Desert View Watchtower - Colter's Tower and a Tribal Welcome
Photo: rob Stoeltje from loenen, netherlands, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
A stop on Grand Canyon South Rim, a free self-guided tour.
Your last stop rises 70 feet above the rim. Mary Colter designed the Desert View Watchtower in 1932, basing it on Ancestral Puebloan towers like those at Hovenweep, though hers is larger than any known original. Look at the stonework: rough stones at the base give way to careful patterns higher up, all chosen to make the tower look ancient and rooted in the rock.
Inside, Hopi artist Fred Kabotie painted bold murals at Colter's invitation. When the tower is open, climb for views of the Colorado River bending north, the Painted Desert to the east and Navajo lands beyond.
Desert View is now the National Park Service's first Inter-tribal Cultural Heritage Site, shaped with the 11 tribes traditionally tied to the canyon, including the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, Havasupai, Hualapai, Yavapai-Apache and Southern Paiute bands. Look for Native artist demonstrations, and check nps.gov for current hours.
End by tracing the river upstream with your eyes as far as you can follow it.
Getting here: Continue a few minutes east on Desert View Drive to the Desert View parking area and walk to the tower on the rim.
Did you know?: At the Watchtower's 2016 rededication, the park superintendent formally apologized to the tribes on behalf of the National Park Service for past wrongs.
Photo op: Walk east along the rim path and turn back to frame the Watchtower on the edge with the canyon behind it.
Nearby: Restrooms, water, a general store, snack bar and gift shop at Desert View; check current hours.
More on Wikipedia: Desert View Watchtower · Mary Colter · Fred Kabotie · Hovenweep National Monument
Stops on this tour
- Mather Point - Your First Big Look
- Yavapai Geology Museum - A Window on the Layers
- Trail of Time - A Million Years per Step
- El Tovar - A Grand Hotel on the Edge
- Hopi House - Mary Colter's Pueblo
- Kolb Studio - Brothers on the Brink
- Bright Angel Trailhead - The Old Path Down
- Hopi Point - The Sunset Stage
- Mohave Point - Listen for the Rapids
- Hermits Rest - Colter's Cabin at Road's End
- Yaki Point - Where the South Kaibab Begins
- Grandview Point - Copper, Mules and a Lost Hotel
- Lipan Point - The Canyon's Hidden Basement
- Desert View Watchtower - Colter's Tower and a Tribal Welcome