Northern Bryce
Bristlecone Point, the northern ridge
A separate ridge east of the main amphitheater in the northern park. This is not the Bristlecone Loop at Rainbow Point.
Not the Bristlecone Loop: that trail is at the southern end of the park, at Rainbow Point. This page is about Bristlecone Point, a ridge in the northern park.
MeasuredBristlecone Point is a named ridge east of the amphitheater. It is not the Bristlecone Loop near Rainbow Point. No route to the ridge is established here.
Conditions & official access sources · Compare walking distance and climb
DerivedBristlecone Point: the 2018 USGS lidar surface, seen at an angle from above. The site’s collection has no modern photograph of this place; surface color and lighting are drawn, not measured.What you’re looking at
USGS identifies Bristlecone Point east of the main Bryce Amphitheater. It is a separate ridge rising between the surrounding hollows. The geographic names record places the summit at two points about 145 metres apart.1,2
The name does not identify the trees growing here today, and no trail is mapped along the ridge. The well-known Bristlecone Loop, with its Great Basin bristlecone pines, is at the far southern end of the park at Rainbow Point.1,3,4
The 2018 lidar shows the ridge’s width and the lows on either side. Its rim-to-hollow sections measure surface shape only; they say nothing about the rock layers beneath.5
Turn it in 3D
Turn the surface, cut a section across it, and compare the aerial color with the laser returns the aircraft recorded. The 3D view loads only when you open it.
Living things here
Habitats: Rocky breaks & rim. The ridge is exposed ground in the breaks, where NPS notes that rocky ridges support trees adapted to difficult growing sites. The place name is not evidence of any species.10,11
Living Bryce entries for these habitats:
Care
NPS asks visitors to stay on trails, avoid climbing hoodoos, leave natural objects where they are and avoid feeding or disturbing wildlife. Walking toward a hoodoo’s base can disturb the clay-rich slopes that help protect its foundations, so enjoy the formations from established trails and overlooks.8,9
Read without 3D
The 3D view covers a square about 640 metres on a side. Heights in the lidar returns range from 2,217 m (7,272 ft) to 2,384 m (7,821 ft). The surface is built from what an aircraft could see from above: undersides, overhangs and narrow gaps are not reconstructed.
Data and sources
Datasets
Sources
- US Geological Survey / National Geospatial Program · USGS geographic names: northern Bryce landforms
- USGS-hosted GSA 2002 Rocky Mountain Section field guide · The geology of the Grand Staircase in southern Utah: a road log and guide for public school teachers · 2002
- National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Great Basin Bristlecone Pine · March 5, 2024
- National Park Service · Rainbow Point · 2026-08-15
- USGS data; public Entwine organization maintained by Hobu · USGS 3DEP LiDAR Point Clouds · 2018 acquisition; LAS published 2019
- US Geological Survey · USGS Lidar Point Cloud UT Southern QL1 2018 12SUG9562 LAS 2019 metadata · 2019-06-03
- USDA FPAC / Farm Service Agency · USDA conterminous US NAIP imagery service · 2024 Utah acquisition, exact flight dates per crop
- National Park Service · Protect the Hoodoos · 2018-10-16
- National Park Service · Hiking · 2024-10-11
- National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Plants · April 30, 2023
- National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Limber Pine · March 3, 2025