Isis Temple is about 5 mi (8.0 km) directly north of Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim, Grand Canyon; the Village is the west terminus of Arizona Route 64 (East Rim Drive), and north terminus of U.S. 180, from Valle, Arizona, and Williams (about 58 mi (93 km) south).

The Shinumo Quartzite forms the cliff-base of Isis Temple, with highly erodable units forming the slopes below, the colorful, yellows, reds, and purplish colors from the Hakatai Shale, above the bottom Unkar Group member, Bass Formation-(in other photos shown as a well-bedded, grayish, multi-layered member, sitting on Vishnu Basement Rocks, at the top of Middle Granite Gorge).

From the south, three colorful slope-forming sections below the Shinumo Quartzite cliffs can be observed from a distance, one each below Isis Temple and Cheops Pyramid; a lower prominence has the third slope directly upon Granite Gorge, with the intersection of Bright Angel Creek/Canyon, located at the southeast section of the uplifted fault-block, that Isis Temple and Cheops Pyramid are part of.

In the Tapeats Sea, the marine transgression sequence of sandstone-(conglomerates)-shale-limestone found two 'mountain island' members, the Cardenas Basalt (sections), and the Shinumo Quartzite, as erosion resistant 'prominences'.

Only the Bright Angel Shale and Muav Limestone were deposited above the 'mountain island' prominences; Tapeats Sandstone was deposited around the 'Shinumo Quartzite island' perimeter, and can be seen in Bright Angel Canyon, west and northwest, the Phantom Creek drainage, north, and in the Trinity Creek drainage down the west perimeter, and upstream.

The Unkar Group, which forms the base of Isis Temple, consists of the Shinumo Quartzite, Hakatai Shale, and Bass Formation in descending order.