Bristlecone Loop Trail
The Bristlecone Loop Trail is located at the southwest end of Bryce Canyon National Park—17 miles south of the visitors center—off of the Rainbow Point parking lot. The trail is forested and easy to follow, high atop the plateau above the surrounding canyons, and owns an impressive vista of the many tiers of Bryce Canyon. The trail takes visitors past representatives of the oldest living single organisms known on the planet, the bristlecone pine. There is one in particular that is considered the oldest bristlecone in the park, at over 1,600 years old.
Trail Head: 37.475019, -112.240623
Trail Type: Hiking
Length: 1 mile round trip
Difficulty: Easy
The parking lot and circle at the end of State Route 63 serves as a trailhead for Rainbow Point, Yovimpa Point, Bristlecone Loop Trail, Riggs Springs Loop, and Under the Rim Trail.
Rainbow Point sits over 1,000 feet above the canyon floor below, offering great views of Horse Mountain, Deer Mountain, the Iron Spring camping area, and many other scenic areas within the canyons of Bryce.
The loop trail gets a decent view of the southern end of the canyons from here, looking over Mutton, Corral, and Horse Hollows, the Riggs Spring Loop, and the westerly Yovimpa Pass.
Directly south of Rainbow Point on the same plateau, Yovimpa offers a southern overlook into the canyons below.
Under the Rim Trail actually starts at the Rainbow Point parking lot. But it veers east and begins a diagonal descent of the plateau before circling around west again, and then eventually heading north past Agua Canyon, Natural Bridge, and the Natural Bridge camping area, and then back to the road at Swamp Canyon.
Click here for more information about Bryce Canyon and the surrounding area.