<p>As it looks like we may have to go to the Grand Canyon in August, rather than cancelling the trip because of the heat, I thought we might go by way of the North Rim.</p>
<p>Any suggestions of where to fly in, what city to make our “home base”, if we concentrate on the North Rim?</p>
<p>City? Well, North Rim “home base” would be the metropolis of Kanab, Utah. Lots of other spots to see close enough to Kanab. Maybe fly into Salt Lake and make it a Utah-cation. I love the area around Escalante but, then again, I’m on a motorcycle when I’m there. I’ll look at a map and maybe that will jostle my memory banks. Maybe this. <a href=“http://flysgu.com/flightschedule.php[/url]”>http://flysgu.com/flightschedule.php</a></p>
<p>And hit Zion and/or Bryce while you are there in Utah.</p>
<p>Anyone ever stayed at the cabins at the North Rim? We are three large people, and I’m not finding anything that will fit us. Maybe a nearby city we can drive no more than an hour to see the North Rim?</p>
<p>Other than the lodge at the North Rim the only lodging I personally know of is in Kanab. I’ll get you the name of a a unique historic place (Edit: Parry Lodge <a href=“http://www.parrylodge.com/rooms.html[/url]”>http://www.parrylodge.com/rooms.html</a> ). Seems Las Vegas is faster route than SLC if you are only doing the Grand Canyon.</p>
<p>We stayed in the cabins at the North Rim. The cabins themselves were VERY basic, but the location is beyond belief. It is very uncrowded (we were there in August). I remember waking up in the morning, walking to the main lodege, getting coffee, and sitting on a largely empty patio watching the sun rise over the Canyon. There is a spectacular concreate walkway out to a viewpoint with sheer walls all around you. Dinner in the lodge overlooks the canyon. Trails of every kind are nearby. I, personally, would not trade all of this in for lodging that is 45 minutes to an hour away. One of the keys to the Canyon is to see in in many different lights at different times of day. If you are staying 45 minutes away, you will likely miss that. That said, the cabins aren’t anything to write home about. Your choice!</p>
<p>The north rim’s about the same elevation as the south rim so I wouldn’t expect much of a temperature difference so you might want to see if that influences your decision for the north rim vs the south rim.</p>
<p>Here’s some info on lodging - [Grand</a> Canyon National Park - Lodging (U.S. National Park Service)](<a href=“http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/lodging.htm]Grand”>Lodging - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service))</p>
<p>If you decide to go to the north rim the fly in point would typically be Las Vegas. If you decide to fly to LV, rent a car, and drive to the GC you really should strongly consider also visiting Zion NP and Bryce Canyon NP somewhat on the way to the GC. Check the route on Google maps and you’ll see you’re in the neighborhood (by the loose definition of distances used in the west).</p>
<p>North Rim is about 1000 feet higher and IMO, it’s the rim to see. It also gets 1/5th the folks. And that’s a good thing. </p>
<p>Grand Canyon South Rim Weather:
Month
Average High Average Low Avg Precip (in) </p>
<p>Jan 40.7 18.2 1.44
Feb 44.8 20.9 1.59<br>
Mar 51.1 25.3 1.30
Apr 60.4 32.1 0.86
May 69.8 39.1 0.64
Jun 81.0 46.9 0.39
July 84.3 54.2 1.93
Aug 81.4 52.8 2.23
Sept 76.1 46.8 1.52
Oct 64.5 36.1 1.15
Nov 52.1 26.7 0.91
Dec 43.3 20.0 1.58 </p>
<p>Grand Canyon North Rim Weather:
Month
Average High Average Low Avg Precip (in) </p>
<p>Jan
37.0 16.0 3.17
Feb 39.0 18.0 3.22
Mar 44.0 21.0 2.63
Apr 53.0 29.0 1.73
May 62.0 34.0 1.17
Jun 73.0 40.0 0.86
July 77.0 46.0 1.93
Aug 75.0 45.0 2.85
Sept 69.0 39.0 1.99
Oct 59.0 31.0 1.38
Nov 46.0 24.0 1.48
Dec 40.0 20.0 2.83</p>
<p>Temeperatures at the “West rim walkway” and in the canyon itself are MUCH higher. Like maybe 27 degrees higher. Think “die”. 112 or so in August.</p>
<p>We stayed at the cabins many years ago. Perfectly adequate accommodations and the location is absolutely amazing.</p>
<p>curm’s data shows the north rim about 6 degrees cooler in August on average than the south rim which is more of a difference than I thought it’d be but really not enough of a difference, IMO, to make one decide to go to one rim vs the other. </p>
<p>The other attributes of the north rim, fewer crowds, ability to also see Zion and Bryce Canyon, are more important reasons to decide to head there IMO.</p>
<p>We flew into Las Vegas and rented a car; we stayed in the cabins at the lodge which should be fine for three people. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as the South Rim and I didn’t think it was particularly hot (we went in July).</p>
<p>I got close to the north rim once… we flew into Las Vegas and had a wonderful time at Zion and Bryce. When it came time to decide whether to forge ahead to camping at the north rim, the kids (teenagers then) voted for a hasty return to Vegas and a night at the Mandalay Bay 
It was okay - I forced enough camping on them and thought it would be fun to say yes to their fascination with LV. It was a good decision, and we did have so much fun at the other two parks. I highly recommend the hike up the Virgin River in Zion - you literally hike in the river, so no worries about the heat.</p>
<p>Zion is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, but it is hot, hot, hot in August. Bryce is not as hot. All three GC, Zion, Bryce are beautiful yet very different.</p>
