This area included lands on both sides of the Grand Canyon and essentially all of the North Kaibab. In 1908, the Forest Reserve north of the Grand Canyon, including the Game Preserve, was renamed the Kaibab National Forest. In 1919, Grand Canyon National Park was created from the Forest Service lands surrounding the Grand Canyon. In 1934, the Tusayan National Forest south of the Grand Canyon was consolidated into the Kaibab National Forest, forming the present Forest boundaries. The Forest area north of the Canyon became the North Kaibab Ranger District.
Vegetation varies by elevation and exposure.
Principal tree species are ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, aspen, blue spruce, oak, pinyon pine, and juniper. As elevation decreases, trees give way to bitter brush, Gambel oak, sagebrush, and cliffrose. Within the Forest there are irregular areas entirely free of tree growth. True to his name he killed a great many buffalo, but unlike most of his contemporaries he realized the buffalo would disappear completely if efforts were not made to save the few remnant herds. Shortly after the establishment of the Grand Canyon Game Preserve in 1906, Jones acquired a small herd and brought it to the Kaibab Plateau, a land the species had never inhabited.