You need to blink a couple of times quickly to ensure you are seeing what you are seeing when you see Bryce Canyon National Park. That’s due to the fact that the mix of fairy smokeshafts, amphitheaters, as well as gorgeous pink as well as orange rock will certainly make you seem like you’ve taken a trip to one more world. Bryce Canyon National Park rests on Utah Scenic Byway 12 as well as becomes part of Utah’s Might 5 National Parks.
Bryce Canyon National Park is a walker’s heaven, including amazing tracks that deal differed landscapes as well as trouble degrees. The Fairyland Loop is just one of our faves, winding via the magical Fairyland amphitheater as well as showcasing amazing rock developments. Another path worth discovering is the Mossy Cave Trail, a much less laborious course bring about a unique water-formed cavern. For a fascinating trip right into Bryce Canyon’s heart, the Navajo Loop Trail is a must, using remarkable sights of the park’s well-known hoodoos. Each path at Bryce Canyon offers a unique experience, appealing memorable experiences as well as these are simply a few of our faves.
Beautiful Hikes in Bryce Canyon
You can discover Bryce Canyon by checking out a forget or treking for the day. The United States has lots of national forests, yet Bryce Canyon National Park has most likely reached be among one of the most one-of-a-kind. That’s as a result of the rock developments that being in the park as well as these sorts of developments are located in couple of various other areas all over the world.
Just the drive alone along Utah Scenic Byway 12 will certainly offer you a few of one of the most spectacular landscapes you will certainly see in your life. The 2.5-hour drive in between Capitol Reef National Park as well as Bryce Canyon National Park is just one of one of the most beautiful drives on this picturesque freeway. Bryce Canyon is likewise appropriate beside the bigger Zion National Park, which suggests you can integrate a check out to Zion, Capitol Reef, as well as Bryce Canyon national forests for your vacation.
As with several various other national forests, you can remain over night yet you will certainly need to obtain a license. You can obtain a license from the park’s site visitors facility. There are several brief as well as simple walkings in the component that you can do so you don’t require to remain over night if you don’t intend to.
Up next we’re mosting likely to inform you everything about the 11 ideal Bryce Canyon Hikes You Have to Do. Visit the Bryce Canyon National Park Website for problems, closures, as well as allow info.
1. Navajo Loop Trail
The Navajo Loop Trail is likewise its very own loophole as well as you can do it without consisting of the Queens Garden Trail. If you intend to come down to company as well as go from the canyon edge to the valley flooring after that the Navajo Loop Trail is just one of the very best out of every one of Bryce Canyon’s treking tracks for you.
You can reach this stunning walk from Sunset Point and after that decrease via the port canyon of Wall Street as well as to the Bryce Amphitheater flooring.
As you get down you’ll see Thor’s Hammer as well as the Two Bridge’s rock developments. The path twists via the all-natural amphitheater, a phenomenon so grand it seems like a various world. Each action brings with it a brand-new viewpoint on this unusual landscape.
As you crest the edge of the canyon, finishing the loophole, you are welcomed by the view of the large Bryce Amphitheater extending under you. It is rather the view. The path is a 1.4-mile loophole yet it’s a high path back which is why it is frequently called a harder walk than various other tracks.
Trail Length: 1.5 Miles (2.4 kilometres) Loop Trailhead: Sunset Campground / Sunset Point Difficulty Level: Moderate Duration: 1-2 Hours
2. Rim Trail
This is just one of the very best Bryce Canyon walkings for landscape sights of the entire park. The Rim Trail can be a high climb in areas with an altitude gain of 1754 feet as well as evaluating the edge isn’t for the pale of heart. The high descent takes some power as well as persistence too.
Setting out from Fairyland Point in the north, the path begins with a modest climb. Despite the difficulty, the view of the Bryce Amphitheater distant will certainly maintain you inspired.
The path delicately swells, weaving in between collections of ponderosa yearn as well as old Douglas firs. Various point of views show up along the path, as well as every one supplies a brand-new viewpoint of the amphitheater as well as the maze of red-orange hoodoos listed below.
The path after that winds in the direction of Sunrise Point, as well as from below, the Bryce Amphitheater expands in all its greatness, a phenomenon of all-natural style that’s genuinely humbling. The path bring about Sunset Point obtains even more difficult yet excusable. As you advance you pass Inspiration Point as well as Bryce Point up until you come down in the direction of Rainbow Point, which is the acme in the park.
