Tuweep

Overview

A valley settlement that gave its name away

Tuweep was a scatter of homesteads in the Toroweap Valley, on the Arizona Strip north of the Grand Canyon. USGS puts it at a crossroads on the valley floor, about 8 miles north of today's Grand Canyon National Park boundary and about 50 miles by dirt road from Fredonia. The name is Southern Paiute. The Park Service says it means "the earth" and is pronounced tu-VEEP. Settlers used it for their community, and the Park Service later took it for its ranger district at the bottom of the valley.

Ranchers grazed stock here in the early 1900s, but nobody lived in the valley year-round until 1927, when Walter and Mattie Kent built a homestead near the present park line. A post office named Tuweep opened in June 1929. When a Park Service party came through in May 1933, it found a few homesteads raising cattle, horses, grain, fruit and vegetables, and stayed with W. A. Kent. The Schmutz, Cunningham, Craig and Bundy families also settled in the region.

Tuweep never grew past that. The post office closed at the end of 1950, and drought drove the Kents to California in 1957. The townsite is now public land in Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, and what's reported left is a church foundation and the collapsed Kent homestead. Most people on this road are headed for Toroweap Overlook, about 14 miles farther south.

Timeline

Homesteads, a post office and a park

1. About 2,000 years agoAncestral Puebloans farm in the Tuweep area. They move east around A.D. 1300. This is the ancestral home of the Southern Paiute.
2. 1870John Wesley Powell visits Tuweep with a Paiute guide, mapping and naming many local features.
3. Early 1900sRanchers graze stock in the valley, but only in season.
4. 1927Walter and Mattie Kent build the valley's first year-round homestead, just north of today's park boundary. They call it Our Valley of the Moon.
5. Jun 27, 1929A post office named Tuweep opens.
6. Dec 22, 1932A presidential proclamation creates Grand Canyon National Monument, about 400 square miles of the Toroweap country.
7. May 1933A Park Service party stays with W. A. Kent and describes Tuweep as a little settlement in the heart of Toroweap Valley, with a few homesteads.
8. About 1935The Park Service builds a stone ranger station at Tuweep, with a garage-barn and a water catchment.
9. 1942Ranger John Riffey arrives. He stays 38 years, until his death in 1980.
10. Dec 31, 1950The post office closes.
11. 1957After several years of drought, the Kents leave for California.
12. 1975Congress adds the monument to Grand Canyon National Park.
13. Jul 21, 2022The park starts requiring day-use reservations for its Tuweep area.
14. Jun 2024A trip report notes a church foundation beside County Road 5 at the old Tuweep area. It's the newest description we found.

1932 to today

The name moves south

In December 1932 a presidential proclamation set aside about 400 square miles of the Toroweap country as Grand Canyon National Monument. The Park Service built a ranger station at Tuweep, in the lower valley. Its photos from about 1935 show a stone garage-barn going up and a water catchment for the station.

John Riffey came to staff it in 1942. At first his main job was working with the ranchers who held grazing permits in the monument. He stayed 38 years, until his death in 1980, and the Park Service credits his helpfulness, his long tenure and his airplane, Pogo, for his legendary status.

The Park Service now uses Tuweep for its whole district at the bottom of the valley, including the ranger station, the campground and Toroweap Overlook.

The monument became part of Grand Canyon National Park in 1975, and the park boundary now sits about 8 miles south of the old townsite. Down the road from the ranger station, the Park Service points out a 1921 pull grader left from the valley's ranching years. Since July 2022 the park has required day-use reservations, to keep visits near the limit in its 1995 plan of 30 vehicles or 85 visitors.

What's left

A foundation, a ranch yard and a stock tank

The historic maps below show how little was ever here. The 1886 sheet has only the Uinkaret Mountains, Mount Trumbull and a few springs. The 1960 sheet marks a ranch right at the Tuweep point, the Schmutz Ranch a few miles south and more ranches around Mount Trumbull to the west. The 1967 sheet shows two small buildings on an east–west road just west of a crossroads, with a stock pond to the south. On current aerial imagery we can see the tracks and a fenced stock tank but can't make out any buildings.

Published descriptions are thin. A June 2024 trip report notes the foundation of a church beside County Road 5 as the road passes the old Tuweep area. Near the park boundary, the Park Service says only remnants of the Kent homestead survive. Lumber from the Mt. Trumbull sawmill lies collapsed and crumbling, with tools, machinery and household goods strewn across the yard.

One online ghost-town listing says vandals destroyed the church and other buildings here in July 2000. We couldn't confirm that. The well-documented arson that month burned the Mt. Trumbull schoolhouse, which served as school, community center and church for the Mt. Trumbull settlement to the west. It was rebuilt and reopened on October 13, 2001.

• Church foundation (2024 report)
• Kent homestead remnants
• Scattered tools and machinery
• Stock tank and dirt tracks
• 1921 pull grader (in the park)

We don't have freely licensed photos of the townsite itself. The gallery below shows the valley and the ranger station that took the town's name.

