| Address | Near Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36.0461, -112.0293 |
| Category | Hiking, Scenic |
| Nearest city | Tusayan |
| Region | Arizona, USA |
| Sources | geonames |
Lyell Butte Travel Guide
Lyell Butte is a mountain in Arizona. The nearest service base is Tusayan, roughly 13 km away.
Lyell Butte at a Glance
- What it is: mountain (travel destination)
- Where it is: Near Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 — coordinates 36.0461, 112.0293
- Why it is listed: a source-verified entry in the CollabsTravel master database, matched against official gazetteer and geographic records before publication
- Time needed: a couple of hours
- Best season: May to September
Quick Facts
| Place type | Mountain |
| Also good for | Hiking, Scenic |
| Region / state | Arizona |
| Postal address | Near Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 |
| Nearest city | Tusayan |
| Coordinates | 36.0461, -112.0293 |
| Nearest base town | Tusayan (13 km) |
Why Lyell Butte Is Worth Visiting
Lyell Butte earns its place in this guide for a simple reason: it is a verified destination in Arizona,. Its position 13 km from Tusayan also makes it an easy add-on rather than a detour that costs half a day. Visitors book it for hiking, scenic as much as for destination. And unlike listicle recommendations, everything on this page - coordinates, category, sources - was checked against official records before publication.
About Lyell Butte
In plain terms, Lyell Butte is a mountain in the Arizona area of Arizona that travellers book around destination trips. Beyond its main draw, the record tags it for hiking, scenic too, so it rewards more than one kind of visit. Functionally it belongs to Tusayan - the town most maps and locals will reference when describing how to reach it. Everything stated on this page comes from that verified record; where background history is quoted, the source is named at the end of the section.
The Story of Lyell Butte: History & Background
Lyell Butte is a 5,362-foot (1,634 m) elevation summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, United States. It is situated six miles (9.7 km) east of Grand Canyon Village, immediately east of and below Shoshone Point, and 1.5 mile southeast of Newton Butte, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Topographic relief is significant as Lyell Butte rises 2,800 feet (850 m) above the Colorado River in 1.5 mile (2.4 km). Access is via the Tonto Trail which traverses the base of the peak. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Lyell Butte is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone, with precipitation runoff draining northeast to the Colorado River via Grapevine and Boulder Creeks.
Lead passage from the Wikipedia article "Lyell Butte", reused under CC BY-SA 4.0 with a coordinate-verified name match; the source article carries the full referenced history.
The Beauty of Lyell Butte
What people mean when they call Lyell Butte beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. The light does most of the work: mid-latitude light gives the place two looks: clean blue summer noon and a low amber angle in spring and autumn. The seasons restyle everything around it - each season repaints it - plan the visit around the colour you want in your photos. And the beauty compounds with context: with 8 other verified places nearby, the Arizona area reads as one continuous landscape rather than a single viewpoint, which is worth more than any filter on the photos you take here.
Getting There
Lyell Butte sits at 36.0461, 112.0293 in Arizona. Most visitors reach it by car, regional rail or local transit; pin the coordinates above rather than only the name - Lyell Butte names repeat across regions, and rural entries often lack street addresses.
Base yourself in Tusayan and make this a half-day trip; services, fuel and lodging are easiest there. The run from Tusayan is about 13 km (8 mi) each way, so allow Tusayan as your anchor for the day.
Best Time to Visit
the desert Southwest runs hot from June to September, so spring (March–May) and fall (September–November) are the most comfortable months for hiking and outdoor plans.
Lyell Butte Season by Season
- Summer (Jun-Aug) - peak season: the warmest, longest days and everything open, which also makes it the priciest and busiest window
- Autumn (Sep-Nov) - shoulder season: crowds drain away, the light turns photographic, and lodging rates typically fall
- Winter (Dec-Feb) - off-season: cheapest beds and empty viewpoints, but check for closures, snow or rain before committing
- Spring (Mar-May) - rebuild season: wildflowers, newborn wildlife and reopened facilities - the best balance if the weather holds
Things to Do
Planning what to actually do at Lyell Butte comes down to the setting it sits in:
- Arrive with the exact coordinates (36.0461, -112.0293) pinned in your maps app — rural place names repeat across states
- Give the site one unhurried hour before adding anything else to the day
- Pair it with the nearest named attraction on this page to make a full loop
- Chain the stop with what is nearby — see the list below before fixing your day route
None of this needs a rigid schedule - the honest pattern at Lyell Butte is one anchor at the nearest anchor town, one longer stop, and the rest of the time left for whatever looks better from the car window. That flexibility is what separates a good half-day from a rushed one.
A Perfect Day in Lyell Butte
Morning (start early). Have breakfast at Tusayan and roll out before mid-morning - the light is softer, parking is open, and Lyell Butte is at its quietest before the day-trippers arrive. Give the main stop its full due first rather than saving it for later.
Midday. From Lyell Butte, Newton Butte is only 3 km away - pair the two rather than driving home for lunch; a picnic beats a reservation near most of these spots.
Afternoon. Keep going to Pattie Butte (4 km) if the group still has legs; it is the standard second half of this loop.
