The Grand Canyon Lodge was an elusive getaway for nearly a century. Now it’s gone

The nearly century-old Grand Canyon Lodge in far northern Arizona was a refuge for ambitious hikers and adventurous tourists eager to bask in the magnificent views of one of the most remote and renowned landscapes in the world.

But a wind-whipped wildfire reduced it to a skeleton of itself within hours over the weekend, devastating the many who saw it as an intrinsic part of the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Fortified with Kaibab limestone and logs from the surrounding Ponderosa pine forest, it sat at the edge of the canyon, blending in and enhancing the natural environment.

“It’s tragic, it really is,” retired National Park Service chief historian Robert K. Sutton said Monday.

The lodge itself told a key part of history for both the Grand Canyon and the National Park Service.

Gilbert Stanley Underwood, who designed the lodge in 1927, sought to immerse residents in the landscape that now draws millions of visitors annually from around the world with a rustic, organic architectural style. He designed similar lodges in Zion and Bryce national parks in Utah, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Yosemite National Park in California, according to the park service.

The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging within the canyon’s North Rim, was built at a time when the federal department was eager to find ways to engage the public with the country’s best natural offerings, Sutton said.

For a place as remote as the North Rim, that wasn’t an easy task. The lodge was a winding 212-mile (341-kilometer) drive from the more popular South Rim where 90% of the tourists go. Hiking from one side to the other is even more arduous at over 20 miles (32 kilometers) with steep ascents at the end. But the historic building’s tranquility is a fundamental part of its appeal.

“You’re just on your own. It’s just a completely different atmosphere,” Sutton said.

The drive up to the North Rim was a chance to see a bison herd that roams the far reaches of northern Arizona. The highway ended at the Grand Canyon Lodge, built right up to the edge of the rim. Across the lobby inside and down the stairs, visitors got a picturesque view of the Grand Canyon framed through the windows of the “Sun Room” furnished with plush couches. Navajo woven rugs hung on the walls and elaborate light fixtures from the ceilings.

In the corner of the room sat Brighty, a burro that lived at the canyon and inspired a children’s book, immortalized in a statue as a sort of mascot for the North Rim.

Jen Pinegan, 47, trained for months to hike from the South Rim to the North Rim in May 2024. She started before the sun came up to avoid what can be ruthless Arizona heat. After 12 grueling hours, she arrived at the North Rim, stayed the night at the Grand Canyon Lodge and awoke to a view she she said had “an indescribable magic to it.”

Others hikers were celebrating, too, creating an “electric” atmosphere as they soaked in the views, she said.

“I think there’s what made it more incredible, is knowing that a lot of people don’t see it,” Pinegan said.

She returned to the lodge for the Fourth of July weekend to take her youngest daughter and two step sons to lunch at the restaurant known for its elk chili. She said she was brought to tears when she heard it burned down.

For those who enjoy a good road trip, like Erik Ammerlaan, the lodge had an elusive appeal. He’s traveled to roughly 30 countries but counts his stay at the Grand Canyon Lodge in 2016 as one of his most memorable trips.

“It was like you were looking at this movie, but its just nature,” he said. “You’re really just one with nature”

The lightning-caused wildfire that consumed the lodge and dozens of other structures at the North Rim began July 4. The National Park Service had been managing it to clear the landscape of fuel when winds shifted and it made a run toward the lodge. Hundreds of people were evacuated.

The blaze wasn’t the first time the lodge was destroyed. In September 1932, just five years after it opened, lodge employees and residents watched as a kitchen fire grew and overtook the structure, according to the park service. It was rebuilt in 1938.

Sutton, the retired park service historian, and others are optimistic the Grand Canyon Lodge will get a new life.

“I suspect it will regenerate,” he said.

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Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.