Mohave Point - Listen for the Rapids

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

Mohave Point gives you one of the South Rim's best looks at the Colorado River. Find the river below you to the west and trace it for the white patches of Hermit, Granite and Salt Creek Rapids. On a still day, some visitors say they can hear Hermit Rapid from up here, about a mile above the water.

Directly below the overlook lies a narrow red ridge nicknamed the Alligator. Farther out rise the Tower of Set, Horus and Osiris Temples and the Tower of Ra.

The river carved all of this, using sand and stones as grinding tools as the plateau slowly rose. Since Glen Canyon Dam upstream began holding back the river in 1963, the water here usually runs colder and clearer than it once did, a change that has made life harder for native fish.

The point is named for the Mohave people, whose homeland lies along the Colorado downstream. Stay well back from unrailed ledges, which can break away.

Getting here: Ride the Hermits Rest shuttle one stop west from Hopi Point, or walk the Rim Trail about 0.8 mile.

Did you know?: The Colorado River drops nearly 2,000 feet on its way through the Grand Canyon, which is why it has so many rapids.

Photo op: Use a corner of the railing to frame the river bend below, with the red Alligator ridge in the foreground.

Nearby: No restrooms or water here; the nearest are back at Hopi Point or ahead at Hermits Rest.

More on Wikipedia: Mohave people · Glen Canyon Dam

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