The Desert View of the Grand Canyon

Pink Jeep has offered its award-winning guided tours for 50 years and is known as one of the premier must-do adventures in the West. Tours are small and personalised, seating only 7 guests per vehicle for a more comfortable, small group interactive experience so sit back and enjoy the ride! Your chauffeur is also your personal tour guide who will share key facts on the history, wildlife and this magnificent landscape not found in the national parks brochures.

At the beginning of our Grand Canyon tours, your Pink Jeep Wrangler takes you further along the East Rim on Desert View Drive, past the last park shuttle bus stop. You have a front-row seat to twenty-five miles of astounding views of the Grand Canyon. During this drive, your professional tour guide narrates the cultural past of the Native American Hopi tribe who made their home at the Grand Canyon many years ago. Navajo Point is next. Our Grand Canyon tour lookout point offers a choice angle of the Colorado River’s ‘big bend’ area. For even more exclusive views, schedule your tour in the morning to watch the colorful changing patterns on the western cliffs as the sun rises above the canyon. At almost 7,500 feet, Navajo Point is the highest natural spot on the East Rim. You can even see 2,000 feet down the Escalante and Cardenas Buttes, Tanner Canyon and several miles of the Tanner Trail running alongside these buttes.

Next stop is Lipan Point. Lean back as your Pink Jeep Tours vehicle climbs up 80 feet for this lookout point. Even at this height, you can still see the tips of the pine trees thriving along the East Rim. At Lipan Point, you can see below the Seventyfive Mile Creek and its tributaries running beneath a thin ridge connected to Escalante Butte and joining the Colorado River. Downstream of Hance Rapids, you can also see the beginning of the inner canyon gorge where the Colorado River first cuts into the prehistoric Vishnu Schist.

Time to hop out at the Desert View Watchtower. This 70-foot high stone building, also known as the Indian Watchtower at Desert View, looks similar to other structures along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. That’s because the Fred Harvey Company, builder of this watchtower in 1932, also designed Hermit’s Rest and Lookout Studio. It was designed to appear much older than its true age as homage to an Ancient Pueblo Peoples watchtower. So step inside and admire the lively murals inside painted by celebrated Hopi artist Fred Kabotie. After an 85-step climb, get out your cameras for this 360-degree view. You can even see the panorama of the Painted Desert’s flat plains through the windows of this National Historic Landmark.

Moran Point is the perfect place to gaze into the Grand Canyon. If you prefer evening Grand Canyon tours, Moran Point is the best spot along the East Rim to watch the colors of the setting sun dance upon the Grand Canyon cliffs. Watch the whirling waters of the Hakatai Rapids below and try to spot the Sinking Ship. What’s that? Your tour guide has that answer.