Grand Canyon National Park officials say the North Rim and State Route 67 will remain closed through the end of the 2025 visitor season because of damage from the lightning-sparked Dragon Bravo Fire.
The blaze has burned 145,504 acres and is about 80 percent contained as of the Sept 1 morning update. All North Rim lodges, developed campgrounds and backcountry zones are off-limits.
The season-long closure shutters every facility north of the Colorado River and cuts public access at the seasonal gate near the Grand Canyon National Park entrance station, just south of Kaibab Lodge on SR 67. With the highway blocked, private parks that normally feed rim-to-rim traffic face an abrupt gap in nightly stays, tour bookings and supply runs.
Fire crews finished felling hazard trees along the park section of SR 67 and moved their heavy equipment to Cape Royal Road on Sept. 1 while suppression-repair teams continue grading dozer lines and perimeter roads, operations the incident team calls “critical life-safety work” tied to unstable snags and flash-flood risk.
On the South Rim, Stage 2 restrictions ban wood and charcoal fires, allow only self-contained gas stoves, confine smoking to enclosed vehicles and prohibit fireworks; the rules appear in current reservation emails for Mather and Desert View campgrounds campground notices.
Construction snarls add pressure inside the canyon. The River Trail between Pipe Creek Beach and the South Kaibab Trail junction, along with the Silver Bridge, is closed through September 30. Both are expected to reopen on or after October 1 if construction stays on schedule. Large group sites at Bright Angel Campground stay offline until Oct. 1, while every North Rim backcountry zone is marked unavailable in the permitting system permit portal.
Crews continue working toward full containment ahead of the coming seasonal weather shift, but businesses are advised to keep contingency plans current and monitor official campground and permit notices for real-time changes.