South Rim Visitor Center is open today from 9 am to 4 pm. Follow link for a list of visitor services with hours of operation. Midday South Entrance lines are long. Arrive before 9 am or after 4 pm for shorter wait times. The North Rim reopens on May 15. More
Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Sunny —South Rim High 68°F (20°C) —Phantom Ranch High 90°F (32°C)
Trail Alerts: Bright Angel Trail below Havasupai Gardens, including the Silver Bridge CLOSED. River Trail CLOSED. Plateau Point and Plateau Point Trail CLOSED. Hikers visit this link for inner canyon temperatures, heat risk and water availability. More
Aerial view looking northwest at Desert View Point, 7,360 feet / 2,243 meters, and the Desert View developed area. Automobile and RV/bus parking lots are visible left of center, with the visitor service buildings to the right of the parking lots. The nearby peaks on the right are Escalante Butte 6,536 feet/ 1,992 meters, and Cardenas Butte 6.281 feet/ 1,914 meters.
Desert View
Updated March 1, 2025
The East Entrance to the park at Desert View is open 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. (Unless temporarily closed by snow)
Desert View is a small settlement on the South Rim located 23 miles/ 37 kmeast of Grand Canyon Village, and near the eastern edge of Grand Canyon. Arizona State Route 64, also known as Desert View Drive, is a 23 mile (37 km) scenic road that connects Desert View with Grand Canyon Village. Desert View Drive is open to all vehicles throughout the year. (Unless temporarily closed by snow)
Visitors traveling through the Navajo Nation on US 89, turn west at Cameron, Arizona onto State Route 64, then drive 25 miles (40 km) to the park's East Entrance. A stop at Desert View provides their first views of Grand Canyon. Some of the finest views of the Colorado River and canyon geology may be seen from here.
Nearby Navajo Tribal Parks are open and welcome visitors. For more information about Navajo Tribal Parks, call: 928-871-6647 or visit www.navajonationparks.org
Map of the Desert View developed area including parking lots, buildings and footpaths.
NPS
Visitor Services
Desert View parking lot and RV parking lot.
Restrooms: located between the main parking lot and the canyon.
Desert View Watchtowerground level(View Room) GCC Park Store: 8 am to 6 pm Daily The upper floors of the tower are open, when staffing allows, from 8:00 am to 500 pm. The last tower access is at 5:00 pm, with the stairs closed for the day at 5:30 pm. Capacity is 25 people in the tower at one time. A free ticket system admits 25 people with a 20 minute time limit. Admission is free. Details:
Trading Post:Native American Handicrafts Ice Cream/Coffee: 9 am to 5 pm
Desert View Market: 9 am to5 pm
Deli (inside the Market) 10 am to 5 pm
Pay-at-the-Pump Gas Station:24 hrs. credit/debit card only.
At the East Entrance, Desert View Campground offers a peaceful setting with 49 campsites. 30 feet (9.1 m) combined total length is the maximum length for RVs or vehicles pulling travel trailers. Campsites are available by reservation only at www.recreation.gov and can be made up to 6 months in advance starting Sat. April 12, through the night of Sun. October 12, 2025. Make reservations online or call (877-444-6777). It is possible to make same day call-in and/or online reservations.
Approximately 30 miles (48 km) west of Cameron, AZ, and 23 miles (37 km) east of Grand Canyon Village, the Desert View Entrance Station serves as a secondary gateway to the South Rim and the primary portal to the Desert View area. It is open 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. This entrance is ideal for motorists traveling to/from Southwestern Colorado, Southern Utah, New Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona.
Desert View Watchtower Retail Store (View Room) is open daily: 8 am to 6 pm. The upper floors of the tower are open, when staffing allows, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The last tower access is at 5:00 pm, with the stairs closed for the day at 5:30 pm. A ticket system admits 25 people with a 20-minute time limit. A National Historic Landmark, the Watchtower was constructed in 1932.The design by Mary Colter is based on Ancestral Puebloan architecture found in the southwest.
Below Desert View Point, the Colorado River makes a sharp 90-degree turn to the west, cutting directly into a major uplift. Looking to the west, one can glimpse in the distance where the river plunges into the black, narrow, confined depths of the Granite Gorge. Also at Desert View Point, a plaque and stone memorial commemorate the 1956 Grand Canyon TWA-United Airlines Aviation Accident Site, a horrific airline collision over Grand Canyon that took place on June 30, 1956.
During the Summer of 2025, Sunset Talks by park rangers take place at the amphitheater on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, at 6:30 pm. Enjoy a program with a beautiful sunset backdrop. The talks start an hour before sunset, and end with enough time to take pictures and enjoy the view. This is also the location of "Grand Canyon Speaks presentations", in which members of Grand Canyon's Native American Communities share their rich history and culture.
Within sight of Desert View Point and the Watchtower, the Trading Post is just up the walkway from the rim of the canyon. Hours are 9 am to 5 pm daily. A snack bar is located inside the Trading Post. The snack bar is temporarily closed. When it reopens, it offers ice cream, sweet treats and coffee drinks. There is an outdoor patio. When it comes to authentic Native American crafts, the trading post gallery/shop features handicrafts from Grand Canyon's associated tribes.
Located on the eastern side of the Desert View settlement, near the restrooms, the market sells groceries and souvenirs, including t-shirts, keychains and coffee mugs. Current hours of operation are from 9 am to 5 pm daily. The deli, inside the market, is open from 10 am to 5 pm daily. There is both indoor and outdoor seating. Stock up on groceries for camping, or road trip snacks and drinks.
Self-service gasoline and diesel fuel (pay at the pump with credit or debit card) is available year-round, 24 hours a day. The convenience store is CLOSED for the season. The park's only gas station on the South Rim offers visitors one last chance to fill-up before heading to the next closest gas stations 30 miles (48 km) east in the town of Cameron, Arizona —or 30 miles (48 km) west in the town of Tusayan, Arizona (just outside of the park's south entrance).
The pueblo site and self-guiding trail are open Thursday through Friday, from 9 am to 4 pm. Located 3 miles (4.8km) west of Desert View Watchtower, the site is a small Ancestral Puebloan village showing the outlines of rooms and a round kiva. Visitors can walk a relatively flat 0.1 mile (200 m) self-guiding trail around the site. Visit the Native American Artisan Market with authentic and beautiful arts and crafts for sale. The adjacent museum is CLOSED until further notice.
Perched on the rim of the canyon, the Watchtower reflects the architecture of the ancestral Puebloans in the Four Corners region. The View Room is open, and the upper levels of the tower can be accessed through a free onsite reservation through the Grand Canyon Conservancy. This photo shows the View Room after it was partially restored to architect Mary Colter's original design.
NPS/M. Quinn
View north from Desert View Point at the Colorado River.
NPS/Kristen M. Caldon
Desert View Inter-tribal Cultural Heritage Site
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The Desert View area has been used as a gathering place for thousands of years. Visitors can see a glimpse of the ancient past at the Tusayan Ruin and Museum. The Desert View Watchtower, is modeled after the architecture of the Ancestral Puebloan people of the Colorado Plateau. Today Desert View represents the physical and cultural gateway from Grand Canyon National Park to the Navajo and Hopi reservations.
