The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is a canyon formed by the Yellowstone River. It is between 820ft and 1312ft deep and up to 0.8mi wide. The entire canyon is about 20mi long. Characteristic for the canyon are the yellow walls, which gave Yellowstone NP its name. The colors are caused by geothermally discolored iron in the rock.
South Rim Drive
Upper Falls View Point
Description: The Upper Falls View Point offers a great view of the upper of the two waterfalls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. You can hike quite a distance from the parking lot on the South Rim Trail to see the waterfall from several angles. The trail is a few hundred yards long and easy to hike. It is a little downhill but not steep.
Our rating: It is impressive to watch the water masses that fall down to the valley. A sight worth seeing.
Uncle Tom´s Trail
Description: Uncle Tom's Trail leads almost all the way down to the base of the Lower Fall in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The trail was built as early as 1898. At that time you have to climb down ladders and ropes. Today, with 328 steps, it is still strenuous but much more comfortable. For the ascent there are some platforms. Here are benches on which you can catch your breath.
Our rating: It is exhausting but also impressive to see the water masses tumbling into the valley. The water makes a lot of noise and depending on the wind direction it can also get a little wet. But if you are not afraid of the many stairs, you should definitely not miss this.
Clear Lake
Description: Clear Lake can be reached from the Ribbon Lake Trailhead. The trail is very easy to hike. It leads across a large meadow and through a small, rather sparse forest. We visited the lake in 1998 as part of a guided photo tour. Here you can also meet the animals of the park from time to time.
Our rating: The trail to Clear Lake is neither spectacular nor a must see. Nevertheless, we found the small trail quite nice, because we got a lot of great tips on our photo tour and learned a lot about photographing in nature.
Artist Point
Description: Artist Point is located at the end of South Rim Drive. It is probably the most famous viewpoint at the Canyon. It is reached by a trail a few hundred meters long. It is paved and very easy to walk. The viewpoint got its name from Thomas Moran, who painted numerous pictures here during the Hayden Expedition in 1871.
Our rating: We have been to Artist Point several times. The viewpoint is worth a visit because it offers great views of the Lower Fall, the Yellowstone River and the entire canyon. You should definitely not miss this one.
Brink of Upper Falls
Description: The few 100 feet long trail leads from the parking lot to the upper edge of the Upper Fall. The first 590ft lead down a paved ramp to an upper viewpoint. To get to the edge of the waterfall you have to climb down some stairs afterwards. Here you can observe the insane speed of the water, which at this point plunges 108ft into the depths.
Our rating: It is very impressive and very loud when millions of liters of water plunge into the depths. The viewpoint is worth seeing and we liked it. The trail is short and easy to hike, because even from the upper viewpoint you already have a great view of the waterfall.
North Rim Drive
Brink of Lower Falls
Description: The edge of the Lower Fall is a little more difficult to reach than the Upper Fall. To get to the edge, you have to hike down a relatively steep 1.2mi trail. The trail is steep but easy to walk as it descends over numerous switchbacks, making it strenuous but easy to hike.
Our rating: This viewpoint is also very impressive, because here the Yellowstone River falls almost 328ft into the depth. The lower platform leads directly to the water and so you are almost in the middle of the action. If you are not afraid of a little effort, we can only recommend this short trail.
Grand View
Description: The Grand View is a lookout point on North Rim Drive. Here you have a great view of the Lower Fall and the entire Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Our rating: If you only have to get out of the car to have such a view, you should not miss the wonderful vista.
Inspiration Point
Description: Inspiration Point is the last overlook on North Rim Drive. It is located at the eastern end of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Here the canyon walls are already very overgrown again.
Our rating: During our visit in June 2015, the viewpoint was unfortunately closed. Thus, we can also not give a real assessment.
An important and always very fun part are the animals that you can observe in their natural habitat, especially in the national parks. Here at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone we were able to spot the animals shown below.
