Bryce Canyon Conservancy
Weather —Unavailable Weather unavailable
Roads Open the local road map ↗ Road updates unavailable
Park & trails Park Notices

The Bryce Amphitheater

Sunset Point and Thor’s Hammer

The overlook above Thor’s Hammer, the park’s most famous hoodoo, and the start of the Navajo Loop.

Use 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 · Queen’s Garden–Navajo route choices

Read without 3D · Source evidence

Wide dawn panorama near Sunset Point, with a tree and low sun on the left, shadowed hoodoos in the center and brightly lit orange rock and trees on the right.
The amphitheater at first light from the Rim Trail near Sunset Point. Brian B. Roanhorse / NPS · October 30, 2015.1

What you’re looking at

The park’s most famous hoodoo, Thor’s Hammer, stands nearly directly below Sunset Point.2

The rock here is mostly limestone, deposited about 50 million years ago in a large freshwater lake that geologists call Lake Claron. Iron oxides give the rock its warm colors; manganese oxides add patches of pink and purple.2

Thor’s Hammer’s cap is about 3 metres across on a neck about 1.3 metres wide. The 2018 lidar puts its top at 2,401 metres, about 28 metres above its uphill foot. The aircraft could not see under the cap; the neck in the 3D model is traced from an NPS photograph.3,4

The Navajo Loop starts beside the viewpoint. Its Wall Street side closes in winter, and other closures may apply.5,6

Turn it in 3D

Sunset Point sector terrain from the 2018 lidar.
DerivedSunset Point sector: 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.

Open the 3D view Thor’s Hammer in 3D Walk Bryce Canyon

Section and skyline

Elevation profile across Sunset Point from the 2018 lidar.
DerivedSunset Point: from rim to fins. Follow the west-to-east line from the higher plateau toward the broken relief below. Each rise is a change in the retained upper surface; it does not identify an individual hoodoo or a rock layer. A 512 m line at equal horizontal and vertical scale; heights 2,293–2,447 m.3 Section data (JSON) · Drawing (SVG)
The near skyline from Sunset Point, drawn from the 2018 terrain.
DerivedSunset Point skyline: A short eastward crop catches the transition from the plateau edge into closely spaced terrain. Follow the sampled line below eye level. Drawing (SVG)

Then and now

Early photographs of the same ground. They record a view, not a measured change; the camera positions are not known exactly.

Historic photograph of Thor’s Hammer above a winding trail, with the dark edge of the scanned negative visible.
Then: Thor’s Hammer & Navajo Loop, 1920–1940. Courtesy Bryce Canyon National Park, Photographer Maurice Cope, Museum Catalog Number BRCA 532/001-#027.11 Full-size scan
A color photograph of Thor’s Hammer and surrounding hoodoos beneath a purple sunrise sky.
Now: Thor’s Hammer at sunrise. NPS Gallery; individual photographer not identified; capture date not established.12

Best light

The Sunset Point sector terrain lit by the morning and the late-afternoon sun.
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.

Compare the light on six places

Look closely

A narrow rock pillar with a broad cap stands among hoodoos beneath a purple, cloudy sunrise; nearby rock faces overlap in the foreground.
The cap and narrow neck of Thor’s Hammer are visible from this viewpoint. The photograph records one view of the rock; it does not reveal its complete surface. NPS / NPGallery · capture date unconfirmed.
  1. A broad cap. The top projects beyond the narrower rock directly below it. This is a visual observation, not a rock-hardness test.
  2. A narrow neck. Follow the inward turn of the silhouette. Apparent width depends on the camera’s view; no width in metres is assigned.
  3. Overlapping surfaces. Nearby pillars and distant rock overlap in the picture. A photograph flattens those different depths into one image.

Walks from here

Trail figures are the National Park Service’s. They are not current conditions; check NPS notices before a hike.

Add it to a visit plan Find it on the park map

Living things here

Habitats: Rocky breaks & rim, Ponderosa forest. The viewpoint is on the exposed amphitheater rim, and the Navajo Loop descends through rocky breaks; NPS notes that rocky ridges support trees adapted to difficult growing sites, and that ponderosa pine and manzanita characterize the middle elevations.15,16,17

Living Bryce entries for these habitats:

Habitat associations from park records, not sightings at this place.

Explore the habitats 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.13,14

Read without 3D

The Sunset sector places the plateau edge beside the upper amphitheater. Use the two centerlines to compare how the surface changes in different directions.

Plan plate (SVG) · Section plate (SVG) · Print the relief atlas

Data and sources

Datasets

Sources

  1. National Park Service · NPGallery · Early Riser At The Amphitheater · October 30, 2015, supported by the photo credit and image-file date.
  2. National Park Service · Sunset Point · 2026-08-15
  3. USGS data; public Entwine organization maintained by Hobu · USGS 3DEP LiDAR Point Clouds · 2018 acquisition; LAS published 2019
  4. Bryce Canyon Conservancy · How the Thor’s Hammer model was built
  5. National Park Service · Navajo Loop Trail
  6. National Park Service · Visiting in Winter · 2024-03-05
  7. US Geological Survey · USGS Lidar Point Cloud UT Southern QL1 2018 12SUG9562 LAS 2019 metadata · 2019-06-03
  8. USDA FPAC / Farm Service Agency · USDA conterminous US NAIP imagery service · 2024 Utah acquisition, exact flight dates per crop
  9. National Park Service · Parking Information
  10. National Park Service · Current Conditions · 2026-08-31
  11. Bryce Canyon National Park Museum and Archives · Nitrate negative of Thors hammer, hoodoos, and Navajo Loop Trail in BRCA. ; BRCA Museum and Archives Image BRCA8875_001_027 ; BRCA 8875
  12. National Park Service · Thor’s Hammer at sunrise
  13. National Park Service · Protect the Hoodoos · 2018-10-16
  14. National Park Service · Hiking · 2024-10-11
  15. National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Plants · April 30, 2023
  16. National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Limber Pine · March 3, 2025
  17. National Park Service, Bryce Canyon · Trees and Shrubs · June 29, 2022

Text sources checked 2 October 2026. Facts on this page come from the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and the other sources listed.

UDOT reports · USGS terrain

The wider approach to Bryce

Green: reported clear · Amber: work / hazard · Red + closure symbol: closed · Gray: current status unknown

The header frames the immediate Bryce area, including US-89, SR-12 and SR-63. It is not a measured driving-time boundary. No report does not establish an open road; no live speeds or parking counts are provided. Johns Valley Road is a reference alignment; its live conditions are not connected.

UDOT Traffic ↗ · NPS park notices ↗. Background terrain is not current imagery. No claim to original U.S. Government works.

Current reports unavailable; use the official source links.

Open the complete interactive traffic map →