Historic maps

Tuweep on USGS maps, 1886–1986

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

18861:250,00019601:250,00019671:24,00019861:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Fredonia is the closest town. The route follows the Park Service's Sunshine Route: west on AZ 389, then about 44 miles of unpaved county road south across the Arizona Strip. From Las Vegas, the fastest route runs through St. George, Hurricane and Colorado City to the same turnoff. We haven't driven either route.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Tuweep and the Toroweap Valley in photos

The road through the Toroweap Valley, 2011The stone ranger station at Tuweep, about 1935The ranger station's garage-barn going up, about 1935The water catchment at the ranger station, about 1935Ranger John Riffey, May 17, 1980Entering the park's Tuweep area, 2011John Riffey at Toroweap Point, before 1975Stereo view near the foot of Toroweap Valley, 1872The Colorado River from Toroweap Overlook, 2012

Visitor reports

Been to Tuweep?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Tuweep

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Arizona index.

• Bundyville14.4 mi W · Mohave
• Wolf Hole35.9 mi NW · Mohave
• Apex59.0 mi SE · Coconino
• Anita59.6 mi SE · Coconino
• House Rock60.6 mi E · Coconino
• Cyclopic79.0 mi SW · Mohave
• Hackberry81.2 mi SW · Mohave
• White Hills87.8 mi SW · Mohave

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Tuweep (also often Tuweap)": fact sheet fields (roads, legal description, climate, post office years) and the unconfirmed July 2000 vandalism claim.
2. Wikipedia, "Tuweep, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: coordinates and elevation (GNIS 25313).
3. USGS GNIS, The National Map geonames service: feature 25313, a populated place in Mohave County, and its coordinates.
4. National Park Service, "Tuweep" (last updated April 11, 2024; checked October 19, 2026): the name's meaning, Puebloan and Paiute history, Powell's 1870 visit, the 1927 Kent homestead, pioneer families, John Riffey, the 1921 grader, routes, permits, hours and road warnings; as of October 2026, the day permit, composting toilets, no water, fuel, food or cell service, scarce shade, trails, pets on roads only, group size, drones, tire advice and July–September storms.
5. Recreation.gov, Tuweep day permit listing, as of October 2026: the $2 reservation fee, release dates, arrival window, required pass and ID, 22-foot vehicle limit, no muddy roads, group limits, drones.
6. National Park Service, Grand Canyon "Fees & Passes" (updated July 20, 2026), as of October 2026: the $35 private vehicle fee, seven-day admission and the $100 nonresident fee.
7. National Park Service, "Toroweap / Tuweep" site bulletin (2010): the name's use for the settlement and then the ranger district, the 1932 monument, the 1975 park addition, Riffey and his airplane, road conditions.
8. National Park Service, "Mattie May Lee" (Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, March 2024): the Kent homestead, its 1927 start, the 1957 departure and what remains.
9. Ben H. Thompson, "Toroweap: The New Grand Canyon National Monument," Grand Canyon Nature Notes 8:4 (July 1933): the December 22, 1932 proclamation and its 400 square miles, the May 1933 visit, the settlement and W. A. Kent.
10. Grand Canyon Pioneers Society, The Bulletin 6:4 (April 2002), "Grand Canyon Post Office": Tuweep post office dates.
11. Edie Eilender, Canyon Country Zephyr (1996, reprinted May 2023): Riffey's 1942 arrival and his work with ranchers holding grazing permits.
12. National Park Service news release, June 21, 2022: the day-use reservation system from July 21, 2022 and the 1995 plan's limit.
13. Wild Paths AZ, "Toroweap Overlook" (June 3, 2024): the church foundation beside County Road 5, road conditions.
14. Expedition Utah, "Tuweep to Laugh" (March 2013): the Mt. Trumbull schoolhouse arson of July 2000 and its October 13, 2001 reopening.
15. Land status: BLM Surface Management Agency and National Conservation Lands datasets, and the NPS park boundary, queried October 19, 2026.
16. NPS photographs of the Tuweep ranger station on Wikimedia Commons: building dates of about 1935.
17. Road surfaces: OpenStreetMap, October 2026. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked. Status checked against the sources above on October 19, 2026.

Photo and map credits

• The road through the Toroweap Valley, 2011: brewbooks from near Seattle, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• The stone ranger station at Tuweep, about 1935: Grand Canyon National Park, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• The ranger station's garage-barn going up, about 1935: Grand Canyon National Park, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• The water catchment at the ranger station, about 1935: Grand Canyon National Park, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Ranger John Riffey, May 17, 1980: Grand Canyon National Park, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Entering the park's Tuweep area, 2011: brewbooks from near Seattle, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• John Riffey at Toroweap Point, before 1975: Grand Canyon National Park, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Stereo view near the foot of Toroweap Valley, 1872: William Bell, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• The Colorado River from Toroweap Overlook, 2012: Grand Canyon National Park, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Mt Trumbull 1886, 1:250,000; Grand Canyon 1960, 1:250,000; Mt Trumbull NE 1967, 1:24,000; Mount Trumbull 1986, 1:100,000.