Grand Canyon Visitors Move To Hotels Outside The Park After Unprecedented Breaks In Water Pipeline

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — Tourists with plans to stay at Grand Canyon National Park over Labor Day weekend were forced to move Thursday to accommodations outside the park.

It marked the first day of sudden closures for overnight hotel stays after the park’s only water pipeline failed.

The restrictions will run throughout the holiday, when hotels were near or at capacity.

One hotel inside the park says it had to cancel nearly 1,000 reservations for the weekend.

But the park will remain open during the day, and officials say hotels outside the park in the town of Tusayan won’t be affected.