<p>When it comes to the national parks, there is nothing like staying in the park, if at all possible. You get to experience early morning, dusk, etc., as someone said, that you would miss if you stayed outside the park.</p>
<p>Once at Yellowstone we were walking around the Old Faithful geyser basin at 7AM and caught an eruption of Beehive geyser–spectacular in its own right, but then a rainbow formed in the mist and the moment became magical. Would have never experienced this if we were in a car driving to the park at that hour.</p>
<p>RE: Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyon, at Bryce and GC, you drive to the rim of the canyon. At Zion, you drive into the floor of the canyon. Very different perspective.</p>
<p>We stayed at the North Rim in August, and it was hot, but not nearly as hot as other places we were on that same trip. We got our reservations two days before by calling the lodge to ask if there had been any cancellations. Which there had been, because there were fires in the park and some people didn’t like the smoke.</p>
<p>If there aren’t any rooms available right now, keep checking. There will be a cancellation sooner or later and you can grab it.</p>
<p>The restaurant in the lodge itself is excellent, so plan for one dinner there as a splurge!</p>
<p>We stayed at the North Rim in August 20-22, 2009. It was very pleasant - in the morning some people had jcakets. As soon as you descend into the canyon it is hot. </p>
<p>We stayed in the most rustic style cabins - it had 2 rooms, each with 2 twin beds and a shared bath. I believe there were other cabins with double beds. </p>
<p>This was our last National Park on a 2 week trip that started in Yellowstone. We flew out of Las Vegas. As a previous poster mentioned, Zion was god-awful hot - we got off the tram a few times, but didn’t spend much time there. On the other hand we spent 2 days in Bryce and loved it - it was quite cool at night there. The closest commercial airport to the North Rim would probably be St George, Utah.</p>
<p>I would differ with the prior poster - our worst meal of our entire trip was the lodge restaurant. There is not suffient seating for all guests and the food was horrible. They insisted on cooking burger and steaks until well done, because we were told that was Arizona law. I am gluten-intolerent and they WOULD not accomodate me. All the food at the deli next door was processed and right out of a can. Take your own food if you go there.</p>
<p>Son is picky, so I’ll probably make PB sandwiches for him, as I do for many road trips. Just want to do the view. We were willing to eat at the Space Needle, even though we were warned the food was bad and overpriced, but didn’t get the opportunity because it was sold out. Will make reservations if we do go to the North Rim.</p>
<p>I’ve read some reviews on Trip Advisors about cabins not being separate and perhaps having connecting doors. May look into getting two cabins that connect, if that is the case, so we can have more room. As husband likes his comfort and A/C, will probably not be able to do more than one night in the rustic conditions, but I like the idea of “being away from it all” and seeing the stars. Just up our alley.</p>
<p>Have any of you flown into Phoenix, and then driven up to the North Rim? Wonder what the scenery is like along the way. What are good towns to stop off at on the way?<br>
We did this with our Seattle trip. Stayed a couple of days in Seattle, stopped at Boeing plant along the way, then settled into northern Washington for a whale watching trip. That was the height of the trip. Just beautiful nature. That’s why I’m starting to lean toward the North Rim, even if we go in May.</p>
<p>I don’t know about August, but in late June, AC was absolutely not necessary; it’s high desert and it gets COLD at night.</p>
<p>Phoenix would be the wrong airport to use if you want the North Rim. Please look at a map to see why I say that. </p>
<p>definitely don’t need AC there. It was chilly at night and the cabins are in the woods. The humidity is quite low, so in the shade it was very pleasant even in the middle of the day.</p>
<p>We did the North Rim-Zion-Bryce trip years ago and loved it. Flew into Vegas (not Phoenix), stayed one night there and then drove to the Grand Canyon the next day. </p>
<p>We rented two cabins (actually two halves of one cabin, connected by a door in the middle) for 3 people because we like our space! No TV, no AC, but you really don’t need either - as others have said, it gets COLD at night and you have Mother Nature as your entertainment.</p>
<p>The views are amazing and the lack of crowds is wonderful. D and H did a mule trip - not to the canyon floor (can’t do that from the North Rim, or at least you couldn’t at that time). We hiked and ate and visited some Native American ruins that are close by (we drove there, as I recall, but it was still in the park in the North Rim.) We always meant to go back to the South Rim but so far, it’s still on the “to-do” list.</p>
<p>Las Vegas is the closest major airport (one with lots of connections) to fly into for the north rim but if you don’t mind driving further and seeing things along the way, flying into Phoenix is an option.</p>
<p>According to google maps -
<p>You can break up the Phoenix to GC (either north or south rim) by stopping in Sedona along the way as previously suggested.
<p>Expect both Phoenix and LV to be quite hot in August. Sedona and the GC won’t be as hot due to their elevation.</p>