Apparently destroyed by wildfire. This is not the same as the ATSF lodge on the South Rim. UP lodge was on the North Rim and served by buses vs a rail spur.
They rebuilt it once in the early Thirties, and I expect they’ll rebuild it again.
2 Likes
It’s in the National Park and managed by them, not UP. Pretty neat design.
I thought Aramark ran it under concession from the NPS.
1 Like
That was back when Union Pacific and the other railroads built large National Park lodges. Though I wonder why UP never built a rail spur as did the ATSF?
Probably since Reagan outsourced park management.
The terrain between the UP’s LA&SL line and the North Rim would make a rail line to the North Rim a major challenge. This in addition to a much longer line.
Four years ago I was there and hiked some trails from the North Rim. I can’t believe they would rebuild it. It was only open a few months each year. It’s so isolated they had a terrible time getting clerks, room cleaners, cooks, etc. who would work just a couple of months.
I’ve stayed in quite a few NP lodges going back many years, and the private companies running the restaurants and lodges are doing a much better job than when the park service ran them. When people complain about them in online reviews, I always want to tell them it’s better than it was.
The funniest reviews are people complaining about the cell service and wireless connections. They’re sitting in front of some of the best scenery in the world, and they’re upset they can’t read the latest Facebook posts.
It was a neat old lodge. The best view of it was from the trails down a ways away.
4 Likes
The closest the UP got to the Grand Canyon was the Cedar City branch.
I’m guessing that Cedar City would not be a good starting point for a line to the North Rim. There is a lot of cumulogranite between Cedar City and the North Rim.
Pictures indicate there is a lot of stone in the Inn’s construction. How much is still stable enough to rebuild is a whole different question.
They’ve rebuilt it once already…
1 Like
The lodge itself did not have bedrooms. The guests stayed at the cabins built around the lodge. I understand most of those cabins also burned.
Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley NP was damaged by a flood in 2015. It still is closed as repairs take place. It has been a nightmare of permits, environmental studies, money, and materials. One of the permits that normally takes three months took over two years.
This lodge’s replacement is orders of magnitude bigger and more complicated than Scotty’s Castle. Rebuilding will involve updating everything to modern standards, getting new permits, studies involving local native tribes and environmental groups, and huge (!) amounts of money. Just getting materials there will be an undertaking, since the lodge was in such an inaccessible place.
With all that, I would love to see it rebuilt. It was a great place. I know it won’t happen in my lifetime. With eight new national parks added to the system since 1995, I’m not sure the park system will want to spend money for a place only open for several months a year.
1 Like
Why not? Here in Ohio our General Assembly is handing over $600 million in public money to a billionaire owner of a loser football team to build a new stadium that will be open only about a dozen or so days a year.
In this morning’s paper there’s a story about Ohio expanding its passenger rail network. It’s the usual puff piece and no one is expecting anything for at least 8 years. Our politicians have other things on their “minds.”
I was lucky to stay a few nights in the El Tovar–so I understand something of the loss of the GC Lodge. I hope it’s eventually rebuilt.
1 Like
While I’m a great fan of National Parks, I question some of the new ones. Some were obviously done for politcal reasons (Cuyahoga Valley and Indiana Dunes). They were just fine as, respectively a National Recreation Area and a National Lakeshore. I think Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a good choice. I’m ambivalent on New River Gorge and don’t know enough about the others. One feature that I think of when I think of a National Park is that it’s one large, contiguous area. Neither of those area. Also, the St Louis Gateway Arch should’ve stayed a National Monument.
I thought it was $850 million.
And they’re trying an end-run around the Modell Law, too!
1 Like
I completely agree.
The New River Gorge (2020), St. Louis Gateway Arch (2018), Indiana Dunes (2019), Cuyahoga (2000), White Sands (2019), and Great Sand Dunes (2004) all could have stayed monuments or under state control. There are several others that are questionable.
These new parks have tended to water down the amount of money available for each park.
With the Grand Canyon Lodge, Union Pacific obviously believed it would draw passengers, even though the RR didn’t go there. The nearest UP station was over one hundred miles away, and passengers riding the train took buses from the station to the lodge.
When it burned the first time in 1932, it was four years before construction started to rebuild it, and Great Depression workers were used.
El Tovar is a great old lodge! Its advantage along with the other South Rim lodges is the ability to stay open all year, and to have an available work force in nearby areas.
The Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim can stay open only a half year at the most, and there is not an available work force nearby.
If you read tourist reviews of the Lodge, the biggest complaints beside lack of wireless Internet were dirty cabin rooms and poor food service in the Lodge restaurant. Both of those complaints were mainly due to the lack of service workers.
The Santa Fe railroad ran a train close to the south rim.
Cedar City also served Zion and Bryce Canyon NPs. I recall they served them with buses, maybe also GC North Rim. Cedar City terminal also had a loop which must have come in handy to turn passenger trains. UP advocated for the parks.
The difference between National Parks and National Monuments is that NPs are acts of Congress, whereas National Monuments are executive orders which are subject to political football every change in administration.