Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The first of the viewpoints leads down a steep 0.75-mile trail, descending 600ft to the
Brink of the Lower Falls
for exciting close-up views of the tumbling white water as it
rushes over the lip of the falls. Heading back up isn't half as much fun as going down.
Half a mile further, popular
Lookout Point
offers the best views of the Lower Falls,
while an adjacent 0.5-mile trail drops 500ft to
Red Rock
for even closer views. The aver-
age age of the crowd plummets with the elevation (it's hard on the knees). The trails here
can be very slippery so watch your step. It was around here that iconic early painter Tho-
mas Moran made the sketches for his famous painting of the canyon, allegedly weeping
over the lack of colors in his palette.
The one-way road continues to
Grandview Point
, which offers views north of the col-
orful smoking canyon walls.
A side road branches off the one-way drive to reach busy
Inspiration Point
, which of-
fers an overview of the length of the canyon and a small section of the lower falls. There
are a few steps to descend. There used to be more, before the old lookout point fell (liter-
ally) victim to the canyon's relentless erosion.
Just before Inspiration Point is a huge granite boulder scooped up from the Beartooth
Mountains 15 miles away by a glacier and deposited here 80,000 years ago. The
Glacier
Boulder Trail
starts here for the 11-mile return hike to Sevenmile Hole (
Click here
)
. An
easy, one-hour (2-mile) round-trip hike takes you along this trail, through forest and past
intermittent canyon vistas to views of
Silver Cord Cascade
, the park's highest falls (or
rather series of falls). This is a particularly fine late-afternoon hike, but keep a tight rein
on the kids, as there are no barriers between them and the sheer canyon dropoffs.
UPPER FALLS VIEWPOINT
The less dramatic
Upper Falls Viewpoint
is also accessible by road: the turnoff is south
of Canyon Junction and Cascade Creek on the main Grand Loop Rd to Fishing Bridge. A
short walk to the right (south) leads to the Brink of the Upper Falls, though the best views
of the falls are actually from the Uncle Tom's parking area across the gorge. A five-
minute walk north along the North Rim Trail (a former stagecoach road) leads to an over-
view of the much smaller but graceful
Crystal Falls
, the 'Hidden' or 'Third' waterfall of
the Canyon region.
SOUTH RIM
South Rim Dr passes the Chittenden Bridge and Wapiti Trailhead en route to the canyon's
most spectacular overlook, at Artist Point. The 3.25-mile
South Rim Trail
follows the
canyon rim from Chittenden Bridge to Point Sublime via Artist Point: for details of taking
in the views on foot instead of by car,
Click here
.
