Desert View is where the canyon seems to change its character. At the eastern end of the South Rim road, the walls are lower, the river is visible as a green-brown ribbon far below, and the view opens to the north and east across the Painted Desert, a country of banded red and lilac mesas that fades away toward the horizon. The rim here is around seventy-five hundred feet, and the air is thin, dry and bright.
The landmark is the Watchtower, a seventy-foot stone tower finished in 1932 and designed by Mary Colter, who modelled it on the ancestral Puebloan towers of the Southwest. Inside, the walls are painted with murals by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie, and a spiral stair climbs to a window with a splendid view. It is a remarkable building to find on the edge of a precipice, and it deserves a few minutes, even if you have already had your fill of viewpoints. Next to it, a trading post sells Native American crafts and snacks.
The road that brings you here, Desert View Drive, runs for around twenty-five miles from the village, through pine forest, past one viewpoint after another, with the canyon opening up and closing again through the trees. It is a leisurely ride, easy on the bike and the nerves, but heavy with tourist traffic in summer, when cars slow down to look. Late afternoon, with low light and the rock turning orange and rose, is one of the best times to be at this end of the park. Beyond the east gate, the road drops to the Navajo Nation and the high desert.
The Navajo craft stalls just outside the gate are good for jewellery and pottery. Temperatures at the rim are mild for the desert, though still hot in July, and winter nights are cold, with snow possible. The sunsets are famously beautiful, with colour changing every few minutes, and the stars after dark are extraordinary.