Desert View Campground
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- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 2 of the next 2 nights read 16:49 UTC
- A night
- $30From, per site
- Sites
- 5049 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Located on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park at an altitude of 7,463 ft (2,275 m), Desert View Campground is located 23 miles (37 km) to the east of Grand Canyon Village. The Desert View area offers a peaceful setting. Most sites are sized to accommodate tents or smaller RV’s, or vehicles with travel trailers (30 ft./9 m total length). Vehicles over 29' in (8.8 m) total length may not be able to negotiate turns without damaging resources and/or vehicle/trailer. Due to high demand, Desert View Campground requires advanced reservations during its season, usually mid-April to mid-October. Keep reading
You may book reservations up to 6 months in advance. Desert View Campground does not hold back any campsites for first-come, first-served camping during peak season and does not have a wait list or call back system. You may book same day reservations here on Recreation.gov or through the toll-free call center at 1-877-444-6777.
Recreation
Wildlife Viewing Bicycling Photography Star Gazing and Night Sky Events Facilities There are a total of 50 campsites in the Desert View Campground. Most sites can accommodate tents or SMALL RV's or travel Trailers. Sites can not accommodate RV's or travel trailers over 30 ft. maximum length - Front bumper to rear bumper). Limit of six persons; two tents; two-vehicles or one RV/Travel Trailer per site. There are no Group Sites. Affiliated Groups cannot break up into separate sites. Examples of Affiliated Group: clubs, Scouts, organizations, group of friends, large family gatherings. All campsites are dry sites. No utility, water, or sewer hook-ups are available. Each site does have a campfire grill for fires and cooking use and a picnic table. There are two water faucets located within the campground. There are men's, women's, and accessible restrooms in the campground. The restrooms have flushing toilets and sinks (no hot water). Desert View has no showers, laundromat, or dump station. The nearest are at: Mather Campground, in Grand Canyon Village, 26 miles/42 km west of Desert View. A General Store and a Gas Station are in the Desert View area; with limited groceries and firewood.
Natural Features
Desert View Campground lies beneath a mixture of pinyon and juniper trees, providing most campsites with ample shade. The campground is less than 1/2 mile (.8 km) from the rim of the canyon. A visit to the canyon during sunrise and sunset yields spectacular views of yellow, orange, red and violet hues in the canyon walls. Layers of rock display billions of years of geologic history. Campers can take a short walk from the campground to the historic Desert View Watchtower. Visitors can see the mighty Colorado River, which flows 277 miles (446 km) through the bottom of the canyon. Wildlife abounds on the South Rim, including elk, mule deer, coyotes, lizards, songbirds and the endangered California condor. Although condors nest below the rim, they can be seen soaring several thousand feet above the canyon in search of carrion.
Nearby Attractions
Desert View provides one of the widest views of Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert. The Mary Colter's Desert View Watchtower displays this architect's talent. The Desert View area offers an aviation memorial, a trading post and market, and Tusayan Ruin and Museum which provide glimpses into the life of a small Ancestral Puebloan village 800 years ago, all within 5 miles from the campground.
Charges & Cancellations
Reservation adjustments are made online through www.recreation.gov. or by phone (877)444-6777.
What the agency tells you
Reservations required. Due to high demand, Desert View Campground requires advanced reservations during the season from April to October. You may book reservations up to 6 months in advance. Desert View Campground does not hold back any campsites for first-come, first-served camping during peak season and does not have a wait list or call back system.
Sites accommodate tents or small RV's. RV's or travel trailers may not exceed a maximum 30 ft (9 m) total length, measured from the front bumper to the rear bumper of vehicle or trailer. Additionally, a vehicle or combination of tow vehicle and trailer that exceeds 29 feet (8 m) total length may not be able to negotiate turns without damaging resources and/or the vehicle/trailer. In addition, some campsites will NOT accommodate vehicles over 19 feet (5.8 m). Check the site details for each campsite to ensure compatibility with your vehicle(s). Oversize vehicle(s) may be turned away.
There are no sites at Desert View for groups of more than 6 people. Campsites are limited to 6 campers per site. Do not book multiple campsites for the same dates for your group (one campsite per night per individual). Affiliated groups (clubs, scouts, organizations, group of friends, large family gatherings, etc.) may not break up into separate sites. Gatherings of multiple campers from different sites at a single campsite are not permitted as they leads to increased noise and resource damage.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Maximum Stay. There is a 7-day camping limit. Check out is at 11:00 AM.
