Desert View Watchtower

6 min read Updated November 2026 Compare all tours

Desert View is the easternmost developed area on the South Rim, 23 miles (37 km) from Grand Canyon Village along Desert View Drive. From the car park a path of about a quarter of a mile leads to the rim and the Watchtower. The National Park Service says this viewpoint has some of the best views of the Colorado River, which makes a big bend to the west below it.

Mary Colter’s tower

The Watchtower was built in 1932 to a design by Mary Colter, chief architect and decorator of the Fred Harvey Company from 1902 to 1948. It is a round stone tower 70 feet (about 21 m) tall and is recognised as a National Historic Landmark. According to the park, Colter took the architecture of the Ancestral Puebloan people of the Colorado Plateau as her model. Her other buildings on the South Rim include Hopi House (1905), Lookout Studio and Hermits Rest (both 1914).

Inside, the first gallery on the first landing was painted by Fred Kabotie, a Hopi artist from Second Mesa; the park’s article on Colter calls it the Hopi Room. The ceiling images were painted by Fred Geary and recreate images from Abo Rockshelter. The Kiva Room on the ground floor served as a shop for years and was returned to an open space in 2015.

Going up the tower

The upper floors are free to visit, with tickets that let up to 25 people go up for 20 minutes at a time. Opening hours are less clear: the park’s own pages give different times for the last tower access and for when the stairs close. Ask at Desert View or check the park’s Desert View page on the day, and do not leave it until late afternoon if climbing the tower is the reason for your trip.

A site shared with the tribes

The National Park Service has signed off a plan to turn Desert View into an inter-tribal cultural heritage site, with demonstrations, exhibits and conversations with tribal representatives and artisans. The tribes named are the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, representing five bands of Southern Paiute, and the Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Navajo, Zuni and Yavapai-Apache. The park’s Cultural Demonstration Program, which began in 2014, brings members of these tribes to Desert View; the demonstrations are free and take place at different spots, including the Watchtower in spring, summer and autumn. In winter some may move to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center.

Three miles (4.8 km) west of Desert View is the Tusayan Ruin, a pueblo begun around 1185 CE and lived in about 800 years ago. A flat self-guiding trail of 0.1 miles (200 m) leads around it. The 2026 season at the site ran from 2 April to 31 October; whether the small museum next to it opens is unclear on the park’s pages, so check before you go.

Getting there

Desert View Drive is open to private vehicles all year, except when snow closes it for a while. None of the free park shuttles go this far east, and the National Park Service says you need your own car or a motorcoach tour. Along the way are Grandview Point, Moran Point and Navajo Point, the highest overlook on the South Rim, with a view across to the Watchtower. Lipan Point, just west of Navajo Point, is closed to all visitor use until 23 December 2026. Our viewpoints page covers each stop.

Coming from the east, you enter the park at the East Entrance next to Desert View, 25 miles (40 km) from Cameron, a Navajo Nation town. The entrance is open 24 hours a day, except when it is closed by snow. Mind the clock: Arizona and the park stay on Mountain Standard Time all year, while the Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time, so between March and early November the two are an hour apart. On Highway 64 west of Cameron, the Little Colorado River Navajo Tribal Park has viewpoints over the gorge; it charges its own 5-dollar fee and does not accept national park passes.

Tours from Sedona and Flagstaff

Several day tours from Sedona and Flagstaff drive north through Cameron, enter at Desert View and then follow the rim west to the Village. Some stop at the Cameron Trading Post, founded in 1916 by the brothers Hubert and C. D. Richardson; others pass lava fields and ancient ruins on the way. The Classic Tour from Sedona lists the historic Watchtower among its stops and includes an optional light hike for the views.

Check who pays the nonresident fee before you book. Non-US residents aged 16 and older pay 100 dollars each on top of the park entrance fee, also on a tour, while children aged 15 and younger pay nothing (National Park Service, as of November 2026). On the Sedona tours from Arizona Tour & Travel and Great Venture Tours, the operator charges it to your credit card before the tour date, and Ma Pa Tours lists it as not included. On the Pink Jeep tours from Tusayan, the operator contacts non-US residents to collect it. Our entrance fees page explains the passes that cover it.

Services at Desert View this winter

As of November 2026, the trading post, market and deli at Desert View have been closed for the winter since 19 October, the campground is closed and there is no overnight accommodation. The fuel station works 24 hours with a card. Bring your own food and water, and see the park’s current conditions page before setting off.