Hermit Road

Hermit Road follows the South Rim for 7 miles west from the Grand Canyon Village Historic District to Hermits Rest and the Hermit Trailhead, with nine designated viewpoints along the way. For nine months of the year you can't drive it. From March 1 to November 30 it is closed to private vehicles, and the free Hermit Road (Red) Route shuttle carries visitors instead. In December, January and February the road opens to private vehicles under 22 feet long, and there is no shuttle.

The shuttle starts at the Hermit Road Transfer Station at the west end of the village and stops at every viewpoint on the way out. On the way back it stops only at Hermits Rest, Pima, Mohave and Powell points. The round trip takes 80 minutes without getting off.

The viewpoints each show something different. Trailview Overlook looks down on the Bright Angel Trail switchbacking into the canyon and back at the village. Maricopa Point overlooks the former Orphan Lode Mine, a claim staked in 1891 that later produced uranium until 1967. Powell Point has a memorial to John Wesley Powell's river expeditions of 1869 and 1871-72. Hopi and Mohave points are popular for sunset and sunrise and bring the Colorado River into view. The Abyss gives an almost vertical view down into the Monument Creek drainage, and at Pima Point you can sometimes hear Granite Rapids far below on a quiet day.

Hermits Rest, at the end, was built by the architect Mary Colter in 1914 to look like an old miner's cabin, with a huge fireplace and a front porch. It now has a gift shop, snack bar and restrooms. The Hermit Trail, steep and unmaintained, starts about half a mile west.

You can also walk or cycle. The Rim Trail runs 7.8 miles beside the road, paved in places and dirt in others, and from Monument Creek Vista to Hermits Rest the paved Greenway Trail is open to hikers, cyclists and wheelchair users and follows much of the road's 1912 alignment. Using the shuttle one way lets you walk any stretch. NPS says shuttle service may be suspended in bad weather.

As of November 2026 the fall shuttle schedule runs through November 30, with the first bus at 8 am and the last one hour after sunset. NPS took public comment until November 6, 2026 on ways to reduce the visual impact of a replacement water tank installed at Hermits Rest in 2022.