Jacob Lake, AZ

Traveling north on 89 from Tuba City we were diverted to 89a when we encountered a sign stating the highway was closed. We had intended to go through Page, but the detour turned out to be rather interesting after all.

First we passed “the house with a rock on the roof”, a rather amazing sight to say the least. Several large boulders have fallen in the area near this so It's not surprising, and we don't know the history of incident. Hopefully no one was at home at the time!

Skirting along the edge of the Kaibab National Forest we passed the Vermillion Cliffs, just an appetizer for the scenes we’d be encountering in the Grand Canyon itself.

We followed 89a north to Jacob Lake. The “lake” is apparently little more than a mud puddle, so we didn’t bother to look it up. This puddle was named for Jacob Hamblin, an early Mormon pioneer of southern Utah and northern Arizona. The location of the settlement and the water source made it a perfect stop for pioneers, but now it's better known as the "Gateway to the Grand Canyon".

The Jacob Lake Campground is fairly open, with filtered shade from the tall pines and a bit of grass and wildflowers between sites.

Our site worked well for us.' Spacious as well as level, with easy access to the restroom, and to the hiking trail out back which Shiner really appreciated.

We had information indicating “water is available”… it is "available" at spigots outside each restroom, in rather small amounts, however. Filling your RV tank is not allowed, but you can fill a five gallon jug, or two, so we managed with that.

The Jacob Lake campground is directly across the highway from the Kaibab National Forest Visitor’s Center and the Jacob Lake Inn. The visitor’s center has a few nice displays on local fauna and the geology of the area. It highlights a little critter unique to this area…..the Kaibab squirrel. Steve and Shiner had seen one on one of their walks, and Shiner was quite annoyed that she wasn’t allowed to chase it. They are a typical small squirrel in the body, with a fluffy, snowy white tail, and large ears with little tufts of fur on the points. They're quick too! Too quick for me to get a good photo of. We didn’t see very many of them in the campground, but we did have western blue birds and a few other feathered visitors. Shiner scared up a little Kaibab horned lizard on one of our walks, a species specific to this area (in Texas we'd call it a horned toad.)


It was a cute little thing, about three inches long, and played dead pretty effectively, so I was able to get Shiner away from it. This one had a subtle pattern in the red sandstone colors. We found another the next day that had a more distinctive pattern and was dressed in the gray tones of the gravel you see in this photo.

The inn has a really nice gift shop, a small shop with general store merchandise which includes some yummy baked goods, and reportedly an excellent restaurant. We didn’t eat there, but heard some rave reviews from campers who did.

Our neighbors the first night were a really nice young family from Switzerland, with two young children. Their English was quite good, and we had a very nice visit. The second night our neighbors were a couple with a young golden retriever, Buddy, and he and Shiner hit it off. They had a great wrestling match while we got acquainted. Tom brought his guitar over to our site after dinner and played us a few tunes, then gifted us with one of his CDs as we were leaving the next morning. He has a really nice, easy style an apparently he and his band plays frequently at the wineries in Northern California.

Two lovely cool nights at Jacob Lake were a nice respite from the heat of the places we’d been before. On Thursday we packed up and started for the Grand Canyon, north rim. We had plenty of time as check-in was noon or later, so we stopped at the little country store on the way. Friendly folks, and good prices on food and fuel, as well as the collectables, at least, compared to what you’ll find in the shops on the rim. I picked up a copy of Geology Underfoot-Northern Arizona, so I’m all set for the next few days!