This story appears in the October 2025 issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
Each of Utah’s 29 counties offers unique advantages for businesses and talent alike. Let’s visit Kane County.
The Dragon Bravo Fire in Arizona, near the Grand Canyon, covers 143,808 acres and is only 44 percent contained as of August 11, 2025. The progress is there, but for Kelly Stowell, an economic development professional for Kane County, the damage is already done.
The fire started when lightning struck on July 4. Authorities initially decided to manage the fire with a “confine and contain” strategy. According to AP, the fire erupted over the following weekend, taking over 70 structures down amid the blaze, one being the historic visitor’s lodge at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
“All visitors to the North Rim … it’s over,” Stowell says. “The Grand Canyon is a big hole. There are a lot of places to access it, but that was the main one, where the pavement goes. That’s where most visitors go. That’s where all the services were and the restaurant.” Most importantly, “a lot of those visitors would stay in Kane County and then Kanab,” but with the visitor’s center gone, so are the visitors.
A visitor-less economy
Kanab, Utah, affectionately branded “Base Camp Kanab,” sits only 75 miles from the previous location of the North Rim Lodge. Within county limits, however, visitors will find sections of Bryce Canyon National Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Dixie National Forest, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Zion National Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park and many, many other natural wonders to enjoy. Stowell says over 90 percent of the county is owned by the government.
With so much public land and proximity to natural wonders, it is no surprise that Stowell attributes 50 percent of the county’s economic activity to tourism. From 2019 to 2023, direct visitor spending in Kane County averaged a little over $175 million, and in 2023, visitors generated over 75 percent of local sales tax revenue, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s travel and tourism county profile for Kane County.
Stowell says that, without the North Rim Visitor’s Lodge, local hotels and tour companies are already seeing cancellations and lost funds. Eventually, he expects to have a place where businesses can make disaster relief claims and declarations, but the county is still working out the kinks. What he can say: “It’s not good.”
Despite the North Rim Visitor’s Lodge being located in Arizona, Stowell says Kane County has a lot of support from its senators and congresswoman, Celeste Maloy, and expects a rebuild soon. The fire might even be a blessing in disguise if a new North Rim Lodge is winterized and allows for year-round guests. However, with recent budget cuts to the National Parks Service, Kane County wouldn’t be the first community left wanting for more support and infrastructure to cater to visitors.
Stowell remains hopeful, saying, “We try to employ that same spirit, to be welcoming and helpful and have a can-do attitude with all business efforts. We just try to have an open mind and a willingness to work on and make things happen.”
The county’s economy needs a new lodge, and the county’s history demands it. “Even though it is in Arizona, our economy is attached to it, and a lot of our heritage is too,” Stowell says. “It was Kanab people who developed the North Rim and made it into a reality.”
An everything economy
Like many of Utah’s more rural economies, tourism is a large piece of the economic pie, but even a large slice is just a single slice. In Kane, other slices include the Best Friends Animal Society, coal mines, film development, manufacturing, a burgeoning food scene, and a growing community of remote workers and business professionals creating what Stowell calls “Silicon Sands.” While tourism wanes for a time, Stowell says Kane County is still enjoying boosts from these other sectors.
“Kane County has always been open to new ideas and new possibilities. We’re so remote, we’ve had to be really reliant on each other and try to solve our problems,” Stowell says. “All those public lands have been there forever, but the way they’ve been managed has changed over the years, and the industries that were supported by these lands have changed.”
Even with the Grand Canyon being out of commission for a while, nature lovers should take the opportunity to explore the other, lesser-known gems available near Kanab. Stowell says no one should cancel a stay or ticket — just take a detour.