The Toroweap (or Toroweep) overlook is the most exciting place I've visited on the Grand Canyon north rim thus far. It is in the western part of the canyon and can only be reached via 60 miles of dirt road. The first 50-odd miles were very well maintained when we visited but once one enters the national park the road becomes almost unmaintained and a vehicle with good clearance is required.

Beyond the difficulty of access, there are a number of reasons that make this overlook special. It is not at the very top of the rim, which means one is inside the canyon itself as opposed to peering down from above. Thanks to the vertical cliffs one can see the river flowing straight down as opposed to seeing it far in the distance, and the red sandstone layers reach all the way down to the river, which makes for a much more beautiful inner canyon than the black layer in the central part of the grand canyon. Finally, the thrill of being able to walk up right to the edge and peering down is priceless. At that point one is typically standing on a sandstone block that has clearly started to split off from the rest and is getting ready to slide down into the abyss sometime soon--in geological time.

From the parking lot at the end of the road one has to scramble a bit over the rocks to see the views east, south and west. This specific pano looks east (up-river). If you look straight down close to where the river disappears around the turn you can just see 5 little blue boats floating down. They're almost 3000ft (~800m) below you!