Grand Canyon NP backcountry management plan

[David Chenault]

GCNP has released the draft of the new backcountry management plan.  One of the four options made public will be selected and implemented next year.  The plan addressed a wide range of subjects.  It will for example significantly change the fate of packrafting in the Grand Canyon.  Technical canyoneering will be managed specifically for the first time.  Use quotas for several backcountry zones will probably be changed.  “Extended dayhiking” further than ~5 miles from the three main corridor trailheads will almost certainly require a permit/fee.  And so forth.

You can access the draft plan and the comment form here.

I wrote up a few thoughts, mostly about packrafting, here.

Read, think, submit a comment.

[David Chenault]

Comments due by March 4th.  Speak out, folks.

Grand Canyon Hikers and Backpackers Association comments.

Coalition of American Canyoneers comments.

Comments from ultrarunner Ian Torrence.

[Art …]

thanks for this …

[D M]

Yes, thank you. I find the runners’ take on this very interesting, he’s obviously very aware of many sides to the issues. I live in Arizona and hiked the entire AZT this past August and September going SOBO. I had not been in the GC for a while but had been reading about all the FKT attempts and was not quite so aware myself of how the popularity of the rim to rim run has become. I saw six RTR runners in 14 hours. And I was surprised to hear complaints from hikers about the runners but it is apparent that the impact on the trail and those who use it is significant. I will add that half the runners were polite to hikers the other half practically knocked me off the trail….:-(. A little politeness goes a long way when sharing trails.

And although the increasing impacts on all of our trails makes me sad, ( in my area where I live popular trails are being just beaten to death ) more regulation seems inevitable and if it safeguards and supports the environment to the best of our abilities then that’s what we are going to be looking at increasingly if up we are to have trails accessible to everyone. So yes, please, leave some input. It’s not often we get the chance, so use it!

[Author]

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