We’re finally here. After six months of thinking about writing these posts, being overwhelmed by the thought of writing them, procrastinating writing them, sorting through thousands of photos, and finally actually sitting down and writing them, I’ve made it to the end.
And I’ve saved the best for last, because this post will begin at my favorite area of the park: the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone!
I know, I know, I’m doing this all wrong. Yellowstone is about geysers and hot springs and grizzly bears, not rivers and canyons. And geysers and hot springs are undeniably cool. Bears are neat too. But Canyon is still my favorite part of the park. Something about the waterfalls and the contrasting colors is just so incredibly beautiful.
After exploring Canyon Village, we’ll head 19 miles (31 km) north to Tower-Roosevelt Junction before looping back around to Mammoth Hot Springs (18 miles/29 km), where all of this began four posts ago. On the map below, you’ll find Canyon roughly in the center, Tower near the top, and Mammoth on the upper left.
Table of Contents
Canyon
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River is 800-1200 feet (244-366 m) deep, up to 4000 feet (1220 m) wide, and stretches 24 miles (39 km) between Canyon Village and Tower-Roosevelt Junction. It begins when the Yellowstone River tumbles 109 feet (33 m) over Upper Falls and ends near Tower Falls, where the water of Tower Creek drops 132 feet (40 m) on its way down to the Yellowstone River.
In between is Lower Falls, the tallest of the canyon-area waterfalls, at 308 feet (94 m). It has a defining light green stripe at the top left; a small notch in the rocks at the brink of the falls causes the water to be deeper and less bubbly in this area.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the Grand Canyon, though, is its painted walls. The yellows and oranges and reds speak to its past as a thermal area, the colors a result of mineral accumulation. In some places in the canyon, you may still catch glimpses of steam rising from the rocks.
For an up-close look, you can even hike down into the canyon on the Seven Mile Hole trail. I’ve never actually done this hike, but my mom has and wrote a guest post about it a few years back.
South Rim
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and both Upper and Lower Falls can be viewed from North Rim Drive and South Rim Drive. When traveling counterclockwise around Yellowstone, as I’ve been doing in these posts, we’ll arrive at the South Rim first, so I’ll start there.
There are two main stops on South Rim Drive: Upper Falls Viewpoint (which is exactly what it sounds like) and Artist Point, which is a view of Lower Falls. Both involve parking and walking a short paved path to the canyon rim.
The trail to Clear Lake also departs from Artist Point and can be hiked as an out-and-back or combined with other trails to form a 6-7 mile (9.5-11 km) loop. We did the latter, and it was a really cool hike past some old thermal areas en route to the lake.
Unfortunately, my favorite stop on South Rim Drive is closed, possibly permanently: Uncle Tom’s Trail. The trail is named for H.F. Richardson, AKA Uncle Tom, who used to operate a passenger ferry down in the canyon below Lower Falls.
The ferry and original trail are no longer in existence, but a set of 328 precarious stairs remain and lead 500 feet (150 m) from the South Rim down into the canyon near Lower Falls. As someone with no fear of heights, I love this trail! If you’re someone with a fear of heights, you may not.
It’s incredible to be so close to such a powerful waterfall, and if the wind is right, the spray from the falls often makes it to the viewing platform. On a sunny day we also often see a rainbow in the spray, which is especially pretty against the backdrop of the colorful canyon walls. I really hope this trail reopens one day.
Brink of Upper Falls
As Grand Loop Road crosses the Yellowstone River, the first right leads to Upper Falls. From the parking area, it’s a short walk to the brink. While this is not the best place to view the waterfall itself, this is one of the few places you can get close to the river. Despite visiting this viewpoint many times, I’m always amazed by the sheer volume of water that comes rushing downstream each second.
North Rim
The second right takes us to North Rim Drive, where there are four main stops: Brink of Lower Falls, Lookout Point, Grand View, and Inspiration Point.
Reaching the brink of the falls requires walking a zigzagging path down into the canyon (and then climbing all the way back up… and keep in mind, the elevation at Canyon is nearly 8000 feet/2440 m).
Lookout Point and Grand View involve short paved walks from the parking lot with just a few stairs, leading to spectacular views of Lower Falls. Lookout Point provides, in my opinion, the best view of Lower Falls from the North Rim.
Grand View, on the other hand, provides just a glimpse of Lower Falls but offers colorful views of the rest of the canyon.
One thing to keep in mind is that parking is limited on both North Rim and South Rim Drives, and when the lots fill, the park will temporarily close the roads. For best results, plan your visit for early or late in the day. From a photography perspective, early is probably better, as the waterfalls will be illuminated by the sun. Later in the day, they’ll be in the shade and the sun will be in your face.
Dunraven Pass
Beyond Canyon Village, we leave the river behind and begin the climb to Dunraven Pass. This is the highest point along Grand Loop Road, topping out at over 8800 feet (2680 m). Views abound at Dunraven Pass, and there are multiple pullouts on both sides of the road where you can enjoy them. These are often good spots to look for wildlife – over the years, we’ve seen elk, moose, and bears here.
About halfway down the other side of the pass is Chittenden Road – a gravel road that leads part way up the 10,000+ foot (3050+ m) Mount Washburn. The turn onto Chittenden Road from this direction is extremely awkward – it’s on a curve, it’s a very sharp angle, and it’s steep.
From the end of Chittenden Road, a wide, moderately-steep trail travels the remaining 2.5 miles (4 km) to the summit. At the top is a fire tower and lots of wind, along with views over much of Yellowstone. I’ve done this hike, but it was before I had my own camera so I don’t have any photos. What I do have, though, is the memory of getting blown off balance by the wind.
Tower-Roosevelt
After descending from the pass, we arrive at Tower Falls. There is a visitor center, parking area, and trailhead here, and Tower Campground is right across the street. Tower Falls is visible with a short 0.1 mile (0.2 km) walk to a viewpoint. The trail continues below the viewpoint to the banks of the Yellowstone River. This a very pretty area, however, the waterfall is not visible from the river.
From Tower Falls, the road continues a short distance to Tower-Roosevelt Junction. En route is a parking area for Calcite Springs Overlook. From the parking lot, it’s just a short walk up a ramp or a few stairs to the overlook and, once there, you get a little bit of everything that is Yellowstone: river, canyon, forest, hot springs (look for steam rising from the riverbank), mountains, views, and often some wildlife.
From Tower-Roosevelt Junction, you can continue east through the Lamar Valley and exit the park via the Beartooth Plateau. However, for today, we’re going to head west on Grand Loop Road, completing the loop and returning to Mammoth.
Blacktail Deer Plateau
For most of the 18 miles (29 km) back to Mammoth, the road veers away from the Yellowstone River and travels along Blacktail Deer Plateau. In addition to a one-way drive along the plateau, there is a petrified tree, a 100 m walk to Undine Falls, and a 0.8 mile (1.3 km) round trip hike to Wraith Falls.
The newest stop is the Forces of the Northern Range self-guided loop explaining the cycle of fire and regrowth in the park. In particular, it discusses the fires of 1988, in which approximately 35% of the park burned. Over the course of my life, I’ve watched the forests recover.
And that brings us back to Mammoth Hot Springs and to the end of my Yellowstone saga.
If you’re still here, thank you for listening to me ramble about the park for the past six weeks. It really is just one of the most bizarre and diverse places in the world, and it’s somewhere everyone should see at least once.
If you’ve never been to the park, I hope this series of posts has inspired you to plan a visit. If you’ve visited before, I hope they brought back fond memories and maybe even inspired you to visit again. Yellowstone is truly one of a kind.
Leave a Reply