Early Close for Highway to Grand Canyon’s North Rim?

The Arizona Department of Transportation announced in November 2015 that the highway to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon might be closed earlier than the scheduled date of December 1 if heavy snowfall occurs in the area before that time. The highway—State Route 67—is subject to heavy snow cover in fall and winter. The state transportation department normally does not bother to clear this route of snow, because visitor accommodations at the North Rim are closed for the winter. Route 67, which links the North Rim to U.S. Route 89 at the junction by Jacob Lake, usually reopens by mid-May every spring.

Other Arizona state routes besides Route 67 were already closed for the season as of mid-November. Those closed routes included Route 473, to the Hawley Lake recreational area in eastern Arizona’s White Mountains, and an unpaved portion of Route 366 on Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona