After a few years of considering a trip to the Grand Canyon, but wanting to avoid the crowds and the heat that it’s known for, we finally decided to take a long weekend and go this past February. We expected that the crowds would be light, temps would stay low, and we may even get some snow in the forecast. The Grand Canyon is a big park with so much to see, so we put some planning and research before we left, and we were glad we did once we got there!

In two other blogs (Hiking the South Kaibab Trail to Cedar Ridge at the Grand Canyon & Our First Grand Canyon Adventure: Camping & Amenities), we shared more about camping at the park and about hiking the South Kaibab Trail, but here we’ll share about our time spent exploring the park along the South Rim. The park has one main road that runs from the east at Desert View to the west at Hermit’s Rest. There is a lot to see in between the west and east end, and we did our best to see most of it!

We had only a couple of sunny days, so we spent them hiking in or around the canyon. On the other days, with a crazy amount of wind, rain, and snow, we decided to explore the park by car and enjoy the views.

Drive to the Desert View Watchtower

We’ll start on the east end, at the Desert View Watchtower. We drove out to Desert View from our campsite, which was in the middle of the park. On our first “driving” day, we started early and drove from the campsite out towards Desert View. There are several stopping points along the road, where it is easy to pull off, park, and get out to see the canyon. These are great spots to get a view of the canyon, each one slightly different than the others!

After a view stops to see the canyon, we eventually stopped at Lipan Point, hoping to see some California Condors (it didn’t happen), and made breakfast in the parking lot. We enjoyed the views, and then, out of nowhere, it started snowing. We frolicked all around and enjoyed this burst of weather! We decided then to drive out to Desert View, just in case they closed the road due to the weather.

The drive to Desert View is a lovely drive. We passed a big herd of Elk and saw several Mule Deer along the way! Every single place to stop seemed to have its own unique view, so we took our time on this drive. The park was cold and windy, and not very crowded, so we had lots of space to stop, rest, and enjoy the view or hang out for a snack.

Eventually, the road gets to the Desert View area, which includes the Watchtower. This is a fun area in the park. The tower is interesting to explore, and there are some convenient amenities available here.

We walked right out to the Watchtower, in light rain and snow, and were greeted by a very warm fire and a very friendly ranger. He gave us some updated info on the weather that was coming and invited us to take a walk around the tower. The winding stairs climb the inside walls of the tower, through petroglyph-style artwork painted all around, with an open center chamber to look down at the main floor. Each level has various windows to see different views of the canyon, until the end, which opens to an observation platform. This is a really interesting building to explore, with a lot of history. Several structures in the park were designed by female architect Mary Colter in the early 1930s, including the Watchtower (1932), and they are all worth taking a closer look at!

Other than the Watchtower, there is a small restaurant, a store with lots of souvenirs and snacks, and bathrooms. We were there at the end of the day, with weather moving in, so nearly everything was closed or closing. We did get to stop in at the Trading Post, which has a lot of great handmade items from Grand Canyon-affiliated Native American tribes, and the nearby Navajo Nation. We really liked the character and uniqueness of items in this store.

We left that east end of the park to get back to the “central” park before the roads got too bad. We enjoyed the light snow and rain as we made our way back to Mather Campground.

Drive to Hermit’s Rest

Going west from the campsite, we had another scenic drive out to Hermit’s Rest. Same as the drive out to Desert View, this road has several places to pull off, park, and enjoy the views. We had on and off rain, and some crazy wind, on the day that we explored this area. There was a lot of jumping out to see the Canyon and jumping back in to get out of the wind or rain. That made for a pretty quick drive out to Hermit’s Rest!

Hermit’s Rest has a delightful welcome sign, built to look like a natural stone structure, also designed by the architect Mary Colter in 1914. There is a stone building that sits at the far west end of the Rim Trail but is also accessible by car with a large parking area. There are some trails in the area, which we enjoyed going for a quick walk on, in a break in the rain. Most importantly, on a cold, rainy day, they have really warm hot cocoa at the souvenir shop! We enjoyed the warm beverages, watching the clouds move in and fill the canyon. It was a very dynamic scene with this weather system moving in over this huge canyon.

We had a slower drive back to our campsite as the rain stopped, and sunset was getting closer. The sky was colorful, and the clouds added some interesting dynamics to the canyon and surrounding areas that we can see. The road even fogged out in a cloud at one point, and with the sun setting on the other side, we were left in a warm, orange cloud fog!

A Snow Day at the Grand Canyon

On what was to be our last day in the park, we woke up very early to an incredible surprise! We popped up the hatch door and everything was covered in snow. It was a winter wonderland outside around our camp van, and it slowed us way down! We wandered all around, watching the animals play in the snow, and playing in the snow ourselves. Eventually, we thought the canyon might be looking pretty cool with all of the snow, so we rolled out of our campsite on uncleared roads, over to the Bright Angel Lodge.

We were wrong… there was no amazing view, but a unique view, for sure! The canyon was completely fogged in! We could see a few trees along the closest edge but lost sight of the canyon just a few feet in Since the weather was being wild, we slowed down and decided to take what the day was giving us. The snow was a welcome treat and being at the canyon with winter weather was a dream coming true for us.

We thought it was a good time to take advantage of some indoor options, and started with a warm breakfast at the Lodge, with a few cups of hot coffee we didn’t have to make out in the cold! Every now and then, a camping trip can turn a little “glampy”! After breakfast, we walked over to the Lookout Studio. They had a great art display with antique cameras and photos from the first explorers of this massive canyon. The display featured some great historical details about the Grand Canyon and those who first explored it, so we naturally had to buy a book to learn more about it at home! The Lookout Studio is built into the rim of the canyon, with rocks that match the canyon, which makes it appear to just grow right out of the canyon wall.

Since we got this extra day in the park, we took advantage of being able to explore the visitor centers and museums, and the chance to take in another sunset over the moody Grand Canyon. We splurged again and had dinner at the Yavapai Lodge. They have a little pub style restaurant that served us good burgers and cold beer!

The next morning, with the roads all clear, it was time to get back home, but first… one more sunrise. We found a pullout on the road towards Hermit’s Rest and put the provided picnic table to use! We grilled up some yummy breakfast burritos with what food we had left and enjoyed watching the sun come up one last time before we departed!

Oh, and the Birds!

Of course, the California Condor was the most desired bird of the trip, and it was absolutely amazing to see TWO of them fly over early in the trip. Other than those big birds, my wish was to also see a Pinyon Jay and a Tufted Titmouse. The Pinyon Jay greeted me the first day in the park, but the Titmouse waited until the very last day and popped out at the last place we stopped! Here are some of the fun birds we saw: