Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NORTH RIM DRIVE
In 2008 the North Rim Drive was completely reconstructed and became one-way from south
to north. Approximately 2 miles (3 km) long, this road provides four beautiful and varied
views into the canyon and opportunities to hike partway down. Restrooms are available along
the way. The trail along the rim is paved and accessible with assistance near the Lookout Point
and Grand View parking areas.
As you visit this unique treasure, you'll realize that the canyon is not a static place. The
steep walls will further disintegrate and the canyon will become wider and deeper over the
years due to earthquakes, storms, the freezing and thawing of winter ice, the continual action
of the river, and the friable (that is, easily crumbled) nature of the thermally altered rock.
Special Caution:
At least ten people met their deaths falling into the canyon in the twentieth
century and one in 2012. Please exercise caution, stay away from the edge, and keep small
children firmly under control.
Instead of driving you might park at one end of the
North Rim Trail,
which runs along
the rim between Chittenden Bridge and Inspiration Point.
(0.0) Enter the North Rim Drive from the Grand Loop Road at mile 14.1/1.3.
(0.2) The first parking area is for
Brink of (Lower) Falls Trail,
a strenuous
but rewarding drop of some 600 feet (180 m) in about one-half mile (0.8 km). At the bottom
of the trail, you stand at the very point where water tumbles over the top of thundering
Lower
Falls.
(0.8) At
Lookout Point
you take switchbacks and steps to
Red Rock Point,
a
paved but very steep trail of about 1 mile (1.5 km) round trip. This is the best place to see,
hear, and feel the water of the Yellowstone pounding through its narrow canyon or to take the
best photos from the North Rim of Lower Falls and its mossy walls. With binoculars, you may
spy osprey nests on the pillarlike formations of canyon rock.
A little over one hundred years ago an enterprising Montanan applied to build an elevator
to the bottom of the canyon at the falls. Author Owen Wister got wind of the scheme and
mentioned it disparagingly to an acquaintance, who asked, “But why should your refined taste
… interfere with the enjoyment of the plain people?” To which Wister answered, “Have the
plain people told you or anybody that the one thing they lie sleepless craving for is an elevator
to go up and down by those falls the way they do in hotels?” “They would like it if it was there,”
replied the acquaintance. Wister agreed, but asked, “Is that a reason to vulgarize a supreme
place of wild natural beauty for all time?” The acting military superintendent, Captain F. A.
Boutelle, recommended against it and the elevator was never built.
