Drives at the Grand Canyon

Desert View Drive on the South Rim

If you are approaching the Grand Canyon from the Flagstaff area, consider yourself lucky because you have the chance to enter Grand Canyon National Park via its East entrance. The East entrance is much less crowded than the entrance from the South, and as a bonus you can take the Desert View Drive on your way in. The east entrance is accessible from Flagstaff via U.S. 89 to state road 64. This route serves up fantastic canyon views and glimpses of the Colorado River as well. You will also be driving through the Navajo Reservation, where you will have chances to shop at the local craft stores and vendor booths along the way. Desert View Drive is twenty five miles long, taking you through forests and past viewpoints of the canyon, with the occasional picnic area along the way. Here are the viewpoints along Desert View Drive:

• Desert View Point with Watchtower: This is the first stop, and you can find all sorts of services here, like a Post Office, gas station, info center, snack bar, general store, and historic tower. This is a good place for a thorough introduction to Grand Canyon National Park. The watchtower was built in the early 1930s, designed by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter to look like ancient towers found across the Southwest. It's made of stone and mortar. It's both observation tower and rest stop, and houses a small shop on the ground floor. There's a gallery on the second floor. The tower's top floor (with glass-enclosed walls and telescopes you can use) is the highest point on the South Rim, at just over 7,500 feet above sea level.
• Navajo Point: You can see the 70-foot Desert View Watchtower from Navajo Point, and also the Painted Desert. Also look for 3,000 foot high Vermilion Cliffs from this viewpoint. It's where the Spanish first descended into the Grand Canyon. It's also the highest spot on the South Rim, at almost 7,500 feet above sea level. The Tanner Trail starts here, a very rugged trail once used by bootleggers and horse thieves.
• Lipan Point: This one has great views of the Colorado River and some of its rapids, called Unkar Delta. Ancestral Puebloans used this area around Unkar Delta for farming. It's the Grand Canyon's widest point, which may explain the amazing views. There's a hiking trail that starts here.
• Tusayan Ruin & Museum: Learn about ancestral Pueboan life here, at this small museum dedicated to the Hopi people. There are free half-hour guided tours and a trail you can walk along to see ancestral Pueboan village ruins. People lived in the rocks here around 1200 A.D., just a small group for just around two decades. They were farmers and hunters but the area couldn't sustain them so they moved on.
• Moran Point: This viewpoint offers views of rock strata in beautiful colors. It's named after Thomas Moran, famous for his paintings of the Grand Canyon. This was his favorite spot for creating his landscape art, for the quality of the light. He knew John Wesley Powell, and together the two men helped get the Grand Canyon designated as a National Park.
• Grandview Point: You can see Horseshoe Mesa from here. The mesa was the site of the Last Chance Copper Mine just before the turn of the 20th century. There was also the Grandview Hotel here, which closed in 1908. You can take the Grandview Trail from here, but it's a rough one. Experienced hikers only!
• Yaki Point: This is the last stop on Desert View Drive. You can't actually drive up to the point, because it's closed to private cars now. You can park and walk to it, though. You'll see an amazing view from Yaki Point, which includes Wotan's Throne. Wotan's Throne is one of the features of the Grand Canyon which is easily recognizable from pictures, painting, etc. It's a flat-topped butte. You can also see Buddha Temple and Newton Butte. South Kaibab Trail begins here at Yaki Point, and lots of hikers on their way to Phantom Ranch start from here. Phantom Ranch is the only place to get a room overnight inside the Canyon. Hikers cross a cool steel bridge over the Colorado River to get to the Ranch. Yaki Point is a good spot from which to take a day hike.

Cape Royal Drive on the North Rim

This is a 23-mile drive with several fantastic viewpoints along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. To begin the drive, look for a turnoff several miles within the Park's boundaries. The turnoff is at Fuller Canyon Road and it leads to the Cape Royal Scenic Drive as well as another drive on the Point Imperial Road. The first stop on the way to Cape Royal is at Walhalla Overlook, where you can see remains of an Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) building, as well as great views of the Canyon. The ruins are actually across the road from the overlook. Vista Encantadora and Painted Desert Overlook are also in this area. Next you will reach Angel's Window Overlook, which is almost at the end of the 23 mile drive. Angel's Window is a natural stone bridge, and this spot gives the best views of the bridge. Once you get to Cape Royal, you can actually hike over to the bridge and walk across it to an even more stunning view of the Canyon. Once at Cape Royal, you are in the best spot for views of the sunset or sunrise. You can get a narrated tour of Cape Royal at the information desk at Grand Canyon Lodge.

Point Imperial Drive on the North Rim

Point Imperial is the highest point in the Rim, either side North or South. The elevation is just a few feet over 8,800 feet. The Painted Desert is visible from here, and you can catch the Nankoweap Trail from here, which is a rim trail that goes North from Point Imperial. From Point Imperial you can get views of Mt. Hayden, which is actually a spire carved out of sandstone by nature.