CAPE ROYAL SCENIC DRIVE

This paved road begins three miles north of the Grand Canyon Lodge and leads to some of the North Rim’s most spectacular viewpoints. You could easily spend a full day taking in the overlooks and hiking the short trails. Bring water and food for a picnic, as no supplies are available on the drive. Driving distance from Grand Canyon Lodge to Point Imperial is 11 miles one-way and from the lodge to Cape Royal is 23 miles one-way.

Once past the turnoff for Point Imperial, the drive follows the east side of the Walhalla Plateau. You can hike on unmarked former roads to many fine vistas, which you’ll likely have all to yourself. Most of the plateau is open to camping with a backcountry permit, though you’ll have to walk a quarter-mile in from the Cape Royal Road. Staff at the North Rim Backcountry Office can make suggestions and issue backcountry camping permits.

Point Imperial

Here at an elevation of 8,803 feet, you’ll be standing on the Grand Canyon’s highest vantage point reachable by road. You’ll see Nankoweap Creek below, Vermilion Cliffs on the horizon to the north, rounded Navajo Mountain on the horizon in Utah to the northeast, the Painted Desert far to the east, and the Little Colorado River Canyon to the southeast. To get here, follow Cape Royal Road 5.3 miles, then turn left and go 2.7 miles. Picnic tables and restrooms lie under the trees.

Vista Encantada

Continue along the twisting Cape Royal Road past a trailhead for the Ken Patrick Trail and little Greenland Lake onto the Walhalla Plateau and this viewpoint. Picnic tables make it a good lunch spot. The view northeast provides another perspective of the vast Nankoweap drainage and beyond. Drive a little farther south to Roosevelt Point, where you’ll find a .2-mile loop trail from the start of the parking area leading to an overlook with a fine view.

Walhalla Overlook and Walhalla Glades Pueblo

After enjoying the views at the overlook, cross the road and follow a 100-yard trail to the prehistoric pueblo. These ancestral Puebloans, known to archaeologists as Kayenta Anasazi, farmed at least 100 sites on the Walhalla Plateau, mostly near the rim, where warm air currents extended the growing season. The villagers occupied this pueblo (elev. 8,000 feet) about a.d. 1050–1150, probably using it just in summer, then retreating to Unkar Delta (visible from Walhalla Overlook) after the harvests.

Cape Royal and Angels Window

At road’s end, a level paved trail continues south .3 miles from the parking lot to Cape Royal (elev. 7,865 feet) and a fantastic panorama. It’s the southernmost viewpoint of the North Rim in this part of the Grand Canyon. Trailside signs identify plants growing on the high, arid ridge. On the way you’ll see Angels Window, a massive natural arch; a short side trail leads out to the top of it. At Cape Royal, signs point out Freya Castle to the southeast, Vishnu Temple and the distant San Francisco Peaks to the south, and a branch of Clear Creek Canyon and flat-topped Wotans Throne to the southwest.
 You’ll enjoy forest scenery and views across the headwaters of Nankoweap Creek on this trail, best done with a car shuttle starting at Point Imperial so that you’ll be hiking mostly downhill. For a shorter hike, you could follow the first three miles along the rim from Point Imperial, then return the same way. The trail is named for Ken Patrick, who worked as a ranger on the North Rim for several seasons in the early 1970s. He was shot and killed by escaped convicts while on duty at California’s Point Reyes National Seashore in 1973.