Kachina & Thunderbird Lodges

Grand Canyon National Park South Rim


These institutional-looking lodges, built in the 1960s, sit steps away from the canyon rim, the historic charms of El Tovar, and the Bright Angel Trail. Location, location, location! Though amazingly ugly on the outside, inside the rooms are bright, modern and comfortable, and canyonside rooms offer fantastic views of the Rim Trail and canyon beyond.

If staying at Kachina, check-in at El Tovar; if staying at Thunderbird, check in at Bright Angel Lodge.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Grand Canyon National Park South Rim attractions

1. Grand Canyon Village Historic District

0.08 MILES

The South Rim's historic district is comprised of several early-20th-century national historic landmarks clustered along and around the rim between Hermit…

2. El Tovar

0.1 MILES

Built in 1905 as a railroad hotel, El Tovar was designed by Charles Whittlesey as a blend of Swiss chalet and the more rustic style that would come to…

3. Bright Angel Lodge

0.11 MILES

Commissioned by the Fred Harvey Company, designed by Mary Colter and completed in 1935, the log-and-stone Bright Angel Lodge offered canyon travelers…

4. Fred Harvey History Room

0.11 MILES

Fred Harvey's Harvey Company opened the first Harvey House in 1876 in Topeka, Kansas. In the following decades Harvey, in collaboration with the Atchison,…

5. Grand Canyon Train Depot

0.13 MILES

This train depot, designed by Francis Wilson and completed in 1910, was built nine years after the first train arrived in the Village from Williams. A…

6. Hopi House

0.13 MILES

A beautiful Mary Colter–designed stone building, Hopi House has been offering high-quality American Indian jewelry, basketwork, pottery and other crafts…

7. Verkamp’s Visitor Center

0.19 MILES

The arrival of the railroad in 1901 opened up the canyon to more and more tourists, and in 1905 John G Verkamp opened the Mission-style Verkamp’s Curios…

8. Lookout Studio

0.21 MILES

Like Mary Colter's other canyon buildings, Lookout Studio was modeled after stone dwellings of the Southwest Pueblo American Indians. Made of rough-cut…