The Rim Trail can be accessed from Fairyland Point or from Bryce Point, which can be accessed on the park’s shuttle bus. The Rim Trail possibly provides you the very best sights of the apexes as well as hoodoos of the entire amphitheater. You can take the Navajo Loop Trail, the Queen’s Garden Trail, or the Fairyland Loop Trail down right into the amphitheater if you intend to.
Trail Length: 5.5 Miles (9.16 kilometres) – One method Bryce Point to Fairyland Point Elevation: 1,754 feet Hiking Time: 3 to 4 hrs Difficulty Level: Moderate Notes: You can do this as a round-trip walk or you can park at the shuttle bus Station as well as take the shuttle bus to Bryce Point to trek the path one method. When returning, flag the shuttle bus down for a trip back.
3. Sunrise Point – Sunset Point Trail
For a simple walk as well as a level one as well, this one-mile walk with spectacular sights of Bryce Canyon National Park is ideal. The path starts at Sunset Point as well as mosts likely to Sunrise Point. You stroll along the edge of the yard as well as the stroll from one indicate the various other is simply 0.5 a mile.
Along the method, you obtain large sights of the canyon as well as hundreds of hoodoos. You can likewise time it to ensure that you begin your stroll at sunup or finish it at sundown. Also, understand that this path is led as well as mobility device easily accessible in the cold weather. It’s likewise the only path in the park that you can take your family pets on. This is a terrific alternative if you don’t have the moment to do the complete Rim Trail.
Trail Length: .5 Miles (.8 kilometres) – 1-mile return walk. (1.6 kilometres) Hiking Time: half an hour Trailhead: Sunset Point Parking Lot Difficulty Level: Easy Notes: This is the only path in the park where you can bring your family pets.
4. Tower Bridge Trail
The Tower Bridge path is just one of one of the most prominent for individuals treking in Bryce Canyon. That’s due to the fact that it provides you a preference of the various surface of Bryce Park as well as it is a fairly simple walk.
The trailhead rests at Sunset Point as well as from there you can trek bent on Tower Bridge. It’s a rather modest 3-mile big salami trek, yet what it does not have in size, it greater than offsets in the phenomenon of the landscape.
Named for its similarity to its name in London, the Tower Bridge is a sensational all-natural rock development that stands happily versus the horizon. Two significant rock towers, attached by an apparently perilous arc, comprise this all-natural monolith. The dimension as well as elaborate nature of this framework is a testimony to the power of geological pressures.
You’ll be falling 950 feet as well as obtain that altitude gain back as you raise in a clockwise instructions. There are opportunities of seeing serpents as well as various other wild animals when you trek on the path. To make it much easier on your feet, put on excellent treking boots.
Trail Length 3.0 miles Hiking Time: 2-3 hrs Elevation: 802 feet Difficulty: Moderate Trailhead: Sunrise Point
5. Bryce Point to Sunrise Point
Think of this treking path as the buffet of all tracks in Bryce Canyon National Park. This walk is 5.4 miles long as well as will certainly offer you a preference of a great deal. You can obtain left at Bryce Point as well as from there take the attractive walk to Sunset Point as well as on the Navajo Loop Trail which will certainly take you listed below the edge.
Then you reach fall right into Wall Street, where you will lastly recognize what an ant seems like because room in between both items of a walkway. From there you’ll head to the Queen’s Garden hoodoo as well as afterwards, you’ll travel along to Sunrise Point.
The Queen’s Garden Navajo Loop is taken into consideration a modest walk. It can obtain unsafe so if you have equilibrium problems it would certainly be an excellent suggestion to have sticks as well as treking boots.
Trail Length: 5.4 Miles (8.7km) Hiking Time: 2 hours 30 Minutes Trailhead: Bryce Point Difficulty Level: Moderate
6. Queen’s Garden Trail and Navajo Combination Loop
The Queens Garden Trail and Navajo Trail come together to make a 2.9-mile loop. It has a 629-foot elevation change and gives you views of some of the most iconic points in Bryce Canyon National Park. To do the Queen’s Garden Navajo Loop, you can park your vehicle at the Sunset Point Parking Lot and head onto the Navajo Trail.
If you come here early enough, it is the perfect spot to see one of the most magical views in the park as the sun rises and lights up all the hoodoos. From the parking lot, you’ll head towards Wall Street, which is essentially a narrow point in the canyon.
From the rim of the canyon, you’ll be able to see Thor’s Hammer, which is one of the famous hoodoos in the park because it looks like the hammer is about to drop any minute. From here you’re going to get on the Queens Garden Trail portion of the loop and there you will see the Queen Victoria hoodoo. The Two Bridges hoodoo will also be along here too.
