Inspiration Point - Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah - Scenic Vantage Point

Inspiration Point is located at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah and is approximately 156 miles from Moab and 217 miles from Salt Lake City. The park is located about four and a half miles south of the intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 63. It is open to visitors 24 hours a day throughout the year.

Bryce Canyon National Park has many canyons forming a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters on the edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. Through many years of erosion, colorful Claron limestone has been carved into thousands of spires, fins, arches and mazes called "hoodoos''. Many visitors come here for sight-seeing, hiking, camping, backpacking, photography, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, bird watching and many other activities.

Inspiration Point provides amazing views of the hoodoos and visitors can oversee the main amphitheater and Silent City from three different levels. A purer freshwater limestone in the Claron Formation called The Upper White Member is visible below Inspiration Point, which is quite unusual in that few hoodoos form in this softer rock. The other member contained in the Claron Formation is the lower Pink Member, which is dirtier limestone containing sand, silt and iron giving the rock a reddish color.

The slopes at Inspiration Point are quite barren but do have a number of Bristlecone Pines growing on them. Some of these particular pines are very old and feature gnarled trunks, although the younger Bristlecone Pines are tall and thin with pines along the entire length of their branches. Walking along the barren slopes here visitors may stumble across some reptiles such as the Mountain Short-horned Lizard, although these try their best to remain camouflaged.

Visitors should note that the cliffs at Inspiration Point are formed of crumbly rock, slippery slopes and sheer drops. As a result this area can be very dangerous so visitors are strongly advised to remain on trails and behind the railings. No trails lead down into the canyon directly from the steep cliffs of Inspiration Point, but the Rim Trail extends south to Bryce Point and north to Sunset Point.

Visitors will require a permit for overnight travel in Bryce Canyon's Backcountry, which can be obtained at the Visitor Center located approximately one and a half miles inside the park. Here visitors can view a ten-minute slide program and various exhibits, whilst there are also restrooms and park information at the center, which opens throughout the year apart from Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Opening hours are 8am to 8pm May to September, 8am to 6pm October and April and 8am to 4.30pm November to March.

There are two campgrounds at the park with 218 sites available on a first-come, first-served basis and a limit of 6 people, 3 tents, and 2 vehicles per site. Visitors preferring not to camp can try the Bryce Canyon Lodge, which is located in the park and has 114 rooms including suites, motel rooms and cabins.