A Washington man who led 139 people on a rim-to-rim hike at Grand Canyon National Park has been banned from all national parks in Arizona. Crowds can overwhelm facilities at Phantom Ranch on the bottom of the canyon/NPS file

Leading some friends on a rim-to-rim hike at Grand Canyon National Park is one thing, but a Washington state man who organized a crowd of 139 people to do the hike violated the park's group size limits and has been banned from not just the national park but all federal lands in Arizona for two years.

Joseph Don Mount, hometown unavailable, on March 25 pled guilty to violating the limitation and was ordered to serve two years of supervised probation along with being banned from all national parks, national monuments, and federal lands within the state of Arizona, a park release said.

Court documents show that on October 24, 2020, park rangers investigated an allegation that Mount organized a 139-person rim-to-rim hiking group through the inner canyon without a permit. The inner canyon is defined as the area below the Tonto Platform from the South Rim and below Manzanita Resthouse from the North Rim. Prior to his trip, Mount was made aware that his group required a permit. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. 

Since 2014, any organized group of 12-30 participants, or any non-profit group conducting rim-to-rim, rim-to-rim-to-rim, rim-to-river-to-rim, and/or extended day hikes in the inner canyon must obtain a Special Use Permit from the park's Commercial Services Division. Grand Canyon National Park implemented this regulation due to increased day use on inner canyon trails that has resulted in increased user conflicts.

Other issues related to inner-canyon use by large groups include: abandoning or caching gear on the trails; increased litter, including human waste; crowding at restrooms and attraction sites; an overburdened waste water treatment plant; vehicle congestion and crowding at trailheads; and general concerns over trail courtesy with other visitors.

Park rangers are also seeing an increase in unprepared and injured rim-to-rim participants resulting in additional search and rescue responses, which then results in an overall delay of all search and rescue operations. In 2021, Grand Canyon National Park Rangers responded to a total of 411 search and rescue incidents which broke a 20-year record for the park.