Desert View Campground — Grand Canyon National Park

Desert View in Grand Canyon NP: This area is much less busy than the South Rim. Pretty views, but no trails down into the canyon. Ask the host for information for the short Sunrise Tr. It is only a short walk to the Tower. (71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 4 Price 2024: $ w interagency pass Security: No Usage during visit: Full over Memorial Day Site Privacy: Partially obstructed w vegetation - many outside sites Site Spacing: Many outside sites are nicely spaced. Pad surface: Blacktop Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: Very quiet Outside Road Noise: No Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: Yes, there are 2 spigots. Generators: Allowed only during wry specific hours. Bathroom: Very clean flush toilets Showers: No Pull Throughs: Some of the better sites are. Cell Service (AT&T): intermittent Setting: Pine and juniper forest Recent Weather: Very sunny and warm during the day. Solar: We had a nice afternoon window for our fixed panels. Insects: None Host: Yes Sites: Roger’s favorites: pull through numbers: 46,48 – right next to the Sunrise Trail. , 42 39,25, 22, Back ins: 44 , 25, 27,24*, 20

Great location to enjoy the east side of Grand Canyon NP.  There is a fantastic trail right from the campground for unbelievable views and no crowds.  Trail is unmarked but easy to find and follow.  The edge of the canyon is right there, so caution is warranted for young kids and pets. 

Campground hosts had left for the season, but the friendly Park Rangers filled in and did a  great job, going above the call of duty keeping the older restrooms super clean.  We appreciate you! 

Would have given 5 stars, but there were quiet hour issues as campers ran their generators during the middle of the night and there were multiple late night arrivals or 4 am departures.  Otherwise, the night skies were amazing and lows in the 30s made for great campfires and sleeping.

This is an older smaller campground.  It is not a fit for most RV's, but great for vans, truck campers, small trailers, and tents.  It is within walking distance of the watch tower and east visitor center (long walk or very short drive). 

We will visit again when we want to enjoy the wonder of the Grand Canyon without the crowds.

Busy but quiet campground, just a 5-minute walk from the rim of the Grand Canyon and a 10-minute walk to the Desert View Watchtower. Inner loop sites are very close together, would be great to book adjacent sites if you are traveling with a group or large family. If you don’t like people, reserve a site on the outer loop between 22-44. Only one set of bathrooms, but they’re clean and well-stocked. Sink for washing dishes behind restrooms. BYO dish soap. Camp host is very friendly and helpful. Watch out for ravens — they will steal anything resembling food. We lost two scrubbing sponges because we left them out to dry and ravens stole them.

We had site 8, which I would not recommend unless you like being very close to the restrooms. I prefer more solitude. Too much foot traffic and people walking through our campsite.

If you bring your dogs, please keep an eye on them and make sure they are secured in your tent or camper at night. There are coyotes.

Each site has a fire pit and picnic table. BYO firewood but if you need more, they sell it at the Market by the watchtower for $6.98/bundle at the time of this writing.

Do not miss the sunrise over the canyon! There is a short trail between sites 46/48 that takes you right to the rim. Beautiful, quiet campsite that is the perfect location and home base for your GC adventure!

We camped here in mid June and loved the campsite!

We stayed in site 45 for one night but accidentally reserved a day off from our plans. We were able to reserve a nearby site for the 2nd night and moved our tents over that morning. 

The sites were both great for 2 x 2 person tents. There were no fires allowed and the fire pits had caution tape on them. The tent spots were flat and well maintained. While you are close enough to see other campers people were never too noticeable. We found that a lot of people were gone by 5 AM but were not loud enough to wake us up. 

The real highlight of this area of the campground is that there is a trail that takes you to the rim of the grand canyon. The view there was awesome. We took night sky pictures and came back there for sun-rise. The view makes the campground awesome. 

Unfortunately there is only 1 bathroom and the water is near that. It was a bit of a walk each time we had to go. Not awful, but I've definitely been to campgrounds that had closer water.

The host was nice, but we didn't see him much. 

We hiked the South Kaibab Trail to Cedar Ridge on our 1st morning. We really recommend getting up early for this hike as the shade was really helpful. Hiking into the canyon kicked our butts a bit. Bring lots of water!

As far as weather, June was great. It was cool enough to sleep at night and pleasant during the day.

We camped at Desert View in April. We were originally hoping to book at Mather Campground, but it was totally booked for the dates we wanted. Desert View does not accept reservations, so we decided we’d head over early and try and snag a site. We got to the campground at about 12 pm on a Friday afternoon, and there were plenty of sites available. Camping at Desert View ended up being one of the best decisions we made for our Grand Canyon trip. Although it’s farther from some of the major attractions, it’s also really quiet, and the canyon views are spectacular.

At the time of our visit, my husband was recovering from a leg injury. Instead of hiking into the canyon with me and the kids, he stayed behind at the campground. He found a little trail that he could walk on with his crutches (between sites 46 and 48). He was able to walk to the edge of the canyon and relax under a tree for the whole afternoon without seeing a soul.

The Desert View General Store is within walking distance and sells food, along with a great selection of local wine and beer. The Desert View Watchtower, also walking distance from the campground, is incredibly beautiful. Beware of sneaky ravens who will steal your food the minute you leave it unattended.

Campsite Review:

When I started planning our trip to the Grand Canyon, I knew I wanted to camp somewhere close to the canyon. You can't get much closer than this. This campground is located on the south eastern rim of the canyon, and is only about 200-300 yards from the canyon. (as the crow flies)

There aren't any hookups at the sites but there are flush restrooms available. If you want to shower, you'll have to go to the other campground in the area (Mather Campground). There are no reservations for this site, and is first-come first-served only. The sites typically fill up by around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, but when we were there in June the sites were full by 10 am.

Most of the individuals who where camping there were in tents, but the sites have access to campers/RVs that are 30ft or less (truck and trailer)

We loved the few nights we had there, and nothing beats waking up and walking over to the canyon to see the sunrise. Definitely a must camp.

For a video of this review click here.

Product Review:

As a Ranger for TheDyrt, I occasionally get products to test, and on this I trip was able to test out Green Goo's Dry Skin products. During the summers my hands and feet really dry out from being outside so much and wearing sandals. Typically, by around the middle of June my feet have already begun to crack and split, which is both annoying and painful.

I was excited to try out the Dry Skin products from Green Goo, hoping that these would keep my feet and hands from cracking on our road trip, but I started off wrong. My problem was that I waited to put the Dry Skin on my feet after they had already begun to split. So, the lotion didn't work as well as I wished. Next time I'll definitely need to start using the lotion as a preventative instead of it being the problem solver.

For an extended video about this product click here.

Camping with the GO: Day 4

During our road trip around the US, I was able to try out the GO camper from SylvanSport. This was the 4th night camping the GO and we are still finding out little things that we love about this camper. Today it was the maneuverability of the GO. When we got to the site we were having trouble getting the GO exactly where we wanted it while it was hooked to the Jeep, but once we unhooked it we were able to steer it exactly into position with no fuss.