The Watch Tower at the Grand Canyon

Mary Colter designed the Watch Tower to offer visitors "the widest possible view of the Grand Canyon." It was built by Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe Railroad and opened to the public in 1933. The Watch Tower is found at Desert View Point on the East side of the Grand Canyon. If you're visiting, don't miss touring this neat historical tower.

The paths are wide leading to the watch tower and you have wonderful views from both inside and outside of the Grand Canyon. You will make your way past the bathrooms and general store to your right.

The Watch Tower is attached to a gift shop, you can view the inside of the watch tower by walking through the gift shop and up the stairs. If you would rather you can walk straight ahead to the Desert View Point Look out and take in the views from outside.

The Colorado River is easily seen from this vantage point. Directly to your right you can get a great view of the Cedar Point Mesa and to the left of it is the Painted Desert.

Inside the Watch Tower you'll find 4 sets of winding stairs that each lead to a circular room with views of the canyon.

View of Stairs coming down

If you veer to your left off the first flight of stairs you will come to a rooftop with a great view.

In the middle of each floor is a cutout circle, so you can view all of the floors from above

on the sides are petroglyphs as shown below

Each floor has different paintings on the wall such as these:

At 7,522 feet, the elevation from the fourth floor of the Watch Tower is the highest on the South Rim. There is no open viewing from here, so it is kind of stuffy inside. There are however several high power binoculars and huge window glass to take in the view.

Photo taken from inside of watch tower overlooking Desert View Point

General Information about the Grand Canyon