| Address | Near North Rim, AZ 86052 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36.0955, -112.0096 |
| Category | Hiking, Scenic |
| Nearest city | Tusayan |
| Region | Arizona, USA |
| Sources | geonames |
The Howlands Butte Travel Guide
The Howlands Butte is a mountain in Arizona. The nearest service base is Tusayan, roughly 19 km away.
The Howlands Butte at a Glance
- What it is: mountain (travel destination)
- Where it is: Near North Rim, AZ 86052 — coordinates 36.0955, 112.0096
- 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 North Rim, AZ 86052 |
| Nearest city | Tusayan |
| Coordinates | 36.0955, -112.0096 |
| Nearest base town | Tusayan (19 km) |
Why The Howlands Butte Is Worth Visiting
The Howlands Butte earns its place in this guide for a simple reason: it is a verified destination in Arizona,. Its position 19 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 The Howlands Butte
In plain terms, The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte: History & Background
The Howlands Butte, elevation 5,572 feet (1,698 m), is a minor butte in the southeast drainage of the very large Clear Creek drainage. Clear Creek is a medium length flowing creek, just upstream of the major Bright Angel Creek outfall into the Colorado River, Granite Gorge. The Howlands Butte was officially named in 1932 for brothers Seneca and Oramel G. Howland, members of the Powell Geographic Expedition of 1869. Just two days from the expedition's intended destination, the pair and William H. Dunn left the expedition, fearing they could not survive the dangers of the river much longer. They hiked out of the canyon and were never seen again. Separation Rapids on the river is where they departed from Powell.
Lead passage from the Wikipedia article "The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte
What people mean when they call The Howlands 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
The Howlands Butte sits at 36.0955, 112.0096 in Arizona. Most visitors reach it by car, regional rail or local transit; pin the coordinates above rather than only the name - The Howlands 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 19 km (12 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.
The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte comes down to the setting it sits in:
- Arrive with the exact coordinates (36.0955, -112.0096) 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 The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte
Morning (start early). Have breakfast at Tusayan and roll out before mid-morning - the light is softer, parking is open, and The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte, Dunn Butte is only 2 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 Hawkins Butte (2 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 The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte
- Save the pin (36.0955, -112.0096) 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
The Howlands Butte does not sit in isolation - these verified places are all within a short hop and combine into a full loop:
- Dunn Butte — place, about 2 km (1 mi) away
- Hawkins Butte — place, about 2 km (1 mi) away
- Hall Butte — place, about 3 km (2 mi) away
- Brahma Temple — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
- Pattie Butte — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
- Newberry Butte — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
- Newton Butte — place, about 6 km (3 mi) away
- Krishna Shrine — place, about 6 km (3 mi) away
Planning More of Your Trip
See all destinations in Arizona on the Arizona state hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Howlands Butte worth visiting?+
Yes, if you are in the area for more than a single day. The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte?+
The Howlands Butte sits at Near North Rim, AZ 86052, coordinates 36.0955, -112.0096. The postal locality is North Rim - 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 The Howlands Butte from the nearest city?+
The Howlands Butte is about 19 km (12 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 The Howlands 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 The Howlands 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 The Howlands 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 The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte?+
The closest verified neighbour is Dunn 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 The Howlands Butte.
Is The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte in bad weather?+
Rain reshapes rather than ruins the day - viewpoints become cloud-scapes and trails get muddy. Keep The Howlands 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 The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte as a day trip?+
Yes - at a couple of hours on site, a day loop is realistic: morning at The Howlands Butte, one nearby stop, and home by evening. The Perfect Day section above has the hour-by-hour version.
What is The Howlands Butte known for?+
In the wider record, mountain-class place: The Howlands Butte, elevation 5,572 feet (1,698 m), is a minor butte in the southeast drainage of the very large Clear Creek drainage. This guide adds the practical layer - verified coordinates, access, seasonality and what to combine it with.
What is the most beautiful thing about The Howlands Butte?+
The honest short answer is in The Beauty of The Howlands Butte section above, but distilled: what people mean when they call the howlands 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 The Howlands Butte crowded?+
The Howlands 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 The Howlands Butte?+
The sourced background above places documented events for The Howlands Butte around 1932 at the earliest point its article dates; for the full timeline with references, the linked Wikipedia article is the primary trail and this guide keeps the practical travel layer on top of it. ## Source Verification This guide's facts come from official public datasets: [Geonames record 5298959](https://www.geonames.org/5298959). Location data is reviewed in per-state batches before publication.
Nearby destinations
Dunn Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Hawkins Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Hall Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Brahma Temple
Mountain · Arizona
Pattie Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Newberry Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Newton Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Krishna Shrine
Mountain · Arizona