Grand Canyon Lodge

True to its original design, the Grand Canyon Lodge is a community of rustic overnight log cabins — a total of 80 — with a day lodge as the centerpiece.

The dining room features six floor to ceiling windows for spectacular view of the canyon. The ceiling rises approximately 30 feet and the peaks are surrounded by limestone walls.

The timbers in the lodge structure are ponderosa pine — harvested from an area about 70 miles from the lodge. The artwork on the timbers reflect the Native petroglyphs that are seen throughout the area.

"The architect's vision was really to bring people up to the lodge, and have them leave their buses and come into the front entrance of the lodge, into the lobby, without seeing the Grand Canyon," said Tom Carter, National Park Service. "And then they saw this light emanating out of a lower room and saw huge windows there. So they went down the stairs and then they went out into this, what we call the sunroom, and all of a sudden — boom — there it was." The Sunroom features three large picture windows frame the canyon like an enormous piece of art. its mesas and formations seeming a continuous painting split into three murals on the walls of the lodge.

The verandas, on the east and west side, are a gathering place for guests to view the sunset and sunrise.