Pets. Pets are allowed, but must be leashed at all times and may not be left unattended.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 50
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 37 of 50 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - seasonal
- Showers
- None at this campground
- “Desert View has no showers, laundromat, or dump station.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Dump station
- Yes
- Store
- Nearby
- Firewood
- Mentioned
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Night sky · 6th darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 5 days ago, 26 km away
- No change
8 of 98 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:49 UTC
recreation.gov lists 49 of the 50 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 20
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $30 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Reservation adjustments are made online through www.recreation.gov. or by phone (877)444-6777.” · this campground’s own terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:49 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
50 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 49 mapped sitesAll 50 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 49 of the 50 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Desert View | 1 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 87 ft | 2,168 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 10 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 55 ft | 1,780 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 11 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 58 ft | 1,849 ft | $30 |
| Desert View | 12 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 57 ft | 1,742 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 13 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 58 ft | 1,836 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 14 | rv nonelectric | 28 ft | 70 ft | 1,737 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 15 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 60 ft | 1,820 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 16 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 49 ft | 1,726 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 17 | rv nonelectric | 26 ft | 58 ft | 1,811 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 18 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 58 ft | 1,806 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 19 | rv nonelectric | 26 ft | 49 ft | 1,712 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 2 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 55 ft | 2,084 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 20 | rv nonelectric | 26 ft | 84 ft | 1,772 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 21 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 48 ft | 1,699 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 22 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 80 ft | 1,692 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 23 | rv nonelectric | 28 ft | 48 ft | 1,656 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 24 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 79 ft | 1,604 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 25 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 55 ft | 1,547 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 26 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 69 ft | 1,641 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 27 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 55 ft | 1,555 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 28 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 69 ft | 1,656 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 29 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 66 ft | 1,582 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 3 | rv nonelectric | 28 ft | 63 ft | 2,071 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 30 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 57 ft | 1,686 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 31 | rv nonelectric | 18 ft | 66 ft | 1,612 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 32 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 55 ft | 1,655 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 33 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 55 ft | 1,725 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 34 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 86 ft | 1,778 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 35 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | 55 ft | 1,668 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 36 | rv nonelectric | 28 ft | 82 ft | 1,714 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 37 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 58 ft | 1,836 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 38 | rv nonelectric | 26 ft | 86 ft | 1,771 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 39 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 90 ft | 1,833 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 4 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 55 ft | 2,035 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 40 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 52 ft | 1,867 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 41 | rv nonelectric | 26 ft | 52 ft | 1,906 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 42 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 91 ft | 1,917 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 43 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 61 ft | 1,973 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 44 | rv nonelectric | 26 ft | 87 ft | 2,001 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 45 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 58 ft | 2,025 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 46 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 94 ft | 2,113 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 47 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 52 ft | 2,082 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 48 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 100 ft | 2,186 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 49 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 52 ft | 2,105 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 5 | rv nonelectric | 28 ft | 83 ft | 1,986 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 50 | type not stated | 30 ft | 2,249 ft | |||
| Desert View | 6 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 62 ft | 1,916 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 7 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 63 ft | 1,980 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 8 | rv nonelectric | 28 ft | 58 ft | 1,872 ft | $30 | |
| Desert View | 9 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 63 ft | 1,933 ft | $30 |
25 of 50 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Hull CabinGrand Canyon Preserve National Game Refuge · 8.5 mi
Trailer Village RV Park - South RimGrand Canyon National Park · 16 mi
Mather CampgroundGrand Canyon National Park · 17 mi
North Rim Campground (AZ)Grand Canyon National Park · 18 mi
Tusayan - MontaneKaibab National Forest · 18 mi
DemotteGrand Canyon Preserve National Game Refuge · 31 miThe Desert View Campground is located in the Desert View Area; 23 miles (37 km) to the east of Grand Canyon Village and 28 miles west of Cameron; near the Desert View Gas Station.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Grand Canyon Village, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 33°F, day 56°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 17°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Desert View Campground is in Arizona’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Eli Crane (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →