Campground · Grand Canyon National Park
Camp among junipers, then walk to the rim for sunrise.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Grand Canyon Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Grand Canyon National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Grand Canyon audio tourRecorded for this place
Desert View Watchtower“Desert View is coming up, with the stone watchtower Mary Colter designed in nineteen thirty-two. Allow time for the quarter-mile walk from parking, then explore the building as well as the rim.”
Plays as you drive up to Desert View Campground in the Parkwolf Grand Canyon Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Desert View Campground is a 49-site campground in the park's East Entrance settlement, about 23 miles east of Grand Canyon Village along Desert View Drive. It makes a quieter South Rim base, with the rim viewpoints a short walk from camp. Camping is seasonal, and sites require reservations; no sites are held for walk-ups, so plan ahead.
Each campsite has a picnic table and fire ring or cooking grill, with a paved spur for vehicles. Tents and small RVs or trailers fit, but the combined vehicle-and-trailer length is limited to 30 feet. There are no hookups, showers, dump station or laundry. During the operating season, the campground has flush toilets and potable water, plus two accessible sites near the restrooms and some wheelchair-accessible tables.
A seasonal camper store at the gas station carries drinks, snacks, groceries and basic camping supplies. The nearby general store sells camp supplies, ice and firewood; the trading post has coffee and ice cream.
The sites sit among junipers, not on the canyon rim. Take the short walk to a viewpoint for the South Rim; campers especially value the easy sunrise and sunset access. The setting can feel quieter than Grand Canyon Village, though neighbor noise and generators sometimes carry between sites.
Wildlife
718 sightingsCalifornia CondorMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
533 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
169 sightingsAmerican BisonMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,891 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
59 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
27 sightingsGray FoxMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Grand Canyon. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingTanner Trail9 mi · 7 hr · 1.7 mi awayA rough historic descent into the canyon’s wide, colorful east end.
EasyTusayan Pueblo Self-guiding Trail0.1 mi · 20 min · 3 mi awayA quick loop around an ancestral Pueblo village and kiva.
EasyUnkar Delta Loop0.9 mi · 45 min · 4 mi awayA short river loop passes ten ancestral Puebloan sites.
ChallengingBeamer Trail9.1 mi · 8 hr · 4.4 mi awayNine exposed miles to where the Little Colorado meets the Colorado.
ChallengingEscalante Route12 mi · 12 hr · 4.4 mi awayA 12-mile river traverse with exposed ledges and a Papago Wall climb.
Gas station · 0.2 mi awayDesert View Gas StationFill up here before the next pump, 30 miles down the road.
Store · 0.3 mi awayDesert View Market & DeliQuick groceries, deli food and camping basics at Desert View.
Store · 0.3 mi awayDesert View Trading Post and Ice CreamA canyon-facing scoop after browsing handmade crafts.
Sight · 0.4 mi awayDesert View WatchtowerColter’s stone tower frames the Colorado River from the South Rim.
Entrance station · 0.5 mi awayDesert View Entrance StationEastern gate to Desert View, often less crowded than the South Entrance.
Sight · 0.8 mi awayNavajo PointSouth Rim's highest overlook, with river views and an aviation memorial.
Sight · 1.7 mi awayLipan PointThe South Rim's longest look along the Colorado River.
Scenic pullout · 2.1 mi awayNo Name PointA quick stop for a far-reaching northward canyon view.Parkwolf’s Grand Canyon ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
