Driving to Jacob Lake Campground (Grand Canyon North Rim)

We left Williams and the Grand Canyon Railroad RV Park today, May 20th and made a stop at the Flagstaff airport for Lynda to drop off the rental car.  Then we continued on our way, heading north on highway 89.

We had heard there was still snow on the North Rim and the campground down in the park was already full.  But the ranger told me the roads were clear and there would be no issues with driving the Trek in that area.  We were not concerned about finding a place to stay – there is a campground called Jacob Lake run by the Forest Service about 40 miles from the North Rim entrance and we planned to stay there if a site was available.  If not, our fallback plan was a private campground in the same area – I had already called them and they had space.

We were excited about going to the North Rim…we read that it is less developed than the South Rim and that appealed to us. We were also ready for a change, having been in Williams for about a week.  And, we had reservations for a 4 hour mule ride to go part way down into the canyon on Friday.  Yeehaw!

The route up to the North Rim followed much of the way we had gone for the smooth water rafting trip, and so we were already familiar with the area.  We decided to go over to Lee’s Ferry to eat lunch… we were in no hurry and could easily make it to Jacob Lake before 5 PM.

The drive was really pleasant and relaxing, and very pretty.  Take a look at some photos.

We pulled in to Jacob Lake Campground around 4:30 PM and it was…. perfect!   What a great campground!  There are sites of various sizes and shapes to accommodate everything from a tent to a large motor coach.  Yes sir, big spacious sites with Ponderosa Pines and other trees and vegetation.  After camping in desert campgrounds for almost a month, we were thrilled with the forest setting.   The only possible downside of this campground is that there are no hookups but we had anticipated this and had plenty of water and holding tank space for two nights.  No problem!  And we could run the generator except for quiet hours (10 PM to 7 AM).

We selected a big, well-shaded site and then the campground host came around (he was tricked out like Davy Crockett) and got us registered just a few minutes later. $17 a day – what a deal!

Once the Trek was tucked in for the night, we lit a fire and opened a cold adult beverage. Ah, life is good!