Trail Length: 3 Miles (4.7 kilometres) Hiking Time: 3 Hours Difficulty Level: Moderate Notes: Start at the Sunrise Trailhead to Queens Garden Trail and hike counter-clockwise to join the Navajo Trail Loop
7. Mossy Cave Trail
This is one of the prettiest trails in Bryce Canyon National Park and it’s one of the easiest. The Mossy Cave trail distance is 1 mile long and you can reach it from the Mossy Cave Trailhead. The trail takes you along a stream and to a grotto. At one point along your path, you have the choice of continuing along the stream.
If you continue with the stream, you will end up at a waterfall and if you go left you, will head into the natural grotto. Although the Mossy Cave Trail is a short hike, you do get a chance to get up close and personal with the hoodoos without actually having to climb down into the Bryce Canyon National Park amphitheater.
Trail Length: 1 Mile (1.6 km) return Difficulty Level: Easy Notes: This is one of the busier trails in Bryce Canyon NP so arrive early to beat the crowds and to find a parking space.
8. Bryce Point to Bryce Canyon Lodge
If you’re visiting Bryce Canyon National Park with family members of varying ages, taking the Bryce Point to Bryce Canyon Lodge trail along the canyon rim is a good idea. It is a 2.5-mile hike of a portion of the Rim Trail with a descent of 300 feet.
You can get everyone on the park shuttle and get dropped off at Bryce Point. From here you can walk along and take in the hoodoos and spires of the Bryce Canyon National Park amphitheater. You will pass Inspiration Point on your hike before you end up at Bryce Canyon Lodge. Despite the jaw-dropping views, this is one of the easiest hikes in Bryce Canyon.
Trail Length: 2.5 Miles (4.02 km) one-way hike Difficulty Level: Easy Notes: Take the shuttle to Bryce Point and end at the lodge
9. The Bristlecone Loop
Bristlecone Point is certainly not one of the crowded trails in Bryce Canyon National Park. That might have to do with the fact that it’s very high up and you’ve got to drive to the trailhead at Rainbow Point. However, the views from Rainbow Point are just spectacular and the views of Bristlecone pine trees are beautiful.
When you get to Rainbow Point, you’ll be climbing up to the highest point in Bryce Canyon National Park at 9100 feet when you get into the thick of the Bristlecone pines. Some people come to the area just to see the Bristlecone pines. Do you know that the oldest ones in the park are 1500 years old?
Bristlecones look unique and can hold onto their pine needles for almost half a century. You can see them during your hike. In fact, hiking in this part of Bryce Canyon National Park can be as difficult or as easy as you want.
The entire park can be seen from lookouts, but hikes like the Bristlecone Loop give you a chance to experience the elevation gain and bring you from the heat of Utah up into the cool temperatures. It’s a good idea to get some hiking boots for the Bristlecone Loop to make it more comfortable for you.
Trail Length: 1 Mile (1.6 km) Trailhead: Rainbow Point Difficulty Level: Easy
10. Sheep Creek and Swamp Canyon Trail Loop
This loop trail is 4.1 miles long and is considered a moderate to difficult hike in Bryce Canyon because of the steep climbs at the higher points on the trail. There is an elevation change of 650 feet. The Swamp Canyon Trail is a 1.3-mile trail that has an elevation change of 650 feet. The trailhead is located at Swamp Canyon Overlook. From here you’re going to be heading out on the rim of the Sheep Creek Canyon.
You’ll be wandering across forest and valley and return along the Swamp Canyon Trail. Although you don’t see much of the hoodoos until the ends of the trail. The wildflowers and meadows in the canyons provide a whole different experience. You can also get a good view of the Bruce Canyon Amphitheatre.
Trail Length: 4.1 Miles (7.2 km) Trailhead: Swamp Canyon Overlook Difficulty Level: Moderate
11. Fairyland Loop Trail
The Fairyland Loop Trail is a day hike as it is 8 miles long but it is well worth it as you are walking up close and personal among the hoodoos. The trailhead sits at Fairyland Point which you can reach via shuttle, alternatively, you can also get on the trail from the north campground.
But if you’re not actually staying at the campground then Fairyland Point would be your best bet. The road to the trailhead however is closed in the winter so then you’ll have to get to the trail from Sunrise Point. You will experience an elevation change of more than 2000 feet.
