Tours
IconicPapillon Grand Canyon Helicopters
$50+Helicopter and airplane air tours over the Grand Canyon departing near the South Rim.
Photo: Vladsinger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
SightseeingIconicHistory Buff
Desert View Watchtower
Desert View Watchtower is a sightseeing stop in Grand Canyon Village, AZ, part of the Northern Arizona guide. Cost: $25 to $50.
Desert View, AZ-64, 23 miles east of Grand Canyon Village · Grand Canyon Village, AZ
Why you should go…
Architect Mary Colter designed this 70-foot circular stone tower, finished in 1932, to echo Ancestral Puebloan watchtowers. On the lower level you look through reflectoscopes, black glass mirrors that cut haze and glare on the canyon view, and in spring, summer and fall you can watch demonstrations by artists from tribes tied to the canyon. Upper floors, open when staffing allows, carry murals by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie. No park shuttle comes out here, so you drive yourself.
- #grand canyon
- #observation tower
- #south rim
- #historic landmark
What's around here?
The closest stops to Desert View Watchtower, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
17 mi awaySwitch it up: Tours
- Sport & OutdoorOutdoor Adventure
Skydive the Grand Canyon
$50+Tandem skydives from 16,000 feet over the Grand Canyon, from the Grand Canyon National Park Airport in Tusayan.
17 mi awaySwitch it up: Sport & Outdoor
- StayIconic
El Tovar Hotel
$50+Stay or dine in a 1905 lodge of limestone and Oregon pine set right on the Grand Canyon's South Rim.
17 mi awaySwitch it up: Stay
- SightseeingHistory Buff
Wupatki National Monument
$25–$50Walk up to sandstone pueblos built in the early 1100s, including the 104-room Wupatki Pueblo with its ball court and blowhole.
44 mi awayMore like this
- SightseeingHistory Buff
Williams Visitor Center
FreeThe official visitor center of Williams, Arizona, in the town's 1901 Santa Fe freight depot on Railroad Avenue.
58 mi awayMore like this
- SightseeingOutdoor Adventure
Flagstaff
FreeA high-elevation Arizona city on Route 66 serving as a gateway to the Grand Canyon, ponderosa forests and ski country.
59 mi awayMore like this
