A sudden flash flood tore through popular hiking corridors of Arizona’s Grand Canyon on Saturday, leaving more than 20 visitors unaccounted for and triggering a large-scale emergency evacuation that has already pulled 62 people to safety via airlift, according to the U.S. National Park Service (NPS).
The fast-moving floodwaters hit the Bright Angel Canyon and Phantom Ranch area around 14:30 local time on Saturday, catching hikers off guard on the national park’s busiest trail, one that draws millions of outdoor enthusiasts annually. As of the latest updates, no injuries have been confirmed among evacuated visitors, but the event has left behind widespread destruction that has shut down local trails indefinitely.
Nikki Baggs, a 41-year-old hiker who was evacuated alongside two friends from the canyon bottom Saturday evening, described the chaotic scene that unfolded after clear skies quickly gave way to deadly flood conditions. “It was a beautiful day and then people were screaming, running,” Baggs told the BBC, recalling how the group had only just dropped their luggage at a remote Phantom Ranch cabin before heading out to enjoy the warm weather. In mere moments, rising floodwaters began rushing through the low-lying canyon corridor.
Baggs and her companions immediately scrambled to higher ground, taking shelter at an elevated picnic area before park rangers spotted their group and ordered a second move to a more secure ledge. The group waited for hours alongside other stranded hikers before being airlifted to safety at around 21:30 local time. Though the trio missed out on the planned steak dinner they had been anticipating at Phantom Ranch, Baggs said she and her friends were simply grateful to have escaped unharmed, crediting the rapid, well-coordinated response of park rangers for keeping them safe amid the chaos. “It was a really uniquely coordinated effort,” Baggs said. “That’s what made us feel safe about all of it in an unsafe situation.”
Park officials confirmed that the flood caused significant structural damage to infrastructure in the affected corridor, with multiple footbridges swept away by rushing water—a scene Baggs and other stranded hikers witnessed from their elevated vantage point. All trails in the impacted area have been closed to new visitors as search and assessment operations continue.
The NPS is urging anyone with information about hikers or backpackers who were in the inner canyon along the Bright Angel Creek corridor on Saturday to contact park officials immediately to help account for the still-missing group.
Compounding the ongoing emergency, weather forecasts call for additional thunderstorms and heavy rainfall across the region on Sunday and Monday. NPS officials warn that these new weather systems could trigger secondary flash floods, debris flows, rockfalls, and dangerous shifts to existing trail and river conditions, putting additional strain on search and rescue operations.
One of the most visited national parks in the United States, the Grand Canyon welcomes roughly five million recreational visitors each year, and the Bright Angel Trail remains its most popular hiking route, attracting casual day hikers and overnight backpackers from around the world. Flash floods are a known, rare hazard in the steep, narrow canyons of the American Southwest, where sudden desert downpours can funnel into low-lying corridors with little warning.