Desert View (7,428 feet or 2,264 meters above sea level)

This is the farthest view point in the Grand Canyon National Park east of the Grand Canyon Village. It is distinctly marked by the tall watch tower built in 1932. This structure was designed by Architect Mary Jane Colter to re-create a pre historic American structure. Inside there are murals painted by Hopi artist, Fred Kabotie.

Indian Watchtower at Desert View (1932). The Indian Watchtower at Desert View (1932), the last of this series of Colter buildings, stands at the eastern end of the south rim of the grand Canyon. From a distance the building's silhouette looks like the Anasazi watchtower it was meant to mimic. In plan the structure is composed of one enormous circle at the north, a small circle at the south, and gently arched forms connecting the two. As Virginia L. Grattan wrote in Mary Colter Builder Upon the Red Earth, "The Indian watchtower at Desert View was not a copy, but what Colter called a 're-creation' of an Indian watchtower." Standing at 70 feet, with a 30-foot base, the tower was unique in having a concrete foundation and a steel framework well hidden in the stones of the tower. The ground level of the tower was a large, round observation room with a spectacular view of the Grand Canyon. Upstairs the Hopi Room presents paintings by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie, who took the room's theme from the Hopi Snake Dance. An outdoor observation deck is directly above the observation room.

Desert View

The eastern most "designated viewpoint" on the East Rim Drive is Desert View. This area is most famous for the Watchtower, perched on the rim of the canyon and shown below.

The Watchtower is 67 foot feet high and 30 feet in diameter at the base. It was designed and built in 1933 by Mary Colter, architect of many of Grand Canyon's well known buildings. It's visible from the bottom of the canyon on the river. It was designed to provide outstanding views of the surrounding area and was modeled after prehistoric towers in the southwest and constructed of natural stone found in the area. Interestingly, it also made use of some of the logs originally used in the Grandview Hotel for roofing materials.          

The interior of the tower is quite noteworthy, and from the beginning featured designs by Hopi artist Fred Kobotie, who later became an internationally known artist.

The Desert View area provides excellent views of the surrounding countryside. This view looks away from the canyon to the east, toward the Painted Desert. The flat-topped butte in the background on the right is Cedar Mountain at 7053 feet.

In the Desert View area the river swings from flowing south to a westerly direction. The view below looks north along the edge of Tanner Canyon The wall along the right is known as the Palisades of the Desert. The Colorado can be seen flowing in the upper left corner of the photograph. Seven miles upstream from this point the Little Colorado River joins the Colorado itself.

On clear days, such as these, it's possible to see a very long way from the rim of the canyon, but the canyon often suffers from haze which restricts visibility. Two major sources for air pollution are the Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, and metropolitan areas as far away Los Angeles. At some times it may even be difficult to see the opposite rim.  

Looking west along the canyon provides a view of Escalante Butte and other formations. The canyon ranges in depth from about 3500 to 6000 feet. This does not make it the deepest canyon in the U.S.--that honor belongs to Kings Canyon just outside the border of Kings Canyon National Park. But the appearance and sheer immensity of the Grand Canyon sets it apart from all others.