Wall Street

Wall Street is a half-mile section of the Navajo Loop Trail that drops hikers into the only slot canyon inside Bryce Canyon National Park. The passage begins just below the rim at Sunset Point and descends through more than 20 tight switchbacks carved between limestone walls that rise 100 to 200 feet on either side. At the narrowest points, the canyon squeezes to just a few feet across.

Trail Route and Direction

The slot is part of the Navajo Loop, a 1.3-mile trail that begins and ends at Sunset Point. The loop has two sides: Wall Street to the south and Two Bridges to the north. NPS recommends hiking counter-clockwise, which means descending Wall Street first. This is the better direction for two reasons. The views looking down into the slot from above are worth having in front of you, and climbing the slightly less steep Two Bridges side on the way out is easier on tired legs at 8,000 feet.

Ancient Douglas Fir Trees

Near the bottom of Wall Street, several Douglas fir trees grow straight up from the canyon floor. Some are estimated at over 500 years old. Their trunks reach toward a narrow strip of sky, and the effect is striking enough that most hikers stop here regardless of how crowded the trail gets. This is also where many visitors turn around, but continuing through the full Navajo Loop adds very little distance and connects to the Queen's Garden Trail for a combined 3.3-mile loop that covers the best below-rim terrain in the park.

Best Times to Visit

Light reaches the floor of the slot canyon around midday. Between roughly **10:00 AM and 2:00 PM**, the sun illuminates the orange and pink limestone walls from above. Earlier and later, the canyon sits in deep shadow, which has its own appeal but makes photography harder.

For the smallest crowds, **start before 9:00 AM**. The Sunset Point parking lot fills by mid-morning in summer. The free park shuttle stops here from mid-April through mid-October and is the easiest way to avoid the parking crunch.

Seasonal Closures and Safety

Wall Street closes every winter, typically from **November through May**. Freezing temperatures and moisture cause frost wedging in the rock, and the NPS has documented more rockfall along this section than any other trail in the park. Routine winter closures have been standard since 2010. Even when Wall Street is closed, the Two Bridges side of the Navajo Loop stays open for below-rim access.

Check trail conditions at nps.gov or at the Visitor Center before planning your hike. Flash floods are also a risk during summer thunderstorm season (July through September). If rain is in the forecast, avoid the slot.

Thor's Hammer, the park's most photographed hoodoo, is visible from the upper switchbacks near Sunset Point. The Silent City spreads to the west, and the Temple of Osiris stands to the east. All of this is packed into a trail that most hikers finish in under two hours.