Grandview Point - Copper, Mules and a Lost Hotel

Grandview Point - Copper, Mules and a Lost Hotel

Photo: Supercarwaar, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Grand Canyon South Rim, a free self-guided tour.

Grandview Point stands higher than most South Rim overlooks, and its name fits: the canyon spreads out in every direction, with deep side canyons and forested ridges below.

In 1890 prospector Pete Berry and his partners found rich copper ore on Horseshoe Mesa, the curved bench you can see below, and staked the Last Chance Mine. They built the Grandview Trail to bring ore up by mule, sometimes chaining logs against the cliff instead of blasting into it. Their ore won a prize at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, but shipping it was costly and the mine never paid well.

Tourists proved a better business. Pete and Martha Berry opened the Grandview Hotel here in 1897. When the railroad reached the Village in 1901, its depot was about 14 miles away and the crowds went west. The hotel is long gone.

The Grandview Trail is steep and unmaintained; leave it to experienced, well-prepared hikers.

Getting here: Return to the Visitor Center by shuttle, pick up your car and drive east on Desert View Drive about 12 miles to the Grandview Point turnoff.

Did you know?: Ore from the Last Chance Mine was reported to be more than 70 percent pure copper.

Photo op: Stand at the stone overlook wall and frame the twisted pinyon and juniper trees at the rim against Horseshoe Mesa below.

Nearby: Limited facilities; bring food and water from the Village. Full services are at Desert View.

More on Wikipedia: Grandview Trail · World's Columbian Exposition

Stops on this tour

  1. Mather Point - Your First Big Look
  2. Yavapai Geology Museum - A Window on the Layers
  3. Trail of Time - A Million Years per Step
  4. El Tovar - A Grand Hotel on the Edge
  5. Hopi House - Mary Colter's Pueblo
  6. Kolb Studio - Brothers on the Brink
  7. Bright Angel Trailhead - The Old Path Down
  8. Hopi Point - The Sunset Stage
  9. Mohave Point - Listen for the Rapids
  10. Hermits Rest - Colter's Cabin at Road's End
  11. Yaki Point - Where the South Kaibab Begins
  12. Grandview Point - Copper, Mules and a Lost Hotel
  13. Lipan Point - The Canyon's Hidden Basement
  14. Desert View Watchtower - Colter's Tower and a Tribal Welcome