South along the plateau
Rainbow and Yovimpa Points and the Bristlecone Loop
The park’s highest viewpoints at the end of the 18-mile road: Rainbow looks north along the plateau, Yovimpa south across the Grand Staircase.
MeasuredUse the place description to choose what to study, then check the approach, walking effort and current restrictions before leaving.
Conditions & official access sources · Compare walking distance and climb
What you’re looking at
NPS identifies Rainbow and Yovimpa as the park’s highest viewpoints. Rainbow Point looks north along the edge of the plateau; Yovimpa Point, at the southern tip of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, looks south across the Grand Staircase.1,2
The two overlooks share the road-end parking area at the far end of the 18-mile scenic road; Yovimpa is a short walk, not another drive. NPS recommends driving south first and making scenic stops on the way back north.1,2,3
The Bristlecone Loop starts here, about a mile on the high southern plateau. NPS describes the bristlecone pines along it as up to 1,800 years old. It is a different place from Bristlecone Point, a ridge in the northern park. The Riggs Spring Loop also begins here and drops into the forested backcountry.4,5,6
Turn it in 3D
DerivedRainbow & Yovimpa: the 2018 lidar surface, seen at an angle.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.
Section and skyline
DerivedRainbow Point: a ground-only view. This packet uses classified ground. Trees and standing rock can be omitted by classification. Its original profile note says upper envelope, but the model metadata and source pipeline identify classified ground; this section uses that documented method. A 768 m line at equal horizontal and vertical scale; heights 2,708–2,780 m.7 Section data (JSON) · Drawing (SVG)
DerivedRainbow Point skyline: The northern outlook in a shared Rainbow–Yovimpa terrain packet. Compare it with Yovimpa to see what moving the virtual observer changes. Drawing (SVG)Best light
DerivedCalculated sunlight on the 2018 terrain at 09:00 and 17:00 Mountain Daylight Time on 20 March, the equinox. Sun bearing and height are computed; the surface color is drawn, and clouds, haze and trees are not modeled.
Walks from here
- Bristlecone LoopOn the high southern plateau. NPS: 1 mi, 200 ft of climbing, easy.
- Riggs Spring LoopFrom the high rim into southern forests. NPS: 8.5 mi, 2,248 ft of climbing, strenuous.
Trail figures are the National Park Service’s. They are not current conditions; check NPS notices before a hike.
Living things here
Habitats: Mixed-conifer forest, Rocky breaks & rim. The high southern rim carries the higher forest NPS describes, with white fir, Douglas-fir, pines and pockets of aspen; Great Basin bristlecone pines grow on its exposed rocky ground.14,15,4,16
Living Bryce entries for these habitats:
Along the Bristlecone Loop: how to tell a bristlecone from a limber pine, and how rings carry the evidence of age. Great Basin bristlecone in Living Bryce
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.12,13
Read without 3D
This paired sector describes a local piece of the southern plateau. It does not include the distant Grand Staircase panorama. Here the source model uses classified ground, unlike the other five sectors.
- West to east through the center: 2,731 m at the west edge, 2,716 m at the east edge; lowest 2,716 m, highest 2,779 m.
- South to north through the center: 2,573 m at the south edge, 2,644 m at the north edge; lowest 2,573 m, highest 2,779 m.
Plan plate (SVG) · Section plate (SVG) · Print the relief atlas
Data and sources
Datasets
- Overlook photographs
- Terrain for 20 places
- Lidar return samples
- Canyon sections
- Overlook skylines
- Calculated sun on terrain
- Trails and profiles
- Park destinations and roads
- Relief in text and print
Sources
- National Park Service · Rainbow Point · 2026-08-15
- National Park Service · Yovimpa Point · 2024-10-10
- National Park Service · Southern Scenic Drive Viewpoints · 2024-04-09
- National Park Service · Bryce Canyon · Bristlecone Loop Trail · 2024-10-10
- National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Great Basin Bristlecone Pine · March 5, 2024
- National Park Service · Riggs Spring Loop Trail · 2021-09-21
- 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 · Parking Information
- National Park Service · Current Conditions · 2026-08-31
- National Park Service · Protect the Hoodoos · 2018-10-16
- National Park Service · Hiking · 2024-10-11
- National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Birds · September 11, 2024
- National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Trees and Shrubs · June 29, 2022
- National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Limber Pine · March 3, 2025