National Park Service

Labeled cutaway illustration of the Grand Canyon South Rim showing a fenced helibase compound with a helicopter on a pad, a wildland fire truck, and a distant canyon rim under a no-drone symbol in the sky

Helipads and Remote Helicopter Sites at the Grand Canyon

One named helistop, one fenced helibase, and a federal flight-free zone dating to two mid-air disasters. Where the canyon’s helicopters are actually allowed to land.

Labeled illustration of a road-closure gate and boundary posts on a forest side road near a picnic area sign on the North Rim

Lindbergh Hill Landfill: a closed North Rim dump, and an open question

A gated old landfill near the North Rim Entrance Road is well documented; the hill it’s named for, and why, is not.

Labeled cutaway illustration of the Little Park bison capture corral showing fencing, a loading chute, and livestock trailers in a mountain meadow

Little Park: the North Rim's Bison Capture Corral

A closed North Rim meadow hides a livestock corral built to catch wild bison descended from a 1906 failed cattle-crossbreeding scheme.

Labeled illustration of a forest fire road leading to four corner posts marking a closed landfill boundary on the North Rim plateau

Marble Flats Landfill: the North Rim's quiet, closed old dump

Off a fire road near the Widforss Trail, a small closed landfill traces the North Rim’s slow, late build-out of its own utilities.

Cutaway illustration comparing a natural cave passage and a human-dug mine adit side by side in a canyon cliff, with a bearded host inspecting both.

Mines vs. Natural Caves: How Grand Canyon Tells Them Apart

Federal and park rules define caves and mines differently, deciding who needs a permit, why a site is closed, and how NPS counts what is underground.

Illustration of a remote, forested North Rim firing range clearing behind a closed gate with a utility line running alongside the access road

North Rim Firing Range — The Same Closure, a Thinner Record

The North Rim’s own closed firing range, restricted under the same rule as the South Rim’s, with a much thinner public paper trail.

Labeled cutaway illustration of Grand Canyon Village's 1926 stone powerhouse with an underground cable running to the village and a small hydroelectric plant beside a North Rim spring feeding a pump house above it

Power and Electrical Infrastructure Throughout the Grand Canyon

From a 1926 railroad powerhouse to a 2024 substation upgrade, how the South Rim, North Rim, and inner canyon actually get electricity.

Labeled cutaway map-style illustration of the Grand Canyon South Rim showing paved public highways alongside a maze of gated dirt fire roads behind locked gates

Service Roads and Restricted Government Roads of the Grand Canyon

Behind the two public highways sits a second network of gated fire roads, firing-range roads and wilderness closures. What’s shut, to whom, and why.

Cutaway illustration of a fenced firing range on the South Rim with a closed gate, warning signage, and a distant ranger silhouette on the firing line

South Rim Firing Range — Why It's Closed Around the Clock

A fenced range and access road on the South Rim, closed to the public at all hours so rangers can train and qualify on firearms without endangering visitors.

Labeled cutaway illustration of a compressed natural gas shuttle bus at a South Rim stop next to a fenced dispatch compound with a fuel tank and maintenance bay

South Rim shuttles: the nation's second-busiest park transit system

7.6 million riders a year, one contractor since 2000, and a bus compound fenced off from the very visitors it moves.