The drive (Arizona 64) passes through thick pine forest with only occasional glimpses of the canyon but probably the best viewpoint of the South Rim waits for you at the end - Desert View, being one of the few South Rim overlooks from which the Colorado itself can be seen. Other viewpoints are Yaki Point (quite popular for sunset watching), Grandview Point, Moran Point, Lipan Point, and Navaho Point.
Desert View
This is the final viewpoint along the drive and in my believe the best in the whole park. A huge area of the Grand Canyon stretches out below - the main gorge to the north and west, the Little Colorado Gorge in the east, and the colorful Painted Desert in the northeast. This one of the few south rim overlooks from which the Colorado itself can be seen and the contrast between the green areas alongside the river and the reddish rocks is quite striking.
There is also a quite nice building called the watchtower, a 60 foot high stone tower built in 1932. Building a structure that provides the widest possible view of the Grand Canyon yet harmonizes with its setting was architect Mary Colter's goal when the Santa Fe Railroad hired her in 1930 to design a gift shop and rest area at Desert View Point.
Tusayan Ruin and Museum
This ruin is one of 4,300 archeological sites recorded within Grand Canyon National Park and is located between Moran Point and Lipan Point. Studies indicate that people lived here for about twenty years beginning around A.D. 1185. The style of buildings and artifcats is typical for the ancestral Puebloan culture.
People have lived on the Colorado Plateau for thousands of years. The Paelo Indians, nomadic hunters / gatherers who lived here 5,000 - 10,000 years ago, left he earliest evidence. The nomadic Archaic Cultures which followed produced split-twig figurines which they hid in canyon caves. With the introduction of agriculture about 2,000 years ago, villages (pueblos) like this one developed.
On a clear day you can see the distant San Francisco Peaks, considered sacred by several tribes. In the Hopi tradition the katsinas, the spirits, live in these peaks during the winter. The spirits bring rain and other blessings to the people. The Hopi are one of more than twenty Puebloan Indian nations that are descendents of the people who lived here.
Ceremonial activities took place in the kiva. A banquette (bench) encircles slightly more than half of the interior. Braces were placed along this bench to support the upper structure. These were covered with brush and mud to provide the walls and roof of the kiva. A ventilated fire pit permitted good heating. The small hole between the banquette and the fire pit symbolizes a sipapu, the point of emergence of the Hopi people into this world. The Hopi believe that the actual place of emergence, the Sipapuni, is located deep within Grand Canyon.
Directions
Desert View Drive starts at Grand Canyon Village and exits the park at the east entrance close to Desert View. If you are driving to Grand Canyon from Flagstaff, take 89 North and then turn left into 64 West after about 47 miles (immediately before you reach Cameron). Stay on 64 and you will reach the east entrance of the park after about 28 miles.
