Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is our destination today in Yellowstone National Park. This is our 3rd consecutive day visiting Yellowstone with our daughter and Becky’s mom, Gigi. The last 2 days were all about hydrothermal wonders, and you can read more about them: More Hydrothermal Features in Yellowstone. But today, we’re super excited to see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone!
Planning the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is located on the Eastern side of the Grand Loop. So, once we enter through the West entrance, we’ll turn north at Madison to Norris Geyser Basin. Norris is where we ended yesterday, but today will continue to Canyon Village first. We’ll stop at the visitor center here before we explore the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. And after exploring the canyon area, we’ll drive down to Yellowstone Lake and possibly all the way to West Thumb. If we can make it from Norris to West Thumb, we will have completed the whole lower loop in Yellowstone.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is smaller than that other one, but no less impressive. And being smaller, it is much easier to visit both sides of the canyon. And there are short drives on the North and South rims with overlooks and access to trails. There are also 2 large waterfalls, the Upper and Lower Falls. So, we plan to explore both sides with our GyPSy Guide, but also plan to do some hiking. You can read more about this area at: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (nps.gov).
After exploring the canyon, we’ll drive south through Hayden Valley toward Yellowstone Lake. We’ll stop at Fishing Bridge and see how much farther we can go. We booked an evening wildlife tour starting at 4:30PM from Canyon Village. So we have to return back to Canyon Village in the afternoon. So, we’ll maximize our time by packing a lunch to have during the day. But first, we will stop at the visitor center to get more information.
Canyon Visitor Education Center
It takes us 2.5 hours to get to Canyon Village. We leave at 8:00AM, a little later than yesterday. And by the time we get to West Yellowstone an hour and 10 minutes later, it’s even more backed up. It takes us 20 minutes just to enter the park. And once in the park, it takes us another hour to drive to Canyon Village. So, we arrive about 10:30AM and park in front of the Canyon Visitor Education Center.
Just outside we see a hut where you can rent bear spray. Though this is a good place to rent it, we still have ours and plan to carry it with us today. But after a 2.5 hour ride in the car, we find the restrooms first. Once inside the visitor center, Becky gets her passport stamp and we check out their store. They also have some nice exhibits you can walk through. But the main reason we came was to talk to the rangers for 2 reasons.
The 1st reason is our daughter completed her Junior Ranger booklet. She’s being bashful, but we definitely want her to get the junior ranger badge here in Yellowstone. And Ranger Owen is awesome helping her with the swearing in and afterwards gives her the badge. The 2nd reason is to get more information. They have free maps that show the North Rim and South Rim drives including all the main spots. In addition, we talk to another ranger about some hikes here. He recommends the short but steep ‘Brink of the Lower Falls Trail’, so we’ll check it out. He also says we should do the Brink of the Upper Falls loop drive first so we don’t backtrack.
Brink of Upper Falls
We leave Canyon Village and drive toward the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We pass the North Rim Drive to do the Brink of Upper Falls loop first. Here there are actually 3 overlooks. The Upper Overlook is the closest just a short walk down a paved walkway. And from here you can see the “brink” or top of the 109-foot Upper Falls from a distance. You can also see a lot of the river flowing to the falls. The Middle Overlook is not much further, and gives closer views. And after the 1st 2 overlooks, we walk down the ramp to the Lower Overlook.
From the Lower Overlook, you are right at the brink of the falls. Here you are literally next to the waterfall and can really hear and see the water rushing over the falls. It’s neat to see from this vantage point, but we’ll get a better view of the falls from South Rim Drive.
But while we are heading back to our car, we see a marmot. It looks like a yellow-bellied marmot like we saw in Grand Teton a few days ago. And this one is just eating the shrubs and grass right off the walkway. A much larger rodent than a squirrel, they are kind of cute and fun to watch. After watching it eat for a few minutes, we get back in the car for South Rim Drive.
South Rim Drive of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
After leaving the short loop to the Brink of Upper Falls, we travel back to Grand Loop Road. The next turn is South Rim Drive which of course is on the south rim of the canyon. We pass a picnic area but we’re not hungry for lunch yet. So, we head to the Upper Falls Viewpoint.
There is a large parking lot here with restrooms. And we easily find a spot and walk past the restrooms to the canyon rim. From here, we get an awesome view of the whole Upper Falls. We are just across the canyon from the waterfall and where we just left from at the brink. At the top of the falls you are up-close. But seeing it from this viewpoint you can see the whole falls which is amazing. And after a short stop, we get back in our car exiting left to Artist Point.
Artist Point is at the end of the 1-mile South Rim Drive, and its parking seems much busier. It’s afternoon now, and we are getting hungry. So, this is where we eat our packed lunch. And after eating our sandwiches, we walk to the end of the parking lot to Artist Point. You can walk around a ramp or take a few stairs. We walk around to the back where we see some of the canyon. Here you can see the rich colors of the canyon bisected by the Yellowstone River. And once around to the front, we get a better view of the canyon leading all the way to the Lower Falls. The backdrop almost looks like a painting, but now we want to see it up-close.
Brink of Lower Falls
After leaving Artist Point, we return back on South Rim Drive to the Grand Loop Road. We then turn right to head back to Canyon Village, turning 1st on the 1-way North Rim Drive. And on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, the 1st stop is the Brink of Lower Falls. After parking we see a sign that points to overlooks or trails. We decide we want to do the Brink of the Lower Falls Trail the ranger suggested.
