Grand Canyon fire explodes north, burning thousands of acres

Dragon Bravo Fire advances north

The Dragon Bravo Fire that destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim has exploded to encompass 94,228 acres. When it burned the lodge on the North Rim on July 12, 2025, it was about 5,000 acres in extent. On July 31, 2025, the government’s InciWeb site that tracks wildfires puts the containment at just 4%. The fire started due to a lighting strike on July 4. After burning the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the fire has largely pushed northward. Strong winds and critically low humidity have helped the fire advance over the past couple days.

As of July 31, 2025, most of the trails inside the Grand Canyon remain closed. This includes the South Kaibab Trail and North Kaibab Trail. Phantom Ranch is closed, and the North Rim will remain closed for the rest of the 2025 season. The Bright Angel Trail is only open down to Havasupai Gardens.

The wildfire smoke became visible in the morning sunlight over the Intermountain West.

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— cira-csu.bsky.social (@cira-csu.bsky.social) July 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM

The Dragon Bravo Fire is at the bottom center of this image from July 29, 2025. This is the same fire that burned Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim on July 12, 2025. The wildfire has exploded in size over the past week.

Grand Canyon fire destroys historic lodge, trails closed

On the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, fire destroyed up to 80 structures, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge on July 12. Exacerbating the problem, the wildfire reached a water treatment facility in Grand Canyon National Park. Damage to the water treatment facility caused a release of chlorine gas. This meant that firefighters could not use aerial retardant on the encroaching flames. The National Park Service said:

Chlorine gas is heavier than air and can quickly settle into lower elevations such as the inner canyon, posing a health risk. Due to the risk of exposure, park authorities immediately evacuated firefighters from the North Rim and hikers from the inner canyon, and closed access to specific areas within the inner canyon. All river trips were instructed to bypass Phantom Ranch.

Aerial view of the Dragon Bravo aftermath
byu/CryptoCentric ingrandcanyon

The image above, from Reddit, shows the aftermath of the Dragon Bravo Fire that destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge, perched on the North Rim. Wildfires and smoke have also closed most of the trails inside the canyon.

If you were planning to travel to Grand Canyon National Park, keep up with the latest alerts and closures at the NPS website.

Fires in the American West

The Grand Canyon is not the only national park that’s felt an impact from the recent wildfires. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado is partly closed due to the South Rim Fire. The North Rim of the Black Canyon had been closed but reopened on July 30. Lightning started both the fires at the Grand Canyon and Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

@azure.wallace Why am I house sitting rn #wildfire #colorado #blackcanyon #fire #fyp #help #housesitting ? Fade Into You – Mazzy Star

Above is a time lapse of the fire burning near Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park from azure.wallace on TikTok.

Images from the Grand Canyon

@wildlandchic North Rim Visitor Center now. Grand Canyon Lodge. #dragonbravofire #grandcanyonfire #wildland #Grandcayonlodge #grandcanyonnationalpark ? These Memories – Hollow Coves

Peyton Rodriguez on TikTok shared this short video of the aftermath of the fire on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Bottom line: The Grand Canyon fire that began on July 4, 2025, has exploded northward. It’s now ballooned up to more than 94,000 acres.

Read more: This Is Wildfire: Tips on preparing yourself and your home