One Epic Day in Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon is the most under-rated national park in Utah. With the most abundant hoodoos in the world, this is a must see location!
In this guide to Bryce Canyon National Park, I’ll cover everything you need to know to plan a perfect trip based on my experience visiting the park.
Let’s get started!
Bryce Canyon is open 24/7 every day of the year except the Visitor Center and Fee Booth are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
Park fees are $35 per vehicle which is valid for 7 days. If you’re planning on visiting multiple national parks an annual pass can be purchased for $80 and gives you access to all Federal fee areas for one year.
Parking is available at multiple trailheads, but is limited and fills up early.
A shuttle runs from Bryce Canyon City every 15 minutes from April through Mid-October and runs from 8am – 6pm early spring and late fall and runs 8am – 8pm during summer months.
When the shuttle is running, the park offers a free twice-daily guided tour to Rainbow point departing at 9am and 1:30pm. The roundtrip lasts about 3.5 hours and reservations can be made up to 7 days in advance.
Sunrise Over Main Bryce Amphitheater
If you are staying in Bryce Canyon City, it only takes about 10 minutes to get from your lodging into the park, so you won’t have to wake up too early to view the sunrise.
Get to the park 10-20 minutes before sunrise to get a parking spot and setup your camera
Trekker Tip: The Photopills app is a great way to determine time and location of sunrise.
If you want a shot directly into the sun, Sunset Point is the best option.
If you want a shot of the red colors of the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater, Sunrise Point may be a better choice.
Or you can setup anywhere along the path between these two spots as they are ~0.5 miles apart.
Queens Garden/Navajo Combination Loop
Distance: 2.9 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Change: 360 ft
Trailhead Access: Sunrise Point
Duration: 2-3 hours
Start from Sunrise Point and descend down the Queens Garden side of the loop trail. The path has some loose rocks, so hiking poles are good to help support yourself and take the strain off your knees on the way down.
Take the trail in a clockwise direction and take a quick detour off the loop to see the Queen Victoria hoodoo.
Continue along the trail and you’ll have an option to continue up the Wall Street side or the Two Bridges side of the Navajo Loop. If visiting in the winter, you must use the Two Bridges side to hike back up.
Trekker Tip: I’d recommend going up the Wall Street side to see the tight canyon views. This does require hiking up several switchbacks to get back up the mountain, but if you start this early in the day it should be fairly shaded. By going up the Wall Street side, once you reach the top, you can take a 1 minute detour down the Two Bridges side to see Thor’s Hammer hoodoo.
18-mile Scenic Drive to Rainbow Point
Hop in your car and drive down the scenic road towards Rainbow Point.
Trekker Tip: I recommend driving the entire length of the road and hitting all the viewpoints on the way back since they will all then be on the right side of the road.
Turn down the road towards Bryce Point and Inspiration Point. Note, Inspiration Point is ~15 minute uphill hike to the lookout.
Continue down the road to Fairyland Point.
Mossy Cave
Distance: 0.8 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Change: 200 ft
Trailhead Access: Southeast on HWY 12 from the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center. Parking can be found at the trailhead and additional overflow parking is another 1,000’ down the road if needed.
Duration: 1 hour
Follow the stream for a short walk up to the grotto to be rewarded with views of a small waterfall. You can even get under and behind the waterfall if you choose.
This is a great hike to do later in the day at the temperature warms up as it’s a shorter, easier hike.
You can easily spend more than 1 day at this park and we chose to split our time over 2 days to have a more relaxing trip. Some other hikes you can check out are:
Rim Trail
Distance: 1.0 - 11.0 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Change: 1,200 ft
Trailhead Access: Extends from Fairyland Point to Bryce Point
Duration: 1 - 7.5 hours
Walk around the rim of the Bryce Amphitheater to see the hoodoos.
Bristlecone Loop
Distance: 0.8 mile roundtrip
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Change: 200 ft
Trailhead Access: Rainbow Point
Duration: 1 hour
Hike through bristlecone pines and see expansive views of the hoodoos while reaching elevations over 9,100 ft.
Fairyland Loop
Distance: 8.0 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation Change: 1,720 ft
Trailhead Access: Fairyland Point
Duration: 4 - 5 hours
Less crowded trail that allows you to visit the hoodoos and Tower Bridge.
Peekaboo Loop
Distance: 5.5 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation Change: 1,570 ft
Trailhead Access: Bryce Point
Duration: 3 - 4 hours
Hike can be combined with the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop trails for one ultimate hike.
Lodging in Bryce Canyon National Park:
The Lodge at Bryce Canyon is the only lodging in the park and offers 114 rooms including motel rooms, cabins, and suites. Reservations fill up quickly, so I recommend booking far in advance.
There are two campgrounds in the park: North campground and Sunset campground.
Lodging in Bryce Canyon City:
Best Western Plus Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel
Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn: This is where we stayed. Rooms are spread out, and we stayed in the Lakeview Lodge portion with a view of a small lake.
Ruby’s Inn
Quality Inn Bryce Canyon
The Lodge at Bryce Canyon Restaurant offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a first-come-first-served basis.
The General Store located near Sunrise Point offers grab-and-go hot and cold foods such as pizza, soup, ice cream, and sandwiches.
Valhalla Pizzeria & Coffee Shop is located next to the Lodge at Bryce Canyon and is usually open between May and October. It offers pizza, salads, beer, wine, pastries, coffee, and espresso drinks.
i.d.k. Barbeque is located in Tropic and offers barbeque. We went here and the line was really long, but could be a function of going on Memorial Day, but the food was totally worth it!
Stone Hearth Grille is located in Tropic and offers steaks, fish, and chicken with views of the mountain at sunset. Recommend making a reservation early, as we showed up right when the restaurant opened at 5pm and they were completely booked even though there wasn’t any other customers there yet.
Pizza Place is located in Tropic and offers pizza, chicken, and salads. There’s not much parking space out front, but there was plenty of seating inside for everyone. Food was good and the fries were great. It’s an inexpensive option that is good for the price.
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Helpful with the steep inclines and switchbacks along Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop.
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Good hiking socks to keep your feet comfortable when scrambling over rocks or climbing up inclines.
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Bring waterproof hiking boots that are comfortable and you have a chance to break in before you set out on long hikes.
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Keep your hands free while having space for your sunscreen, water, extra layers, quick dry towel, and more.
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Is a must as Bryce gets very hot and sunny and there are multiple areas that don’t have much shade.
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Stay hydrated while you’re hiking in the hot sun.
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A roll-up hat you can pack in your day bag to keep cool in the hot Bryce Canyon sun.
See additional packing suggestions for any trip here.