Golden hour. End at the main viewpoint, waterfront or main street as the light drops; this is the hour Lyell Butte is genuinely famous for locally, and it costs nothing.
Evening. Sleep at Tusayan unless the road out is long - leaving at dusk is the one mistake that can flatten an otherwise perfect day.
Know Before You Go to Lyell Butte
- Save the pin (36.0461, -112.0293) offline - reception in Arizona is exactly as good as it needs to be and no better
- Check the official source listed at the bottom of this page for current hours, fees and closures before driving out
- Visit on weekdays: at most verified spots weekends triple the local traffic
- Bring the basics - water, layers, power bank - because facilities at this kind of place are self-service
Nearby Places Worth Combining
Lyell Butte does not sit in isolation - these verified places are all within a short hop and combine into a full loop:
- Newton Butte — place, about 3 km (2 mi) away
- Pattie Butte — place, about 4 km (2 mi) away
- Hawkins Butte — place, about 4 km (3 mi) away
- Dunn Butte — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
- Horseshoe Mesa — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
- Newberry Butte — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
- The Howlands Butte — place, about 6 km (4 mi) away
- Hall Butte — place, about 6 km (4 mi) away
Planning More of Your Trip
See all destinations in Arizona on the Arizona state hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lyell Butte worth visiting?+
Yes, if you are in the area for more than a single day. Lyell Butte is a verified mountain in Arizona that most drive-by lists miss, and the official-record provenance behind this page means the location, name and access facts are checked rather than guessed. Give it a couple of hours.
Where exactly is Lyell Butte?+
Lyell Butte sits at Near Grand Canyon, AZ 86023, coordinates 36.0461, -112.0293. The postal locality is Grand Canyon - use the coordinates rather than the name alone, because place names repeat across regions and a map pin beats a keyword search.
How far is Lyell Butte from the nearest city?+
Lyell Butte is about 13 km (8 mi) from Tusayan, which is an easy out-and-back day trip - most visitors base themselves in Tusayan and make the run in well under an hour each way.
What is the best time to visit Lyell Butte?+
May to September. Book the shoulder months either side of that window for the same scenery at lower prices, and check seasonal closures before fixing dates.
How long do you need at Lyell Butte?+
Plan on a couple of hours for a first visit - the highlights at a normal pace without rushing. Add another half day if you want to combine it with the nearby places listed above.
Is Lyell Butte good for families with kids?+
It works with kids who have patience for the setting; judge it by your shortest-attention traveller and keep the visit to the first highlight.
Does Lyell Butte cost anything to visit?+
Most public places like this have no entry fee, but parking, guided programs and seasonal shuttles are the usual small costs. Confirm current fees with the official source cited on this page - they change more often than guidebooks do.
What is near Lyell Butte?+
The closest verified neighbour is Newton Butte; the nearby list above has the full set with distances, and combining two or three of them is the standard way to fill a day around Lyell Butte.
Is Lyell Butte open to visitors, and do you need a permit?+
Public places listed here are visitable by default; the permit exceptions are usually specific activities (backcountry camping, drones, commercial photography) rather than the visit itself. Check the cited official source for anything activity-based.
Should you visit Lyell Butte in bad weather?+
Rain reshapes rather than ruins the day - viewpoints become cloud-scapes and trails get muddy. Keep Lyell Butte as a fair-weather item on your trip and swap in the covered alternatives from the regional list when the forecast turns.
What makes Lyell Butte different from other places like it?+
Its exact combination: a mountain in Arizona with verified coordinates and, where listed, an official designation. The difference is usually the setting and the access pattern rather than the category label - the facts table on this page shows that specifically.
Can you visit Lyell Butte as a day trip?+
Yes - at a couple of hours on site, a day loop is realistic: morning at Lyell Butte, one nearby stop, and home by evening. The Perfect Day section above has the hour-by-hour version.
What is Lyell Butte known for?+
In the wider record, mountain-class place: Lyell Butte is a 5,362-foot (1,634 m) elevation summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, United States. This guide adds the practical layer - verified coordinates, access, seasonality and what to combine it with.
What is the most beautiful thing about Lyell Butte?+
The honest short answer is in The Beauty of Lyell Butte section above, but distilled: what people mean when they call lyell butte beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. Come for the light and the setting rather than a single checklist object.
Is Lyell Butte crowded?+
Lyell Butte sits below the headline-name tier in its region, so crowding is an event-and-weekend problem rather than a standing one. Weekday mornings in the shoulder season are the quietest version of the visit.
What is the history of Lyell Butte?+
The History & Background section above quotes the coordinate-verified Wikipedia lead for Lyell Butte, which is the shortest trustworthy path into its past - dates, name origin and the events that shaped it, with the full referenced article linked there. ## Source Verification This guide's facts come from official public datasets: [Geonames record 5303353](https://www.geonames.org/5303353). Location data is reviewed in per-state batches before publication.
Nearby destinations
Newton Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Pattie Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Hawkins Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Dunn Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Horseshoe Mesa
Mountain · Arizona
Newberry Butte
Mountain · Arizona
The Howlands Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Hall Butte
Mountain · Arizona