Phantom Ranch at Grand Canyon is fully booked for 2024. How to get in the lottery for 2025
If hiking or riding a mule to the bottom of Grand Canyon and spending the night at Phantom Ranch is on your bucket list, know this: You have to plan well in advance.
Phantom Ranch, the rustic lodge nestled along Bright Angel Creek, will begin accepting lottery submissions on Feb. 1 for stays in April 2025, according to Xanterra Travel Collection, the concessionaire that operates Phantom Ranch.
The lotteries for cabin reservations and overnight mule rides generally open on the first day of each month for stays 14 months in advance. Lotteries are open for the first 25 days of each month. Winners are selected and notified the next month that they can book their reservations.
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How does the Phantom Ranch lottery work?
The Phantom Ranch lottery, which is free to enter, starts on the first day and ends on the 25th day of every month.
You can enter online starting on the first day of each month starting at 12:01 a.m. MST at secure.phantomranchlottery.com.
Lottery submissions run 14 months ahead of schedule. For example, February’s lottery is for cabin stays in April 2025. The lottery for May 2025 will begin March 1.
Xanterra processes the submissions 13 months ahead of schedule and notifies winners of the lottery. From there, guests can book and guarantee their reservations.
Any unsold or unclaimed cabin stays or mule rides are released to general availability a year before the stays. For example, April 2025 stays — unless they sell out in the lottery — would be available for general sale on April 1.
Phantom Ranch returned to its usual lottery structure after a different process last year. Reservations opened for cabin stays and mule rides from May 2023 to January 2024 in mid-January last year because Xanterra had been closed for a year.
How hard is it to get a reservation at Phantom Ranch?
Reservations must be made more than a year in advance because of high demand and limited availability.
Cabin reservations outside the lottery process are difficult to come by. Xanterra lists no cabins available for booking at the time of writing. However, it does list a limited number of mule rides available for dates between June and November 2024. Mule rides will not be available from Dec. 2, 2024, to March 14, 2025.
What to know about Phantom Ranch cabins
Guests at Phantom Ranch stay in cabins that vary in size and accommodate two to 10 people. Each cabin contains beds, a cold water sink, a toilet, liquid soap and hand towels.
Showers, bath towels, hot water sinks and liquid soap/shampoo are in a separate bath house.
Like in 2023, the hiker dormitories — small bunkhouses that hold 10 people each — are not available. Xanterra said there is no target date for reopening the dormitories.
Phantom Ranch cabins prices
A cabin for two people at Phantom Ranch costs $213.50 plus tax per night. Adding an extra guest costs an extra $21.50.
Phantom Ranch also has a group cabin that can accommodate 10 people available for $355.20 plus tax per night.
How much does a mule ride to Phantom Ranch cost?
Overnight mule rides to Phantom Ranch start at $1,164.83 for one person on a one-night ride, available year-round. Two-night rides, which cost more, are only available from November to March.
How much are meals at Phantom Ranch?
The cost of a stay at Phantom Ranch does not include meals at the canteen.
Breakfast includes scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon or sausage, fruit salad, juice, coffee and tea. It costs $29.50 per person.
A sack lunch includes a whole grain bagel with cream cheese and jelly, a 2-ounce beef sausage, an apple, an energy bar from Flagstaff-based Huppybar, Ocean Spray Craisins, Babybel cheese and an electrolyte powder drink. It costs $24.43 per person.
Three dinner options are available: steak for $58.23, beef stew for $41.55 and vegetable stew for $39.05.
Like cabin lodging, meals at Phantom Ranch must be reserved far in advance. Xanterra recommends travelers book their meals at the same time they book their rooms.
Details: grandcanyonlodges.com.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phantom Ranch lottery: How to make Grand Canyon cabin reservations