It is nine miles west of El Tovar to the head of Hermit Trail on the new Hermit Rim Road, and about three and one-half hours are required for the trip in addition to whatever time is consumed in sightseeing at the various points on which stops are made.

The road passes Maricopa, Hopi, Mohave and Pima Points, and some time is spent on each, as there is some special appeal in the buttes and the cliffs and the depths as seen from each, but all along the route the gigantic panorama of Grand Canyon stretches for miles and miles--a world of beauty; all along the route the attention is claimed by some surprising feature,--the precipices of the opposite wall, the great interior rock temples, and side canyons, and everywhere the incomparable colors.

A picturesque shelter house is to be constructed at the end of the road, which is near the head of Hermit Trail, where visitors driving on the Rim Road may rest before returning to El Tovar or before starting down the trail.

On the return journey the scene is entirely different, owing to the magic of the sun's shadows, which have changed the aspect of every wall and chasm and temple--whether in the gorge below, or across the river and up the side canyons to the Kaibab Plateau on the north rim, and from October to May, during the shorter days, if the return is made late in the afternoon a stop will be made at Hopi Point, one of the best points on the south rim from which to watch the glories of the setting sun.