Grand Canyon: Highway 67 to the North Rim Closed by Flooding

Bad news if you were aiming for the north side of the Grand Canyon: Highway 67, the only access road into the North Rim area, is currently closed. The cause is flooding that left debris across the roadway. The closure runs from Lindbergh Hill to the North Rim developed area, and it holds until further notice.

So if your plans had you heading up the north side right now, you'll need to rework them. There's no quiet detour around it. Highway 67 is the only link between the Kaibab forest and the canyon rim. As long as it stays blocked, the North Rim and its services (the main overlook, the developed areas) can't be reached by car.

Here's our advice for now: don't just drive north and hope. Check the road status the same day before you get behind the wheel, because any reopening depends on clearing the debris and letting the roadway dry out, and both of those change fast after a spell of rain. Keep in mind, too, that the North Rim closes for a good part of the year anyway because of the weather, so at this time of year every open day of road counts.

The South Rim, for its part, remains the most reliable fallback. It's open year-round, better served, and holds most of the iconic viewpoints. To weigh the two rims and plan your stops, everything is laid out in the Grand Canyon park guide, which we keep up to date through the seasons.

Finally, if you're traveling in an RV and want a flexible framework that can absorb this kind of surprise, take a look at our road trip itinerary that runs through this park: the whole idea is to leave yourself some room to react when a road gives out at the last minute.