Toroweap Overlook

Parks › Arizona › Grand Canyon › Points of Interest
CONTENTS

The View from Toroweap Overlook,
3000 vertical feet above the Colorado River, is breathtaking; the sheer drop, dramatic! Equally impressive are the volcanic features, cinder cones and lava flows, which make this viewpoint unique in Grand Canyon National Park. Renowned Lava Falls Rapid is just downriver and can easily be seen and heard from the overlook.

Toroweap, a Paiute term meaning "dry or barren valley," refers to many local features, including the geologic formation and fault, the valley, and the overlook. Tuweep came into use to describe the local white settlement and later the park district. Tuweep in Paiute refers to "the earth," but this place name may be derived from a longer Paiute word meaning "long valley."

A visit to this area can be challenging, but rewarding. Since the National Park Service manages the area for its primitive values, improvements and services are minimal.

Directions

Sunshine Route (BLM road #109), the primary access route, leaves Highway 389 about seven miles/12km west of Fredonia. It is 61 miles /100 km long and is the most reliable route, but is subject to washboarding and dust.
Clayhole Route (BLM Road #5) leaves Highway 389 at Colorado City. It is also about 60 miles /100 km long, but may be impassable when wet.
Main Street Route (BLM Roads #1069 and #5) from St. George is about 90 miles/145 km long and is the most scenic route. It may be impassable in winter due to snow on the slopes of Mt. Trumbull.