It was built as a rest area for tourists on coaches operated by the Fred Harvey Company on the way to the now-vanished Hermit Camp.

[4] Hermits Rest stands a few feet from the rim of the Grand Canyon, partly buried in an earth mound.

The structure is approached by a path that passes (and originally ran through) a stone arch decorated with a broken bell that Colter salvaged from a Spanish mission in New Mexico.

A small porch supported by peeled log posts stands to one side of the outside observation area that overlooks the canyon rim.

Colter, when kidded by AT&SF executives about the dark, antique-looking interior, retorted "you can't imagine what it cost to make it look this old.