North Rim Lodge
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The North Rim of the Grand Canyon has only one place to stay at overnight, other than the campgrounds, and that’s the North Rim Lodge. Fortunately, the lodge is actually very nice and provides a wonderful place to enjoy the park.
Although the North Rim Lodge sits within the National Park, it is owned and operated by Forever Resorts. The lodge area is comprised of the main lodge building, the visitor’s center, and is flanked by cabins on the east and west. There is also the motel building at the north end. The main lodge building is where reception is located and to the left is a large amenity room that can be rented. Opposite the front desk is the dining room. The lodge also has beautiful communal areas for visitors to enjoy the canyon from either the large indoor viewing room with huge windows or two spacious balconies. There is also a large statue dedicated to the famous burro Brighty. The main balcony with its many lounge chairs is Michelle’s favorite spot in the whole park. It offers a wonderful place to rest and read while gazing out over the endless vista of the canyon. There are also a few viewpoints that can be walked to that are directly next to the lodge.
The lodge offers three different cabin types: western, frontier, and pioneer. The pioneer cabins are the smallest of the three. We stayed in both the frontier and western cabins when we visited. The frontier cabin is a perfectly fine room to stay in. It has all the standard amenities except for a television, and this is the last thing that anyone should be wanting to look at when staying here. The only issue we had with the frontier cabin, which is likely just that specific room, was that the bed just wasn’t the most comfortable to sleep in.
The western cabins are the nicest cabins the lodge has to offer. These cabins are much larger and comfortable than the others. The one we stayed in was actually one of the ADA cabins, so it had larger than normal open areas and a roll in shower. The bathroom was massive due to the ADA requirement. The bed was a queen size and very comfortable.
The grounds around the lodge are beautiful and are quite nice to walk through. Paved paths weave around the cabins with trees everywhere. Branching out from the cabin areas are dirt paths that lead to the various trails around the lodge area. The parking lot can fill up during the day time unfortunately, but does clear up later in the day.
Next to the parking lot is the visitors center. Here various souvenirs can be purchased to commemorate the time spent at this wonderful section of the park. Just outside the center is an information kiosk that has everything needed for activities in the area. All the trails are listed and given difficulty ratings as well as durations. There is also a water spicket to fill up your bottles here.
There’s plenty of wildlife throughout the park. On the long drive down to the lodge are large open prairies that are frequented by deer. There are also signs for bison along the road, and we finally saw a herd of them on our last trip. We were fortunate enough to spot a kaibab squirrel when walking to the parking lot one day. These squirrels are dark and have long points of fur coming off their ears. They are very unique looking for squirrels. We first briefly saw one when looking for a parking spot and hoped to see one again to get a picture. This squirrel seemingly posed for us near our cabin, probably hoping we would feed it, and we got a great shot of it.
The food options at the North Rim are very limited. There are basically two options: the lodge dining room and the Deli in the Pines. The saloon also doubles as a coffee shop in the mornings from 5:30 to 10:30 am, and various breakfast baked goods can be purchased there. From 11:30 am to 10:30 pm the saloon offers drinks and snacks. The Deli in the Pines is open from 10:30 am to 9:00 pm and is a basic snack bar. They have sandwiches, salads, pizza, soft serve ice cream, and more. The food at the deli isn’t very good and only should be visited as a last resort.
The main option for food is the lodge dining hall and fortunately the food is fantastic. The dining hall is open from breakfast from 6:30 to 10:00 am, lunch from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm, and dinner from 4:30 to 9:30 pm. Reservations aren’t required but are recommended. The dining hall is a little more expensive than a normal restaurant, but the quality of the food and the remote location make sense for the price. We’ve eaten at the dining hall for every meal and each time it has been delicious. Dinner in particular is where the quality of the food really shines.
One of our breakfasts was the North Rim breakfast and the Grand Canyon omelette.
For lunch we had the Black Canyon BLT, the smoked brisket and cheese burrito, and a side of tomato bisque which was the soup of the day.
We had dinner twice during our last trip. For appetizers we had the North Rim wings and Bridle Path figs. We also got drinks as well. Taylor particularly liked the chocolate cherry vanilla stout that was on tap.
The entrees were Shiva’s penne, Point Imperial bass, Hualapai wild rice primavera, and the House Rock salmon. Dinner also comes with bread, butter, and herb-infused oil for dipping.
For dessert we had the fruit cobbler.
It’s also worth mentioning that the staff is wonderful and very friendly. It wasn’t uncommon for us to see the dining staff chat up the guests that they got to know and joke around a bit. It was pleasant to see the interactions, which lightened up the overall mood.
Overall the North Rim Lodge is a great place to stay and has some very good food. Just make sure to book well in advance since cabin space does fill up quickly.
Google Maps Link: North Rim Lodge