However, the Brink of the Lower Falls trail drops 600 feet in 3/8 of a mile! So, Gigi and our daughter decide to stay back while we tackle this switchback trail to the brink. And going down is the easy part of this zig-zagging trail. It takes us about 10 minutes to get to the bottom of the trail. And similar to the Upper Falls Brink, we are at the top of the waterfall. However, the 308-foot Lower Falls is 3x bigger.
The overlook at the end is not only at the brink, but overseeing the canyon beyond. It’s absolutely breathtaking. The massive waterfall dropping into the Yellowstone River through the canyon is amazing. And on this clear day, the water hitting the river causes a clear constant rainbow adding to the beauty.
This was one of our highlights of our whole trip. It was just unreal and after about 10 minutes enjoying the views, we still have to hike back up. It is really steep and we take our time hugging the inside of the trail. About 2/3 up we get to a bench near the start of the Upper Falls Brink Trail.
Upper Falls Brink Trail
The ranger also recommended this trail through a wooded area to the Upper Falls Brink. And though we’ve already been to the brink by car, we heard the trail was nice. So I want to continue on, but Becky wants to rest at the bench. So, I leave her to rest as I jump on the 1.5 mile there and back trail. I plan to just do a little bit and come back, but I enjoy it.
The trail starts out through a wooded area before following the Yellowstone River between the Lower and Upper Falls. And you can see glimpses of both of them from the trail, but not at the same time. And then I pass over a small bridge over Cascade Creek. From here I can see water flowing down through a hole to somewhere.
As I continue past the bridge, I come to an unmarked viewpoint to see where the water is going. Here I see another waterfall hidden between the 2 more visited falls. I find out later this is the 129 feet Crystal Falls. It is actually taller than Upper Falls, but the water flow is much less. Nevertheless, it’s like a hidden gem. And after the overlook, the trail leads to the road just shy of the parking lot for the Upper Falls. This is where I turn around since I’ve already been to the brink. And I hurry back to the bench where I left Becky. It has taken me over 20 minutes to do about a mile, but Becky is gone.
Continuing on North Rim Drive
On the way to the parking lot, I find Becky, Gigi and our daughter hanging in the shade under some trees. And after a few minutes we get back to the car to continue on North Rim Drive. The next stop is an overlook called Lookout Point.
From Lookout Point, you can get great views of the Lower Falls from here on one side. On the other, you get more of the canyon and the Yellowstone River meandering through it. After a quick stop, we drive to the next overlook, Grand View.
From Grand View, you cannot see the falls, but you get great views of the Yellowstone River. It’s another view of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone that is equally impressive. But there’s still one more overlook at the end of the North Rim Drive, Inspiration Point.
Inspiration Point
The road to Inspiration Point takes a little longer to get to. But on the way, we pass a huge glacial boulder pointed out to us by our GyPsy Guide. If you don’t know what GyPSy Guide is yet, it’s an audio tour that plays in your car while you drive. It’s like having a personal guide in your car pointing out things along the way. It’s amazing how much it has added to our experiences through different parks and we highly recommend.
Once at the end of the road we park to see there are multiple overlooks. Inspiration Point was closed for a 2-year rehabilitation project and now there are 3 different overlooks here. And there are stairs down to them, but there’s also an accessible ramp you can take. And each overlook gives a different view of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. One overlook provides breathtaking views of the canyon to the East covered by trees.
From another, you get a closer view of the Yellowstone River and more of the rocky canyon. The West Overlook is a little further away, but provides more great views with Lower Falls in the distance. Once back in the car, we complete the North Rim Drive back to Canyon Village. At after 2:30PM, we still have over an hour before we need to be back. So, we drive past the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone through Hayden Valley to Fishing Bridge.
Hayden Valley to Fishing Bridge and Back
As soon as pass South Rim Drive, we see cars slowing down in front of us. On either side we see bison right off the road. If we weren’t in our car, we would be too close for comfort. We slowly move past one as he’s looking at us.
And soon the landscape opens up as we drive through Hayden Valley to Fishing Bridge. Hayden Valley is a large sub-alpine valley that follows Yellowstone River to Yellowstone Lake where Fishing Bridge is. On the way, we see many more bison. We see a small herd on our left in the open grass. We even see one rolling around in some dirt on a side of a hill. Even without all of the bison sightings, it’s a beautiful drive through Hayden Valley. And after about 30 minutes we get to the turn for Fishing Bridge.
Fishing is no longer allowed from the bridge, but provides some nice views. And across the bridge is another visitor center here, but unfortunately it’s closed. However, an information station is open across the street. We park and Becky and Gigi get another passport stamp, while I talk to the rangers about the area. But we don’t stay long so we can get back to Canyon Village for the tour. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to continue around the lake to West Thumb and back. But we enjoy the drive back through Hayden Valley to where we started this morning.
Summary of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
We spent about 4 hours exploring The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and thoroughly enjoyed it. There are some amazing overlooks with views of Upper Falls, Lower Falls and the canyon. But the highlight for us today, and maybe even for this trip, was the Brink of the Lower Falls. The switchback hike 600 feet to the brink was worth the payoff. The view of the waterfall going into the canyon is absolutely breathtaking.
The Gypsy Guide also pointed out some fascinating history and facts throughout the day. We can’t say enough about it. We also saw a marmot and some more bison today, but no bears. But our day isn’t over yet. We’re about to go on an evening wildlife tour. You can read Evening Wildlife Tour in Yellowstone.
Like what you’ve read? Feel free to comment below. You can also Subscribe to get notified when new posts come out. Since we have to work, it’s not that often… Thanks for reading!