Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon National Park is unique for many reasons. It’s actually one of the smaller national parks, but there is a whole lot of natural beauty packed into this 35,835 acre park. It’s also unique because you enter the park from the canyon ridge, with everything below you. It makes for a very different perspective when you are accustomed to looking up at mountains rather than down. Instead of mountains, the landscape is made up of spires, hoodoos and other geological features given names such as Thor’s Hammer, Queen Victoria, Three Wisemen and Wall Street. It’s a spectacle of natural beauty millions of years in the making and constantly changing through erosion.

Because Bryce Canyon is relatively small, you would think that a day or two is all you need. Although you can experience Bryce Canyon in a day or two, you would be missing out on so much in and around the park. We spent 12 days camping at Ruby’s Inn RV Park which was a sufficient amount of time to check off everything on our list. Ruby’s is located just outside the national park gate and has its own shuttle bus stop, so its super convenient.

The main part of Bryce Canyon is coined the Bryce Amphitheater. This is where you can drive or take the shuttle bus (recommended) to the seven viewpoints including the Visitors Center. From these viewpoints you can just take a short walk to observe the amazing landscape or access one of the many hikes (more on that in a minute) into the canyon. Although there are many short hikes, remember, in this case, what goes down, must come back up. It’s a steep climb on any of these trails in and out of the canyon. whether hiking or not, we recommend stopping at all of these viewpoints.

Although the Bryce Amphitheater is the “main” part of the park, there is actually more to experience. For the other areas you will need to drive. Taking the main park road further south continues along the canyon ridge to viewpoints such as Natural Bridge, and ultimately Rainbow Point, 18 miles at the end of the road to the highest point in the park at 9,100 feet. This area of the park opened just as we arrived, late due to the historic winter snowfall. Don’t miss this less traveled part of the park. There’s also one additional stop on the northern part of the Amphitheater called Fairyland Point. This side road takes you to another viewpoint and its namesake trail.

So, what were our favorite hikes in the park you ask? Although we were limited to some degree due to some trail closures caused by extensive runoff from the aforementioned record snowfall, the hikes we did were phenomenal.

Rim Trail

This was a good hike on day 1 to get acclimated. As you would expect, this hike actually traverses the ridge of the canyon for up to 11 miles or wherever you want to stop. These one-way hikes are one of the reasons the shuttle bus is a good plan. We took the bus to Bryce Point and then hiked the Rim to about the halfway point at Sunrise Point, stopping at all the viewpoints along the way. This was a great introduction of the park.

Queens Garden

This is a very popular hike often referred to as the Sunrise and Sunset Point hike. You access the trailhead at Sunrise Point, and then optimally connect with Navajo to create a 3-mile loop back to Sunset point. Navajo was closed when we were there so this was an up and back that we combined with Peek-A-Boo (see below). Although this hike was crowded it was really cool getting down in the geological wonderland. Be sure to take it just a little further and see the Queen Victoria structure.

Peek-A-Boo Loop

The trailhead to this 5.5-mile hike is from Bryce Point but it was closed so we did this hike as a combo with Queens Garden. It made for a 8-mile strenuous hike that was absolutely amazing. The hike traverses through a large portion of the park, going up and down, through tunnels, across ridges and around bends. It is incredible, you are truly emersed in all of the geological amazement. I vote this #1 hike in Bryce, although we might have preferred doing this as two separate hikes if Navajo and the entrance to Peek-A-Boo were open.

Mossy Cave

Although technically part of the national park, this hike is outside the gates so no park pass is required. It’s a short and popular hike that is highlighted by two features. First… a mossy cave that is also a natural snow and ice sculpture in the winter. There was still some of that left in our early May visit. The other feature is a beautiful creek leading to a short waterfall. A little diversion in the trail allows you to get up close and personally with the waterfall. Plan to go here early as the small parking lot fills up quickly.

