Grand Canyon and the Kaibab National Forest

Flagstaff is less than 80 miles from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, but in a bid to avoid the summer crowds we decided to instead head to the North Rim, over 200 miles away. We had always planned to visit the multitude of national parks in southern Utah, and our route towards Zion Canyon took us close to the North Rim regardless. As we left Flagstaff, the scenery changed from green pine forest to a sparse desert landscape as we passed through the vast, and largely empty Navajo Indian Reservation. As we crossed the Colorado River, we got our first glimpses of the canyon, cutting a deep swathe through the flat desert plain. Heading west, the scenery began to look more like I’d expected, and we stopped at the site of a historic cave dwelling to admire the first views of the red rock canyon walls.

Advanced planning is not our forte, and 30 miles from the North Rim entrance station we stopped at the Jacob Lake Inn to make a call from the payphone to the North Rim campground to see if we could book a space for a few days. Predictably there was no availability for several weeks and so we drove south into the Kaibab National Forest, hoping to find somewhere to park for the night before visiting the canyon in the morning. It quickly became obvious that our poor preparation had been a blessing.

The Kaibab forest is covered in a vast web of dirt roads that reach every corner. I presume that the roads were constructed for logging and fire prevention us, but for people like us in a self-contained motorhome, one could easily spend a year camping in the beautiful pine an aspen forest without ever staying at the same site. Dispersed camping is permitted throughout the forest, and we easily found a site less than 20 miles from the Grand Canyon entrance, with astonishing views of the Saddle Mountain Wilderness area of the canyon. We spent the night in far more beautiful surroundings than the North Rim Campground, in complete solitude, and costing us nothing.

For anyone wishing to camp where we did on the rim of the canyon, take the Grand Canyon Highway south from Jacob Lake. About 26 miles onwards (5 miles from the Grand Canyon entrance station) take the 611 east going east, opposite the entrance for the better signed 22. At the first signed junction, take the right fork onto the 610 headed towards the Marble View Point. Carry on this road for about 14 miles, until you reach the saddle mountain trail head. There is plenty of parking and camping space at the trailhead for a large group.

Like most national parks, the Grand Canyon is operated by team of people who were bitten by dogs as children. Consequently, Boris was not allowed on any of the North Rim hiking trails, with the exception of a featureless tarmac path that follows the road and has no views of the canyon. Fortunately this wasn’t a problem, as the Kaibab forest in which we had parked, has a number of beautiful trails, with the advantage over the national park that dogs are permitted on all of them. We took a morning walk through the aspen and pine forest along the Arizona Trail, before driving into the park for the day.

We spent four days in the Grand Canyon area, two in the park, and two in the nearby forest. The North Rim has fewer trails than the south rim, but between the park and the forest there is plenty of hiking to keep anyone occupied for a couple of weeks. Every trail we hiked gave us a different view of the canyon, and the sight is so awe inspiring a have no doubt that I would never get bored of it, however many angles I looked at it from.

If my legs had been made of sterner stuff I’d have been happy to stay for longer, but after four days my legs were sore, and we got back on the road, headed north west towards Zion National Park.