail, and they're working to get that done. Are folks concerned about that? Like, I know the Park Service is also putting in some safety measures to try to warn people if a flash flood could happen.
Are there other safety concerns?
MCGIVNEY: Yes. In addition to the public information officer, I talked to another park employee who's been involved in safety issues with the park. And I also talked to a longtime Grand Canyon hiking guide. And they both, for one, the Dragon Bravo Fire was a disaster. But park staff at Grand Canyon, their disaster started last spring when DOGE came in and cut staff.
And so, you know, they've been very understaffed. The rangers are understaffed, so they've been stressed from a manpower standpoint. So as far as safety issues on the North Kaibab, they don't have the manpower to patrol that the way they did in the past. And also, then there's this increased risk of rockslides and mudslides.
So the Grand Canyon guide I talked to was like, don't hike in — for one thing, the heat is so bad in the summer anyway. But in monsoon season, you probably don't want to be on the North Kaibab Trail, especially the upper stretches, because of the unknown threat of how bad it could be with flash floods.
GILGER: Interesting. I want to ask you more about Ribbon Falls, which is part of this new reopening. I looked at photos of this just in preparation for this conversation. It's just striking, first of all. But you say it's also sacred to the Zuni people?
MCGIVNEY: That's right. Yeah. It's not right along the North Kaibab Trail, around Mile 7 or so, I think you take a 1 mile side trail and go to Ribbon, and you've got to cross Bright Angel Creek to get there. And you kind of scramble up to the spectacular falls, and it's really beautiful.
It's kind of in a grotto area, so it's not like a lot of people can all stand there at once. But it is the place of emergence for the Zuni people. It is a sacred place for them. It's also sacred to other Native American tribes where Grand Canyon is their homeland.
So I guess opening the trail to Ribbon Falls is great for hiking, but I guess I would also emphasize that it is sacred, especially to the Zuni, and Ribbon Falls should be approached with respect.
GILGER: Yeah. Let me ask you in the last minute or so here, Annette, about the big picture. Like, this is just kind of one point in what I'm sure will be a long process of restoration, reopening after the Dragon Bravo Fire last summer. What are you watching for as this kind of long process plays out?
MCGIVNEY: Well, I have to admit I'm pretty surprised at how much they are trying to open up to accommodate the public. When the fire happened and right after the fire happened, everyone, the park staff and people just expected the whole North Rim, the North Kaibab Trail, the North Rim facilities would be closed for years.
The park public information officer told me that they are actually hoping to open the campground on the North Rim. It didn't burn, and they're hoping to open that campground this summer.
GILGER: Summer, wow.
MCGIVNEY: And that by next summer, they're actually hoping to open cabins that didn't burn, in summer of 2027, if they can get a temporary wastewater facility installed.
GILGER: Wow. OK.
MCGIVNEY: So I think things are coming back. Like, there's going to be burn scars all over the place, but visitor facilities are coming back sooner than I would have expected.
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Portions of the North Kaibab Trail is set to reopen in early March. The trail remained closed after the Dragon Bravo Fire destroyed parts of the North Rim.
