To hike the south rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park, we chose to do the Ribbon Lake Loop Trail.

However, it did not go quite as planned.

We got our directions for this trail from a brochure Day Hikes Near Canyon that is handed out by the Rangers.

We tried to follow these directions exactly, except once on the trail nothing is very well marked.

We are finding that to be a recurring problem in Yellowstone National Park.

We did reach Ribbon Lake, but we were not sure if that was the lake we were at. There are no signs depicting names and we had passed one lake already. The trail markers continued so we did also.

However, we ended up walking past where the end of the trail was and in to where some back-country campsites are located.

If you are looking to do some back-country camping in Yellowstone National Park, the Ribbon Lake campsites are beautiful. You are shaded by trees, near a few lakes, and less than a mile from some outstanding views of the canyon.

These are the directions we were following.

This trail was absolutely beautiful.

This trail begins by having you cross a road and walk across open meadows. From all the scat on the ground you can tell this area is well populated by animals, so keep your eyes peeled!

After trekking across these open meadows, you enter in to a forest that is densely populated by tall lodge-pole pine trees. The forest floor of the trail is carpeted by fallen pine needles. The feeling of walking through a mystical forest is only enhanced by the geysers working their way up through the ground and creating, bubbling puddles along the trail.

You continue walking through this mystical forest past Clear Lake and on towards Ribbon Lake.

In between Clear Lake Lake and Ribbon Lake you will cross 2 creeks, using fallen logs or stones as a bridge.

After passing the second creek, the trail bring you along the canyon for the first time. While this view is breath taking, it is far from the best view you will have of the canyon.

Continue on to Ribbon Lake as you will double back on this trail and will get to take in this view again.

When doubling back on the trail and looking for the turn off towards Artist Point, do not be surprised at the lack of trail signs indicating the path you should take. Just know, if you reach Clear Lake, you have gone too far.

After turning off towards Artist Point, you will pass another lake, Lily Pad Lake.

However, soon after Lily Pad Lake, you will arrive back to the rim of canyon where you will spend the next 2 miles experiencing some of the most beautiful views.

This trek along the canyon is my favorite way to view the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park.

To break away from the crowds and be able to take your time experiencing the magnitude of the canyon, is a must do in my opinion.

It was not a difficult trail and is actually fairly level, for most of it, but we did not turn around at Ribbon Lake and ended up going down hill and then back up hill at one point which added a smidgen of elevation and difficulty to our trail.

From this trail you can see clear down the canyon. You get the full impact of how great of a canyon it truly is.

I don’t find that you get that same impact from the north rim.

If you are all about waterfalls, walking back from Artist Point to Uncle Tom’s Point parking area you will be able to get up close to one of the falls.

This is also where you could take the famous Uncle Tom’s Point trail, but it is currently closed due to maintenance.

I want to apologize about the lack of pictures and the quality of pictures. I had technical difficulties with my SD card in my phone, and it was raining, so I did not want to take my camera out too much.

Below, highlighted in red, is the path we took along this trail. We unfortunately did not go all they way to Point Sublime, as far as we know. We never saw any indication of where Point Sublime was while on the trail.

As always, with any trail you hike, prepare for a longer adventure than what you expect when setting out.

Trails are not always clearly marked.

It can be easy to get turned around.

Make sure you have enough in your pack to see you through a worst-case scenario.

I will soon release a list of what we carry with us on every hike, to give ideas on what you should have in your pack.