Recently some friends visited northern Arizona and we gave them the quick, one-day tour of Grand Canyon National Park. We visited many of the easily accessible overlooks as well as a few that required some hiking which gave us some moments of solitude. The canyon is spectacular, but on this day I was more intrigued with photographing the interior of the Desert View Watchtower.

The Desert View Watchtower was the last of the series of Mary Colter-designed visitor concession structures at Grand Canyon National Park and was designed to resemble the Ancient Pueblo Peoples watchtowers found at Hovenweep National Monument and Mesa Verde National Monument. From the tower there are majestic views of the North Rim, South Rim, and East Rim as well as some of the better views of the Colorado River below as it turns westward.

The tower rises as an open shaft lined by circular balconies overlooking the central space and the interior walls contain many murals, including this one by Fred Kabotie. Many other petroglyph-style decorations art adorn the walls.

Looking up…and down…gives a grand sense of the structure.