Fairyland Loop

If you are up to a bit more challenge than the Peek-A-Boo loop and want to hike the rest of the Amphitheater, this hike might be for you. Its 8 miles and listed as strenuous. We opted not do do this since we had hiked so many trails already inside and outside of the park

Beyond the National Park

As mentioned previously, although you could technically cover Bryce Canyon in 2-3 days, you would be missing so much more in the area such as:

Slot Canyons

If you enjoy hiking slot canyons, the Bryce area has a couple of great options. Although getting to these canyons is not always easy, they are well worth the journey. First on our list is Willis Creek Slot Canyon (Narrows). This is actually a series of several slot canyons that you hike in and out of through the first part of the trail, then it opens up a bit more on the second half. We thought is was beautiful the whole way, but many opt to turn around after the last slot canyon. There is a small creek that traverses through the canyon, that the dogs absolutely loved (along with their baths later). There are two hidden (small) waterfalls along the first part that should not be missed. Getting there requires a 6 mile journey off the pavement, that if not wet can be navigated by most vehicles but preferably a high clearance vehicle. A really fun day!

The other option is the Cottonwood Narrows. To get there you will need to drive the northern half of Cottonwood Canyon road, an amazing scenic OHV road that goes between highway 12 and US 89. Just before you get to the south (recommended starting point) trailhead you will pass through an area called Candyland. Let you imagination wonder of what this might look like and you’re probably pretty close. This slot canyon is equally as beautiful as Willis Creek, albeit completely different. Rather than a creek, there is a sand base through the canyon. The canyon isn’t as narrow, but the canyon walls are much taller and more dramatic. There is a short rock scramble at the beginning but after that it’s all flat. Don’t miss a couple of short turnouts on the trail that are incredible. This is an easy and extremely rewarding 3.7 mile up and back hike. With the bonuses of a scenic drive and Candyland, this one can’t be missed. Oh, and on the way back take a short detour to Grosvenor Arch, a large double arch structure named after the president of the National Geographic Society.

Kodachrome Basin State Park

The national parks are not the only draw in most places, often the state parks in the area are just as much if not more of a treat. Kodachrome (named appropriately after the Kodak film), approximately 30 minutes from Bryce Canyon, is no exception to this rule. After paying an entry fee you can simply drive through the small park or opt for one of the many hiking trails. We hiked Panorama Trail Long Loop which allowed us to see so much more of the beauty than is available from the road, including an amazing canyon/cave (don’t miss this turnoff) and an incredible vista overlook. There is also some RV camping available in this very scenic park that would be an excellent option for you RV’ers.

Red Canyon

If you have time this is another great option for scenic views and hiking. The Red Canyon area is 9 miles from Bryce Canyon through Scenic Highway 12. This may be the route you drive in from to get to Bryce which has the two rock tunnels. We hiked the Pink Ledges, Bird’s Eye and Photo Trail Loop which was an enjoyable hike in some slightly different terrain.

Off-road Trails

There’s a variety of off-road trails in the area. We spent a long day exploring parts of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and made a large loop out of Left Hand Collet Canyon Road, Hole-in-the-Rock Trail and Smoky Mountain Road. Although the stretch of washboard roads we traveled through were a bit much, the beautiful canyons we went through made it all worthwhile. It was all pretty easy trails except for one interesting part that the (un-lifted) Jeep did a fine job with. If you plan on visiting the Page Arizona area, you might opt to save this for that stop since it will be closer to get to.

As you might know by now, we like to find the hidden local eat places along the way. The little town of Tropic, in the valley of Bryce Canyon provided three exceptional spots to please our palates:

• Bryce Canyon Coffee Company – We stopped in here 3-4 times for a delightful cup of refreshment. Each time the service was equally as good as the coffee. Five stars!
• i.d.k. Barbecue – Barbeque in Utah? We were skeptical but this place did not disappoint. Excellent barbeque but you must save room for the Apple Cobbler served float style in a cone with vanilla ice cream and whip cream.
• Stone Hearth Grill – If the beautiful setting and sunset mountain views from the deck aren’t enough to impress you the 5-star dinner certainly will. Great steaks and spectacular wines. What a surprise this was!

This is only our 2nd of 9 stops in Utah and it has not disappointed at all. Incredible beauty like no other place! Be sure to check out all of our pictures of Bryce Canyon National Park and surrounding areas.