Four Corners Free Press

09/04/2026

Fall is a great time to visit the Grand Canyon, but parts of it are closed now. Here is the release:

September 3, 2026
Grand Canyon National Park Expands Inner Canyon Closures Following August 29 Flash Flood

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. – Grand Canyon National Park continues response and recovery operations following the destructive August 29 flash flood that caused significant damage in Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area.

Park staff and partner agencies are conducting damage assessments and beginning repair and stabilization work in areas where trails, bridges, utilities and other infrastructure were damaged or destroyed. Maintaining safe access for response personnel and keeping visitors out of hazardous areas is critical as this work continues.

To support these operations and protect visitor safety, the park is expanding temporary closures in portions of the inner canyon. Effective immediately, the following areas are closed to visitor use:

South Kaibab Trail below the Tip-Off
Bright Angel Trail below the intersection with the Tonto Trail

Commercial and non-commercial river trips may continue to conduct exchanges at Pipe Creek Beach along the Bright Angel Trail.

The North Kaibab Trail, Cottonwood Campground, Phantom Ranch, the Bright Angel Campground, and the Black Bridge and Silver Bridge were previously closed following the August 29 flash flood.

There is currently no estimated date for reopening these areas. Reopening decisions will be based on conditions on the ground and the park’s ability to safely restore access. Park staff will continue evaluating damaged areas as response, recovery, assessment and stabilization work progresses.

08/31/2026

Your children can still receive free books from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Sign your little dreamer up online at https://imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability/ or contact the Montezuma County Public Health Department at (970)565-3056.

08/31/2026

Grand Canyon National Park to Close Overnight Hotel Accommodations Beginning August 31

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. – Grand Canyon National Park will implement Stage 4 water restrictions on the South Rim beginning at noon on August 31 in response to the significant flash flooding that occurred along Bright Angel Canyon on August 29.

The flooding caused extensive damage to infrastructure in the inner canyon, including the Transcanyon Waterline, which supplies water from the canyon for use in the park. The waterline is currently not operational, leaving the park with limited water reserves and requiring significant water conservation measures to ensure available supplies can be maintained.

In response, the following measures will be enacted for the South Rim for the foreseeable future:

Overnight Guest Lodging: Effective Monday, August 31, all park concessions will halt overnight accommodations. This includes hotel facilities operated by Xanterra, such as El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge, Maswik Lodge, and Phantom Ranch, as well as Delaware North’s Yavapai Lodge and Trailer Village. Overnight hotel accommodations located outside the park in the town of Tusayan will not be impacted by changes in park operations.

Dry Camping: Only dry camping will be permitted. Spigot access at campgrounds on the South Rim will be turned off, though faucets in bathrooms will remain operational. Water spigot access will be available at the Mather Campground check-in kiosk.

No fires will be allowed on the South Rim and inner canyon areas. Fire restrictions prohibit all wood burning and charcoal fires, including campfires, warming fires, and charcoal barbeques.

Operational Services: The park will remain open for day use. All South Rim food and beverage services, the Grand Canyon Clinic, and the Post Office will remain open. Some operations may have reduced hours.

These measures are crucial for ensuring the safety and sustainability of water resources. We are asking residents and visitors to help conserve water by limiting showers to five minutes or less, turning off faucets while shaving or brushing teeth, flushing toilets selectively, washing laundry with full loads, and reporting leaks to the appropriate offices.

08/30/2026

This is concerning. Grand Canyon officials are asking for the public's help following the flash floods, as of Sunday, Aug. 30. Here's the release:

Public Assistance Requested to Account for Individuals Following Grand Canyon Flash Flood

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. – The National Park Service is asking the public to provide information for more than 20 individuals who may be missing or unaccounted for following a significant flash-flood event in Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area on August 29.

Grand Canyon National Park staff, in coordination with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, are continuing evacuation and response efforts and working to account for individuals who may have been in the affected area.

The National Park Service is asking anyone who knows of hikers or backpackers who were in the inner canyon along the Bright Angel Creek corridor on August 29, as well as anyone who had a campground reservation in the affected corridor, to provide information to the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch (ISB). This includes individuals who may have been traveling along the North Kaibab Trail from the North Kaibab Trailhead to Phantom Ranch, staying at Bright Angel Campground, or traveling or staying in the area known as “the Box” north of Phantom Ranch.

If you know of anyone who may have been hiking or backpacking in these areas, please contact the NPS Investigative Services Branch Tip Line:

NPS ISB Tip Line: 888-653-0009

Email: [email protected]

When submitting a tip, please provide any information you have about the individual, including their name, approximate location, travel plans, group size, clothing or backpack description, or when they were last known to be in the area. You do not have to provide your name.

