North Rim Grand Canyon in winter (Jan/Febr) (Mammoth: motorhome, best)

[Marco Pijnacker]

Hi,

We are planning a "winter trip" to the USA. Arriving in Las Vegas the end of January. Our plan is to visit some of Utah's NP's and the North Rim. However is this a good idea in January/February? We travel with a small motorhome. If it is, please suggestions are welcome. We like to film and take pictures.
Thanks
Marco
The Netherlands

[azdr0710]

the North Rim is closed to the public in the winter....sorry.....too much snow to keep the road open

but the South Rim is open all year....

Grand Canyon National Park - Grand Canyon National Park

if you can manage an "advanced search" here on city-data, there are many threads about the Grand Canyon.... or ask what you'd like....

[Marco Pijnacker]

I just found out myself that it's closed during the winter time. I did visit the south part about 5 times so this time we will stay more days in LV or Utah before we go to Death Valley, Sequoia and Yosemite NP.
Thanks for your input - suggestions always very welcome.
Marco
The Netherlands

[Steve Pickering]

The south rim in winter is one of my favorite times. I have been to the north rim in a Tucker Snow Cat. You don't want to go there.

[GSXRScott]

Not sure if they are closed or not but Zion and Bryce will definitely have a lot of snow in January. Even if they are not closed I would not recommend hiking in either of the two parks during winter due to the fact that many of the trails in both parks skirt the edge of canyon walls and have 200' to 300' drop offs. When we were hiking in Zion last March we were on a trail that had a short section that was roughly 3 feet wide and had a 400' sheer drop off. There were even cautionary signs on some of the trails listing the number of people that had fallen to their death over the years. Zion, Bryce and The Grand Canyon are all best visited during the spring, summer and fall.

[Rick Lee]

Is Yosemite open in winter? I thought Tioga Pass closed in Oct. I rode my motorcycle to Mammoth Lakes in November once and thought I would freeze to death.

[Ulysses61]

Yosemite is open in the winter via the other entrances. Tioga Pass has already closed for the winter. But you cannot access a large part of Yosemite in the winter from the valley floor. Touloume meadows and the high country is not accessible due to snow.

Also, I frequently hike in Zion and Brice in January and February and there is usually little snow. There was almost none last year, for instance. Some years, of course, will have more. The Observation point hike in Zion is excellent, 8 miles RT with a 2,000 elevation gain. Moderate. There is usually ice at the beginning, but zak-trax or microspikes remedies that.

[chazk14]

The North Rim in Jan/Feb. Usually a couple feet of snowpack.

[Marco Pijnacker]

Thank all,
So no North Rim in winter possible. However we still like to shoot great winter pics. Arriving end Jan. in Vegas, 4 days later pick-up motorhome for 3,5 weeks, drop of in San Francisco and back home to The Netherlands.

Anybody with good suggestions where to go? We are not planning to walk for hours and/or clime mountains.

Thanks.

[MarianR]

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