Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour: A Lovely Way to See Bryce Canyon in One Day

According to the National Park Service, the Rainbow Point Tour has been discontinued and is no longer available.  Check out this NPS site to research commercial tours and services that may be available during your visit.

Pressed for time, but want to see the highlights of Bryce Canyon?  A week prior to our trip, we were able to book the free Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour offered by Bryce Canyon National Park, and we highly recommend it!  This is a great way to see Bryce Canyon in one day.

This tour takes you beyond the regular shuttle circuit that circulates every few minutes during operating hours.  Our tour was one of only two guided tours that leave each day and lasts for about 4 hours.  During the tour, you are taken out to Rainbow Point and back, stopping at a few of the park’s famous vistas.

Our Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour Experience

After leaving a snowy Cedar Breaks National Monument, I was very happy to get to spend time among the hoodoos.

We boarded for our 1 pm tour time and were in the company of 38 other park visitors that were happy to catch a ride.  Picking up folks from Ruby’s Inn, the parks campground, the Visitor Center and the Bryce Canyon Lodge, we then were entertained and enlightened by our witty and knowledgeable tour guide.

Our tour was complete with good humor as well as stories about Butch Cassidy, the park wildlife, an explanation of controlled burns within the park, and an overview of geology and the formation of hoodoos.  The following stops were made:

• Yovimpa Point and Rainbow Point (9,115 feet elevation)
• Agua Canyon (8,800 feet elevation)
• Natural Bridge (8,627 feet elevation)
• Farview Point (8,819 feet elevation)
• Fairyland Point (7,758 feet elevation) – this was an additional stop that we made after most of the folks exited at the Visitor Center, and this was my favorite stop of the day!

How much time do you get at each stop?

It took about 30-40 minutes to drive out to Rainbow Point.  After all of the pickups were made, no additional stops at any of the views were made on the way out to Rainbow Point.  Once we arrived, the shuttle was parked, and we spent about an hour off the bus walking first to Yovimpa Point and then to Rainbow Point.

On the way back, we stopped at the other view points, spending about 10 minutes or so at each spot.

What you need to know to book your own Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour

As mentioned before, the Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour is different from the typical circuit shuttles that run every few minutes by the Visitor Center and popular stops in the Canyon.  Rainbow Point is located far beyond the regular shuttle circuit.

Because it only operates twice a day during the summer, and because only 40 or so folks can take any given tour, you will have the best chance of securing a seat if you call ahead.

When should you book the tour?

On the park’s website, it is stated that you can call up to a week in advance by calling 435-834-5290.  In order to make sure that we got a spot, I set a reminder on my phone’s calendar a week out from when we were planning to visit so that I would be reminded to call.  If you are committed to visiting on a certain date, I recommend that you do this as well.

There were a couple of no shows on our tour, and there were several people that were interested in taking their spot.  Our guide made every effort to accommodate those “riding standby”, but ultimately, all 40 spots on our tour were reserved.

What information do you provide the staff when you call?

When I called, I spoke with park staff, and they recorded the number of visitors in our party, our names, and the date and time that we were reserving.  The tour is free so there is no need to provide payment information.  One additional piece of information that I was asked to provide was where we would like to be picked up (at the bus station, the Visitor Center, etc.)

Where do you get picked up for the Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour? 

Since this was our first visit to Bryce Canyon, I wasn’t sure where the best place was to get picked up.  I defaulted to the Shuttle Station because it sounded like a legit place to board (😊 logical choice, right?).  The Shuttle Station is located in between Ruby’s Inn and the entrance station to the park.  There is ample parking here.  It is a bit down the road from the Visitor Center (which is where we parked originally – rookie mistake).  Here’s a visual of the pickup stops from the NPS website.

Having completed the tour, I can share that the first pickup spot was the Shuttle Station (where we boarded).  About a quarter of the folks on our tour boarded here.  The Shuttle also stopped at Ruby’s Inn, the campsite/lodging area across the street from Ruby’s Inn, the Visitor Center and the Bryce Canyon Lodge.  The most popular pickup spot was the Visitor Center (about half of the folks boarded here).

Boarding at the Shuttle Station meant that we were the first on the bus, and the last off of the bus.  This also meant that we got the benefit of the additional stop at Fairyland Point – a stop that was made after the folks that had boarded at the Visitor Center and Lodge had been dropped off.

What should you take on the tour?

We were allowed to take food and drinks.  We also brought our day packs, jackets and cameras.  You will be getting on and off the shuttle at each of 5 or 6 stops.  When we got off of the shuttle at each stop, we left our packs on the bus and opted to only take our cameras.

I would also recommend wearing comfortable shoes / hiking boots.  You will have the opportunity to walk to Yovimpa Point and Rainbow Point which are short jaunts from the parking area.  You walk with the group along a paved path which is pretty flat, but having comfortable shoes makes such a walk more enjoyable.

Conclusion – A Great Way to See Bryce Canyon in One Day!

Visiting Bryce Canyon National Park was one of the highlights of our Road Trip from Las Vegas.  We recommend the Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour as a great way to see the beautiful Bryce Canyon in one day in the park!