As I've mentioned in my previous post, the farthest vista point to the east of the village is the Desert View Watchtower, which is a 25-mile drive from the entrance to the South Rim, and is located towards the entrance to the East Rim. The area where the watchtower stands are surrounded by the Visitor Center, a caféteria, restrooms, a gas station, and campgrounds.
The 70-ft, 4-story high watchtower is also known as the Indian Watchtower at Desert View. It was completed in 1932, and was designed by American architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, who was a designer for the Fred Harvery Company. She spent six months researching archeological prototypes and construction techniques before building a model of the site, studying the design of the tower using clay. Colter was responsible for selecting Fred Kabotie and Fred Greer to decorate the interior with murals. Greer's rock art paintings are copies of
Stairs that lead to the second level
What is seen when you look up from the second level
Game of Thrones?
More murals found on the fourth level
The Desert View Watchtower is the last vista point from the South Rim entrance, and I think the watchtower was strategically built in this side of the rim because you get a panoramic view of the canyon.
I kept telling Roan how strange it seems for the Grand Canyon to be different from every viewpoint. No two outlooks are exactly the same.
I guess this is the end of my major Grand Canyon photo dump, here on the blog (Instagram excluded. Ha!). I'll be putting together a short travel video based on this trip, so do keep an eye on