I'm the kind of person who has to see it from all angles, photograph it and then decide which to recommend others skip.

Of the following which would you skip (photos?):
Inspiration Point
Lookout Pount
Redrock Point
Upper falls Viewpoint
Uncle Tom's Trail
Artist Point
Brink of the Upper Falls
Brink of the Lower Falls

Personal opinion,,,Lookout Point.

The Brink of the lower falls is fabulous - you should try to get to the Grand Primastic Springs at the I think Midway Geyser Basin - my photos are unreal!!! We loved Yellowstone!

Myer,
I even spelled it right this time.

I take decent pics, but mine "at the brink" aren't that great. But, it was my favorite spot. Being up close is sort of like Niagra- All about the power There is another waterfall that we say along the rim trail that is pretty impressive. Don't miss Tower Fall- it is just a pretty as Canyon in my opinion. Don't be suprised if you find a few closed trails throughtout the park. Most of the "points" are pretty much at the same angle, just a greater distance from the falls, but then you get more of the Canyon in the pic. I would imagine one hike to the bottom will be enough, it is fairly strenuous back up.

In Canyon area, there is a sub shop that we got sandwiches at, which made a good picnic while on the trails.

spiro,

I realize the walk back up is strenuous. As i wrote, I'm the kind of guy who has to do it all (I went to Delicate Arch twice for sunsets because it was cloudy the first time). As long as it's easy. I'll have to spread out the ones I decide on to give my legs some recovery time. The training I do before these trips should help again.

My opinion:

* Artist Point is a must-- no hiking involved, best viewpoint in my opinion.

* At either brink of upper or lower falls, you can get the feeling of power, so if pressed for time, could choose one or other.

* We decided to do 2 of the steeper walks- Uncle Tom and Brink of Lower-- Uncle Tom is nice because it gets you closer to the lower falls with a straight on view, Brink of the Lower gets you close to the top. If I had to choose one, I would choose Uncle Tom.

*If I remember correctly(without going back to consult my map), Upper Falls viewpoint was maybe in the same parking area as Uncle Tom, and was just a short walk to the lookout, so easy to see at same time as Uncle Tom.

*We did the South Rim first, then North Rim, and except for the brink of falls view points, we felt the North Rim view points were less amazing than Artist Point and the South Rim, and I did not even take pics sometimes. If I had to do it over again, I would have gone in reverse, and went to Artist Point last, as this was my favorite view.

janeq,

Thanks.

It does look like Upper Falls Viewpoint is not far from Uncle Tom's Trail.

On the north side I've seen photos taken from Red Rock Point that are amazing. Anyone done that? That's a pretty steep boardwalk. I guess being at about 7,000 ft doesn't help.

Well, I hiked all day at Bryce and Arches so I'll have to survive this.

The photos I've seen make the view from Artist Point spectacular.

I like your idea of doing South last.

They are all pretty close together and most are fairly short so it doesn't take too long. Lots of people are doing them that would never hike anywhere.

It is a pretty good hike (steps) down to Uncle Tom's Trail and the brink but both are worth it. They aren't anything you would have to train for though.

Artist Point and the brink are my favorites.

I wouldn't skip any of them. Also would add Crystal Falls. None of them are that strenuous or long.(considering you have hiked Delicate Arch) You are at a high altitude, but can stop along the way. You can also hike along the rim, stopping at all the highlights along the way. I think you can arrange to have someone pick you up at the end and take you back to Canyon (arrange it at the lodge). In fact, sometimes parking at the different viewpoints is so crowded you actually won't be doing that much more walking going that route. It is a long day doing both the north and south rim and stopping everywhere, but we have done it that way. You may also consider walking the south rim and including the clear/ribbon lake loop (haven't been on that yet because the trail wasn't open the last couple of times we were there, but definitely on our to do list). Maybe you could do the south rim one day in the am and the north rim another. I thought the Mt. Washburn hike was way more strenuous -- mainly because of the altitude, although other people were walking up it without a problem.