The Fairyland Loop hike will take you between Fairy Point and Sunset Point. Sunset Point can also be reached via shuttle. It will take around 5 hrs as well as because of that is one of the more difficult hikes in Bryce Canyon.
Trail Length: 8 Miles (12.6km) Trailhead: Fairland Point Difficulty Level: Moderate
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most popular hike in Bryce Canyon?
The most popular hike in Bryce Canyon is the Navajo Loop Trail. This trail offers visitors a fantastic opportunity to experience the iconic hoodoos up close as well as explore the stunning natural amphitheaters of the park. The Navajo Loop Trail is known for its unique rock formations, beautiful vistas, as well as a relatively moderate level of difficulty.
Where is the best hike to see the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon?
To witness the breathtaking hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, one of the best hikes is the Queen’s Garden Trail. This trail showcases a variety of stunning rock formations, including numerous hoodoos, spires, and colorful cliffs, offering a remarkable and up-close view of Bryce Canyon’s unique landscape.
What is the hardest hike in Bryce Canyon?
One of the most challenging hikes in Bryce Canyon National Park is known as the “Under the Rim Trail.” This extensive trail stretches for approximately 23 miles (37 kilometers) from Rainbow Point to Bryce Point, following the park’s eastern edge.
Which is better for hiking Zion or Bryce?
If you prefer dramatic canyons, river hikes, and a variety of trail options, Zion National Park might be the better choice for you. If you are fascinated by hoodoos and want to explore otherworldly rock formations, Bryce Canyon National Park would be a great fit. Both parks offer remarkable experiences, so if possible, consider visiting both to fully appreciate their unique features and enjoy a diverse range of hiking opportunities.
How to Get to Bryce Canyon National Park
The closest airport to Bryce Canyon is the Cedar City Regional Airport. You can fly from Las Vegas or Salt Lake City to this airport. There is a closer and smaller airport Bryce Canyon Airport that is for charter planes.
We visited Bryce Canyon on a road trip through the American Southwest. Check out CarRentals.com for price comparisons from the city you are leaving from.
The drive to Bryce Canyon is 4 hours from Las Vegas and 4 hours from Salt Lake City. Car rentals can be picked up at Las Vegas or Salt Lake City. Check price comparisons here.
Why not combine a road trip to Bryce Canyon National Park with the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park to see a few of one of the most amazing scenery in the United States?
Best Time to visit Bryce Canyon
Spring is the best time to visit Bryce Canyon as the weather starts to warm up. The snow begins to melt, and wildflowers bloom, adding vibrant colors to the landscape. The trails may still have some patches of snow early in the season, but as spring progresses, the conditions get better. Keep in mind that spring can be unpredictable, and occasional rain showers are possible.
Fall is another beautiful season to visit Bryce Canyon. The temperatures start to cool down, and the park’s foliage turns into stunning shades of red, orange, and gold. The trails are less crowded compared to the summer months, and the weather is generally pleasant for hiking.
Where to Stay near Bryce Canyon
If you’re looking to stay in the park, your best option is The Lodge at Bryce Canyon. If you’re looking to stay outside the park, I highly recommend the ones listed below.
Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn – the closest accommodations to Bryce Canyon National Park. Plus it has Indoor and Outdoor Swimming Pools and Spas. Bryce View Lodge – Just 3 miles (5.8 km) from Bryce Canyon this is an ideal location at an affordable price. Bryce Pioneer Village – 4.7 miles (7km) from Bryce Canyon National Park and offers cabins or hotel rooms.
How to Get Around
The easiest and most flexible way to get around Bryce Canyon is by renting a car or RV. The park has a well-developed road system that provides access to major viewpoints and trailheads. You can drive to various parking areas throughout the park and then hike or walk to the desired destinations.
They also offer a free shuttle service during the peak season (usually from late May to early September). The shuttle runs along the main road, making stops at various factors of interest, viewpoints, and trailheads. Utilizing the shuttle allows you to leave your lorry parked as well as enjoy the convenience of hop-on, hop-off transportation within the park.
Best Bryce Canyon Tours
If you want to get one of the most out of visiting the park as well as don’t really know where to start, these tours can really help. These are the ones we recommend for first-time visitors and hikers.
In conclusion
Bryce Canyon National Park offers a ton of incredible hiking experiences, each one immersing you in its unique and awe-inspiring landscape. Whether you are wanting to obtain up close with the Hoodoos or just take in the beautiful vistas, there is definitely something for everyone. Take our word for it, once you go hiking in Utah you will want to return again as well as again. I understand we do.
