Parking
Start at the Cedar Point Nature Trail parking area off South Rim Drive.
Overview
About Cedar Point Nature Trail
Why go
- Two overlooks come after a very short walk
- Plant guideposts make it an interpretive stop
Heads up
- The unpaved trail is not wheelchair accessible
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Black Canyon of the Gunnison map
Full mapElevation7,857–7,887 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Black Canyon of the Gunnison alerts
- ClosureTomichi Route Closed; Gunnison Route Hazards from 2025 FireTomichi Route remains closed because of the 2025 South Rim Fire; inner-canyon access is limited to designated routes.Official details
- ClosureSouth Rim Fire-Affected Campground Areas and Winter Water OutagesSome South Rim Campground areas remain closed because of the 2025 South Rim Fire; drinking water is unavailable throughout the park for winter.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison Tour Guide
Your drive to Cedar Point Nature Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Cedar Point and the Plant Trail0:00 / 0:23
“Cedar Point is coming up, with a short nature trail to two overlooks facing Painted Wall.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Black Canyon of the Gunnison Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Painted Wall Overlook
- South Rim Chasm View
- Sunset View Overlook
- North Chasm View from the Campground
- 23 audio storiesacross Black Canyon of the Gunnison’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bighorn Sheep, Mule Deer, Red-tailed Hawk, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 13 trails, 29 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Cedar Point Nature Trail
A quick walk to the rimCedar Point Nature Trail is a short out-and-back from a parking area off South Rim Drive to two…
Cedar Point Nature Trail is a short out-and-back from a parking area off South Rim Drive to two overlooks above the Gunnison River. Plan for about 0.4 miles round trip and 20 to 30 minutes with time to read the plant signs. It is an easy way to see Painted Wall without committing to a longer rim hike; the path is unpaved and moderately sloped.
Follow the markersPlant-identification guideposts line the ground-surface path.
Plant-identification guideposts line the ground-surface path. The two overlooks sit at its end, so take the same route back to the parking area. There is no separate activity fee or reservation, though the park entrance fee may apply. Leashed dogs are allowed; the trail is not wheelchair accessible.
Look downriverThe overlooks face the Gunnison River below the canyon walls, with Painted Wall in view.
The overlooks face the Gunnison River below the canyon walls, with Painted Wall in view. For a photo, keep the river near the bottom of the frame and include the pale bands on the cliff; together they show the canyon's scale.
What Painted Wall is made ofPainted Wall is Colorado's tallest cliff, about 2,250 feet high.
Painted Wall is Colorado's tallest cliff, about 2,250 feet high. Its pale stripes are pegmatite veins cutting through much older metamorphic rock. The canyon exposes gneiss and schist formed roughly 1.7 billion years ago, while slow-cooling pegmatite produced crystals that can reach six feet long.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Black Canyon of the Gunnison
50 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
68 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
11 sightingsRed-tailed HawkMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
10 sightingsCooper's HawkMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
66 sightingsCollared LizardMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
164 sightingsFence LizardMost seen around 10 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
