Welcome to my third of four blog posts about the Grand Canyon. In this one I am going to talk about the view points. You will probably spent most of your time at this park just simply admiring the views. During my last post, I talked about the hiking trails. Taking these trails even partially down the canyon, do offer an opportunity to see the canyon from different angle and view points. However, if you have mobility issues or hiking is just not your cup of tea; there is no shame in that. The park offers a lot of various wonderful view points that are right along the rim with no effort. Some of these view points you can drive to and hop out of your car, while others you do need to take the free shuttle service offered inside the park. While I don't think there is such a bad thing as a bad view point anywhere, here are the ones that stood out to me the most.
*Reminder we only visited the south rim so this refers to south rim only view points.
Desert View Point
I had talked about this in my first blog post, it was one of my favorite areas. Maybe because its the first view of the canyon we had, or maybe its the cool Desert View Tower perched on the rim. Either way this area offers some great views and unique views of the canyon.
Grandview Point
Well the name says it all. This point offers a wonderful "grand view" of the canyon. Its also one of the highest points on the south rim as well to view the canyon. This one is not on the shuttle and you will need some sort of transportation to access it. There is also a trail head here, Grandview Trail. Though this trail is mentioned best for experienced dessert hikers and has narrows parts with steep drop offs. We just admired the view!
Yaki Point
This one you need to take a shuttle too and it runs on the same route as the South Kaibab Trail head access. I would recommend making this stop after hiking to Ooh Aah Point. You can also see the South Kaibab trail from here and see some of where you just were. The view has guard rails but if you follow the trail to the right, past the guard rails (but not too close to the edge), you can get some great view points of the rim fewer people.
Mather Point
This view point isn't far from the visitor center and looks like a big rock shelf sticking out into the canyon. It is the most visited and famous of the view points, but don't let let fear of crowds defer you. We went there twice. The first time to check it out when doing the rim trail hike. The second for sunrise, and the closer to sunrise it got; the more the crowd grew. If you go to sunrise, watch more of how the light hits the rocks behind you then worrying about staring at the sun coming over the horizon.
Above is the path to the point as you approach it wasn't super busy the day we visited. Below is the view during sunrise.
Powell Point and Hopi Point
I put these two together because they are right beside each other and easy walking distance. First to access these you will need to take the Red Hermit Road Shuttle that you can pick up at Bright Angel Trailhead. Unless you visit between January and March, in which case you can drive the road. You will get off at Powell Point.
Powell was probably my second favorite view point, and almost made number one. The point is named after Major John Wesley Powell, a geologist who who lead a three month expedition down the Green and Colorado Rivers. It was the first US Government sponsored passaged through the Grand Canyon. There is a monument to him at this point. Once done here take the path for a short hike to Hopi Point. The view is pretty much the same but its worth the short walk for the slightly different angles.
Pima Point
This one was my favorite of them all, though its tough. It is also on the Hermit Road Shuttle and the last stop before reaching Hermits Rest. At the edge of a peninsula there is a sweeping panoramic view of the canyon and the Colorado River from this viewpoint.
Well there are my favorites, but as I said before, there is no such thing as a bad one. If you have time I recommend getting a map from NPS Website and visiting as many of these viewpoints as you can.
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