Panorama Point Loop Trail

A flat loop hike in Kodachrome Basin State Park studded with rock spires called "pipes."

Trail description

After going through a split rail fence, you take the trail as it crosses a small wash, and traverses a sandy bench. Though the trail is open to bicycles, it is soft sand, which makes it less than optimal for biking. Horses also use this part of the trail. The trail soon heads directly for a bluff of Entrada Sandstone, one of the most dominant geological formations in the park, and to three of the sedimentary “pipes” — the curious rock formations that tantalize geologists and visitors alike. You soon reach a gate at the base of the southernmost pipe, where the trail climbs a small hill. At the top of the hill you get your first view into the large colorful basin of rolling terrain that the trail circumnavigates.

At about 0.4 mile, another trail comes in from the left. This is the trail you will return on to complete the loop, so continue straight ahead. The trail wanders along the base of the cliff and soon you come to Indian Cave, where visitors have rubbed their fingers in the soft sandstone, creating numerous parallel grooves in the rock.

Ballerinas and hats?

A couple hundred yards beyond Indian Cave, the trail arrives at Ballerina Spire, one of the more dramatic pipes in the park. The trail then crosses a drainage and arrives at a small basin called the Hat Shop, named for the numerous small Entrada spires topped by erosion-resistant sandstone slabs. As the trail follows along the base of the butte that defines the northern edge of the basin, it crosses a number of washes. You pass a pipe that is about seven feet high, one of the shortest in the park.

At 1.6 miles you arrive at the junction with the Secret Passage Loop, a short side trip. To take the loop, turn right and follow the trail as it crosses several sandy hummocks. The trail crosses some solid slickrock and passes between some remarkably smooth and symmetrical beehive-shaped sandstone features. You go through a narrow passage that is about 50 feet long, and then return to the Panorama Point Trail about 100 feet from the first junction. Go right.

About a hundred yards after rejoining the trail, you reach the junction with the Cool Cave Trail. Bear left at the junction unless you want to add a couple of miles to the hike by visiting Cool Cave, a deep alcove below a pouroff. After leaving the junction, the trail wanders across a sandy bench. Two more pipes appear on the left, one of which has an interesting spiral twist at the top. Piñon and juniper trees are scattered along the trail. 

The trail reaches Mammoth Spire Overlook about 0.3 mile from the Cool Cave junction. Mammoth Spire, in the basin that the Cool Cave Trail crosses, is the largest pipe in the park. A couple hundred feet past the overlook, the trail that goes to Cool Cave rejoins the Panorama Point Trail. After another 0.4 mile, you reach the junction with the trail to Panorama Point and the trail that returns to the trailhead. To go to Panorama Point continue straight ahead. After visiting the point, you will return to this junction.

Panorama Point

After leaving the junction, the trail goes between two large sandstone buttes, then winds along the top of a ridge with sweeping views to both sides. It then jogs up and down along the base of a sandstone outcropping. After a short steep climb, the trail arrives at Panorama Point, about three miles from the trailhead.

From Panorama Point, Bryce Canyon and the high Paunsaugunt Plateau are splashed across the western horizon in brilliant colors—from the blue-green of the forests to the pink and white of the Claron Formation, the dominant geological formation in Bryce Canyon National Park. Towards the south, the rolling terrain of the Skutumpah Terrace, cut by several canyons and topped by Mollie’s Nipple, can be seen. The colorful formations and jutting spires of Kodachrome Basin spread out to the northeast.

After savoring the expansive views, return along the same trail to the junction, where you bear right to return to the trailhead. The trail crosses a grassy bench—the sandstone butte on your right is named Hogan Temple—and gently descends to the stream that drains the basin you just circumnavigated. It then climbs up a long slope to the first junction, which completes the loop. Turn right at the junction to return to the trailhead. 

Directions

From Cannonville, Utah (about 12 miles east of Bryce Canyon National Park on UT 12), drive south 9 miles on the paved Cottonwood Canyon Road. Turn left at the park entrance where the pavement on the Cottonwood Road ends. The parking lot for the Panorama Point trail is on the east side of the main entrance road about a half mile before the campground, or a few hundred feet from the convenience store and cabins. The trail begins on the west side of the entrance road across from the parking lot.