Utah and North Rim Grand Canyon

Ivylog wrote:
You can stay at Jacobs Lake if unable to get reservations or if it looks like you might get snowed in at the rim. No way any of the parks will be AS FULL with the kids back in school.
Thanks for posting this as I'm planning on doing the balloon fest in early Oct and will add going to the N. Rim before it.

We have been as late as first week of December with no issue (little snow drifted into piles) But have also been in June with the snow falling - just beautiful.

When in doubt just stay in Jacobs Lake and drive the Toad - If you have snow it is sooo much easier to turn around and go back in the Toad.

As usual Ivy has thought this through.

KIS Man wrote:
Will the weather be OK, light jackets during day and above freezing at night middle of Sept. through Oct. Will North Rim of Grand Canyon be open late Oct. Will campgrounds in parks be full this time of year. Thanks so much.

From the NPS website,
from October 16 to October 31, there will be minimal services and depending on the weather, there may be no running water in the campground. Composting toilets will be available during this time.

We plan on going late Oct as well.

I can't give you specifics on availability of sites in Utah, but in most of the big five you can make reservations, and six months out get them. Also available the are private campgrounds, BLM, NFS, and local government campgrounds.

Here for what it's worth are some things I do know. There are campgrounds at or near Jacobs Lake on the North rim of the GC. There is a NFS campground near the Park and reservations are required. It was May of '15 when we were there and there were very few spots available. It was very, very muddy from rain.

Just north of Jacobs Lake is a small NPS facility(could be a RA, NM or something else) called Pipe Springs Park. It was the site of trouble between the Southern Paiutes and the Mormons. The Indians tolerated the sheep and cattle ranchers for the most part but not so much the Mormons. If you see a Ranger with long braids who goes by the name of Benn, it will be worth your time to engage him in talk, he is better educated than most folks I know and he is a So' Paiute elder. Really nice guy and a veritable fountain of knowledge about the wide area of the No. Rim.

Ruby's at Bryce Canyon is pretty nice, at least they have showers and limited shopping and a swimming pool. You can also rent a teepee from them to spend the night. Our DGKs want to go back to hike and stay in the teepees.

Oh yeah don't miss the cookies and breakfast at the trading post at Jacob Lake. Darn they have good food.

We've been to the North Rim numerous times at end of Sept, early Oct. Never seen it more than half full, usually less.

Chance of snow is real tho', and they do not plow.

You can stay at Jacobs Lake if unable to get reservations or if it looks like you might get snowed in at the rim. No way any of the parks will be AS FULL with the kids back in school.
Thanks for posting this as I'm planning on doing the balloon fest in early Oct and will add going to the N. Rim before it.

I was there a couple years ago in mid September, and did not expect to need reservations, but I was wrong. Although we got into that North Rim campground without reservations, we had to move every night because other folks had reservations, and we were getting sites only due to last minute cancellations. That time of year most places have less demand, but certain parks are full all the time, they are so popular. GC and Yellowstone come to mind.

that is correct and if it snows you are pretty much stuck until it melts as they don't plow the roads.

Dave

The north rim is open from May 15 thru October 31. It would not be unusual to have below freezing temperatures at night and even snow as early as late September. There is only one campground in the park on the north rim and there are no hookups. I would recommend reservations.