08/30/2026

A flood watch is in effect through the evening of Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, through much of western Colorado and eastern Utah.
That includes the Four Corners/Upper Dolores River, northwest and southwest San Juan Mountains, Paradox Valley/Lower Dolores River, Uncompahgre Plateau and Dallas Divide; and in Utah, Arches, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges, La Sal and Abajo Mountains, and most of southeast Utah.
The National Weather Service says flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible. Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.
Recent burn scars will also be especially susceptible and these include the Lee and Elk RX, Gold Mountain and Elk, Ferris, and Babylon burn scars, to name a few.
Monsoon moisture is badly needed, of course, but if it comes in a deluge, it can be a problem. Take care!

08/30/2026

The Grand Canyon is seeing significant flash flooding as of Sunday, Aug. 30. Release is below.

August 30, 2026

Significant Flash Flooding Closes Phantom Ranch and North Kaibab Trail

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. – A significant flash-flood event occurred in Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area on August 29, beginning at approximately 2:30 p.m.

As of the morning of August 30, 62 individuals have been evacuated from Phantom Ranch and the lower North Kaibab Trail. Additional individuals are scheduled to be evacuated this morning from Cottonwood Campground and Phantom Ranch in coordination with the National Park Service and Arizona Department of Public Safety. Evacuees are being transported to the Maswik Lodge Cafeteria on the South Rim, where the American Red Cross is coordinating assistance. No injuries have been reported as of the latest available information.

Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground, the Phantom Ranch Canteen and cabins, and the entire North Kaibab Trail from the North Kaibab Trailhead to Phantom Ranch are closed until further notice. The Black Bridge and Silver Bridge crossing the Colorado River are also closed until further notice. There is currently no estimated reopening date for these areas and other inner canyon closures may be necessary. For the latest trail and closure information, visit the park's Key Hiking Messages webpage.

The flash flood resulted in significant impacts to infrastructure throughout Bright Angel Canyon. Nearly all footbridges spanning Bright Angel Creek were destroyed, eliminating hiker access across the creek. Grand Canyon National Park staff are continuing to assess damage to trails, bridges, utilities, facilities and other infrastructure.

The Colorado River is currently closed to river traffic until further notice due to metal structures and debris entering the river. River parties already in the canyon are receiving direction through river operations rangers and the Grand Canyon River Alert system. Visitors with upcoming river trips should contact their commercial outfitter or NPS River Permits for trip-specific information.

Additional thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are possible today and Monday, which could result in additional flash flooding, debris flows, rockfall and changing trail and river conditions.

08/20/2026

Former Ute Mountain Ute councilman is sentenced to life in prison
KSJD News - A former member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council and of the Montezuma-Cortez School Board has been sentenced to life in prison.

Lyndreth Wall, 60, had portrayed himself as a traditional “medicine man” in order to delude multiple women into thinking they should let him touch them sexually in order to be healed. One victim was under 16 years old.

In November, a jury convicted him on 15 counts of sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact in Indian Country, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

U.s District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher pronounced the sentence Tuesday in a federal courtroom in Durango.

A grand-jury indictment issued in 2024 says that between 1997 and 2017 Wall persuaded five victims in Towaoc to let him touch them sexually as part of what he claimed was a traditional healing process.

When one victim said she was uncomfortable with that, the indictment says he became upset and said he needed to touch her to heal her. He also threatened to not heal one of her family members if she did not go along.

The indictment says he used traditional objects and said prayers while performing the acts.

“Claiming you are a spiritual healer and then using that position of power to sexually abuse people who come to you for help is an abhorrent crime,” said U.S. attorney Peter McNeilly in the release.

“The Department of Justice will work relentlessly to take predators out of our tribal communities and put them behind bars.”

“Female tribal members came to this defendant for spiritual healing,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski in the release. “They trusted him to help them in the ways of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, of which he was a leader. Instead of helping them, he took advantage of them, a sickening betrayal that has lasting implications for the survivors of his sexual assaults. The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate sexual assaults on tribal lands to identify and remove perpetrators like this one, who now faces the consequence of his treachery.”

Wall also faces two separate allegations of sexual assault in Colorado state court, according to the release. Those charges are pending.

08/19/2026

Travelers, there is a safety closure on Colorado 141 because of a sinkhole. Here is the release:

Dolores and San Miguel Counties — Colorado Highway 141 is closed in both directions approximately two miles north of Slick Rock (Mile Point 24) due to a sinkhole.

Northbound and southbound motorists should seek alternate routes as this is expected to be an extended safety closure with no estimated time of opening. The nearest alternative routes to access destinations to the north and south of Slick Rock are through US Highway 491, CO 184 and CO 145.

Local traffic can access properties and destinations along CO 141 on both the north and south ends of the closure. Travelers are warned that there is no through-traffic at the Slick Rock closure point.

Check the latest road conditions and traffic impacts on COtrip.org or on the COtrip Planner app.

07/25/2026

07/25/2026

You may remember that two firefighters were injured in addition to the three who died on June 27 while battling a blaze in Mesa County. One of the injured firefighters has now died, according to this report.

A fourth wildland firefighter has died from injuries sustained in the burnover incident on the Knowles Fire in western Colorado, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced.