Another day, another beautiful Utah park! Bryce Canyon National Park is famous for hoodoos, the tall, weathered rocks that cover the landscape. It is the largest concentration of hoodoos found on the planet, and they make for some beautiful photos! Because the campgrounds in the park weren’t taking reservations this summer, we stayed at Ruby’s Inn and Campground just a few miles outside the entrance to Bryce. I’m not a huge fan of private campgrounds to begin with, but Ruby’s was an unforgettably bad one. However, the proximity to Bryce Canyon was great, and we spent a full day hanging out in the hoodoos. Here are the highlights of our time there:
Mossy Cave Hike
We started our day with this short, fun little hike. The hike begins along Route 12, rather than inside the park. It’s less than a mile, but goes past a muddy river, up a hill, and then branches. The path to the left goes up to Mossy Cave, a cavern with water dripping and plants growing. The trail to the right gives views of a waterfall. Along the trail, hoodoos are visible. We opted to do this with a ranger guiding the way, so we were able to learn about the history of the area and the geology of the park. I wouldn’t prioritize this hike, but it’s especially good for preschoolers since it’s very short with plenty to see.
Queens Garden to Navajo Loop Trail
After our short hike to Mossy Cave, we headed in through the main entrance and parked at Sunrise Point. Looking down at the canyon from the rim is beautiful, but hiking down in and walking among the unique geological features is definitely a memorable experience. The Queens Garden to Navajo Loop is a 2.6 mile hike that combines two popular trails and can be done in either direction. We chose to enter the canyon on the Queens Garden trail, which begins at Sunrise Point. This is considered the least strenuous trail because it descends more gradually than other options. If you’re worried about hiking at elevation (or just generally hate climbing uphill), I would recommend doing this hike in the opposite direction. Start on the Navajo Loop side of the trail to avoid climbing up the steep switchbacks at the end of the hike. No matter where you begin, the trail will take you down 580 feet and allow you to walk among the hoodoos. We stopped at Queens Garden, Two Bridges, and Thor’s Hammer along the way before hiking out of the canyon on the Navajo Loop trail, ending at Sunset Point. This is an excellent family hike, but be sure to bring lots of water and take breaks on those crazy switchbacks as needed! The photos below show some of the views from the trail.
Scenic Drive
If climbing up and down steep trails isn’t your idea of a good time, there’s still plenty to see at Bryce Canyon! The sweeping views from the canyon rim are amazing and can be seen from the various stops along the 36 mile (round trip) scenic drive. After our morning hikes, we stopped at the picnic area near Sunrise Point to refuel then headed out on the scenic drive. We drove the entire length, stopping at most of the overlooks. Some of the stops on the drive have a short, paved trail to get to the scenic view. Our favorite stops (not counting Sunrise and Sunset Points) were Natural Bridge, Rainbow Point, and Inspiration Point. It started to rain on the way back, and there were storm clouds in many of our pictures. By the time we got back to the Visitor Center it was a full downpour. I’m glad we got our hikes in early!
We had a busy day exploring Bryce Canyon. The scenic drive was beautiful, but hiking the canyon was my favorite part of the day. It seems that the National Park Service agrees, and they had an initiative going on called the “Hike the Hoodoos!” Challenge. Nine benchmarks had been set up along trails on the park, and a small prize was given if you have a photo with at least three of them. Looking for the benchmarks gave the boys a little more motivation and they loved the vinyl stickers they received for completing the challenge. Such a fun idea to get people out of the car and exploring the park!
On The Road Together 