Lyell Butte
A layered limestone summit rising above the Tonto Trail, named for a 19th-century geologist.
About
Lyell Butte is a 5,362-foot summit deep in the canyon east of Grand Canyon Village, sitting just below and east of Shoshone Point and about 1.5 miles southeast of Newton Butte. It's not a hike in the maintained-trail sense — the Tonto Trail passes along its base, but reaching the butte itself means leaving the trail and working through bands of Supai sandstone toward a Redwall Limestone saddle below the summit. From there the peak shows a western prow capped by an overhanging band roughly 40 feet high, with a third-class scramble route on the northeast face used by the handful of climbers who visit.
What it's built of
Like most Grand Canyon buttes, Lyell Butte is a layer-cake of the canyon's geology: Redwall Limestone forms the cliffs, topped by a dome of Supai Group rock, with Cambrian Tonto Group and the ancient Vishnu basement rocks exposed lower down toward the Colorado River, which lies about 2,800 feet below the summit. The butte was named in 1906 for the Scottish geologist Sir Charles Lyell. Most visitors will only ever see it from a distance — it's a feature to pick out from Shoshone Point or Grandview Point on the South Rim, not a destination to walk to.
Best Time to View It
Shoshone Point and Grandview Point are accessible year-round, so timing follows your broader South Rim visit rather than a season specific to this formation.
Good to Know
- The butte was named in 1906 for the Scottish geologist Sir Charles Lyell.
- From the summit, a western prow capped by an overhanging band roughly 40 feet high offers a third-class scramble route on the northeast face used by the handful of climbers who visit.
- The Colorado River lies about 2,800 feet below the summit — a sense of the scale involved for anyone considering the climb.
Seeing Lyell Butte
Most visitors will only ever see it from a distance — it's a feature to pick out from Shoshone Point or Grandview Point on the South Rim, not a destination to walk to.
What You're Looking At: Lyell Butte
Lyell Butte is a 5,362-foot summit deep in the canyon east of Grand Canyon Village, sitting just below and east of Shoshone Point and about 1.5 miles southeast of Newton Butte. It's not a hike in the maintained-trail sense — the Tonto Trail passes along its base, but reaching the butte itself means leaving the trail and working through bands of Supai sandstone toward a Redwall Limestone saddle below the summit.
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