Keys View Road leaves Park Boulevard near Cap Rock and climbs between five and six miles to the highest overlook in the park. The side trip is a dead end, about twenty minutes each way, and with time at the top it takes about an hour and a quarter. The road is narrow and isn't suited to long vehicles, and the overlook can close when crowded. Cap Rock sits right at the bottom, with a nature trail under half a mile long, a vault toilet and a picnic area, and planners once proposed a visitor center there, with a 200-seat auditorium. Travelers who stay on Park Boulevard keep the tour going, and those who take the road pick it up again on their way back.
Stay left at the fork coming up in about a quarter mile. That's Park Boulevard, and the tour. Take the right fork for Keys View, where the ground drops nearly a mile into the Coachella Valley. It's a narrow spur, so skip it in anything long. Cap Rock is right at the bottom of that road, a walk of under half a mile, thirty to forty-five minutes, with a vault toilet. Past it, Keys View is a dead end, between five and six miles, about twenty minutes each way. Add up to half an hour at the top, and plan on an hour and a quarter. It can close when crowded. The tour has a clip waiting at the top, and it picks up on its own when you come back.
Photo: NPS / Hannah Schwalbe · Public domain (NPS staff photo)