Grand Canyon National Park guide · 2 min read
Desert View Drive and the Historic Watchtower
Desert View Drive follows the South Rim for 23 miles between Grand Canyon Village and Desert View, the easternmost developed area on the rim.
It is the one scenic road on the South Rim open to private cars, and it forms part of Arizona State Route 64. The drive starts at the junction with South Entrance Road and runs east to the Desert View Services Area and the East Entrance.
Along the way you'll pass six developed canyon viewpoints, four picnic areas and five unmarked pullouts, and every viewpoint has parking. The road offers wide views of the canyon and the Colorado River, so it pays to stop more than once. Yaki Point is the exception to driving up, since you can reach it only on foot, by bicycle or on the Kaibab Rim shuttle. The Tusayan Pueblo Site is another stop along the drive.
At the end of the drive, a quarter-mile walk from the main parking area leads past the restrooms, the Market and Deli, and the Trading Post to Desert View Point. From the rim here, the Colorado River swings into a big bend toward the west. Few places on the South Rim show the river and the canyon's geology as well as this one.
The Desert View Watchtower stands at the point, a circular stone tower four stories and 70 feet tall. Mary Colter designed it, basing it on Ancestral Puebloan architecture, and it was completed in 1932. Today it is a National Historic Landmark. Its stairs wind up to a top floor that sits higher than any other spot on the South Rim.
If you're arriving from the east through the Navajo Nation on US Route 89, turn west at Cameron, Arizona, onto State Route 64. From there it is 25 miles to the East Entrance, and Desert View gives you your first look at the canyon.
