The Grand Canyon Lodge, a crown jewel of America’s national park system and the North Rim’s only in-park lodging, has burned to the ground. Again.
This time, it was the Dragon Bravo Wildfire, an “extreme and volatile” fire sparked by a July 4th lightning strike. Gone are the lodge’s 114 cabins and dozens of visitor facilities. Fire crews were able to evacuate everyone without harm, but the destruction is extensive. Park officials have closed the North Rim for the rest of the 2025 season.
It’s a huge loss to the National Park system as the Grand Canyon Lodge is one of the most unique, serene, and breathtaking corners of the Grand Canyon, offering gorgeous panoramic views of one of the great geological formations in the United States.
Built in 1928 by the Union Pacific Railroad, architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood crafted a Spanish-style sanctuary that almost seamlessly blended into the cliffs. Just a few years later, in 1932, a kitchen fire devoured the entire building. No one was hurt, but everything was gone.
A rebuild was enacted, though it was played with setbacks. There was a second fire, brutal winters, and a massive snowstorm that stranded workers for two months. Some of those workers waited for a part of a tractor to be airdropped on them so they could install it to clear the snow. Others tied a rope around themselves and hiked through the snow to safety, not wanting to spend another second in that place.
The lodge finally reopened in 1937, stronger than ever, but still using the original stonework. The work was sturdy enough to withstand nearly 90 years of environmental punishment. In those 90 years, the lodge racked up accolades like getting listed on the National Register of Historic Places, while becoming a memory factory for generations of honeymooners, hikers, and retirees spending their twilight years soaking in the profound vistas.
Now, it’s ash again. Governor Katie Hobbs is calling for an investigation to find out how a lightning strike reduced the whole building to cinders. Visitors, historians, and locals who want jobs are all asking the same question: Will it be rebuilt again? If past is prologue, then probably. But that’s costly. The terrain is brutal, and the environment unforgiving. But they’ve done it before, and they can do it again. They just need the funding and the will (both human and political) — things that seem to be in short supply nowadays.
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