Bryce Canyon National Park

Previous: Monument Valley                                             Next: Zion National Park

April 13

Bryce Canyon National Park

After breakfast at The View Hotel at Monument Valley it was off to Bryce Canyon National Park about 4 hours away.  The drive, again, provided awesome southwest scenery.

We got to Bryce at around 3:30 p.m.

Our campsite, in North Campground was in the RV-only section because that’s all I could get online via Recreation.gov. I did call ahead to confirm that they would let us set up a tent at the site without an RV. We reserved three nights at the campground.  North Campground is the first stop after the park entrance, and across from the visitors center. Upon arrival we saw we were not the only tenters in this section. They may be flexible this early in the season when not all of the campground loops are open yet.

We set up our tent, met the campground host Norman, and at around 5:00 pm set out on the scenic road tour through Bryce.

Inspiration Point

Fortunately at this time of day the traffic is light, and a good time to do the scenic road tour. Our first stop was Inspiration Point. This also introduced us to the Rim Trail which traverses the east side of the park and connects many of the popular overlooks. This first view of the Bryce Amphitheater was, as the overlook is aptly named, inspirational! OMG! We’ve been to many national parks and none have scenery like this. The variety and vastness of orangey red rock formations is stunning to behold.

We walked along the Rim Trail here from Lower, to Mid, to Upper Inspiration Point. There were other people here but plenty of room to park and enjoy the views.  It was a steep climb along this popular, short, paved section from Mid to Upper Inspiration Point…we actually had to stop to catch our breath a couple of times.

Bryce Point

After this introduction to Bryce Canyon we got in the car and hit the next stop along the main road, Bryce Point.  Being late in the day, again there were few cars in the parking lot, and the short walk to the viewpoint was unbusy. The views again were awesome. We also found here the trailhead for the Queens Garden and Navajo Loop Trail we plan on hiking the following morning.

Considering the light traffic we decided to complete the 18-mile scenic drive at this time before sunset. We made all the stops along the drive, the highlight being the Natural Bridge.

Rainbow Point

We made it to the end of the road to Rainbow Point, the highest point in the park, at around 7:00 p.m. There is different scenery from this overlook as it looks out from the northern end of Bryce. Sunset was also looming, which added some color to the views. Very few people were here at this time, enabling us to enjoy the silence of the moment as well as the sight. We would come back here the next day for a hike, with more views!

Back at the tent after the drive we settled in for a cool night. Dinner was a dehydrated chicken teriyaki and rice bag by the campfire. It was a nice night but it did get down to about 30 degrees…we stayed toasty in our sleeping bags.

April 14

Queens Garden Loop/Navajo Loop Trail

Breakfast at the campsite. The trailhead for the Queens Garden/Navajo Loop is about 1.5 miles from the campground. Being around 10:00 a.m. we figured we wouldn’t get a parking spot there, and since we also wanted to check out the Visitors Center we walked to the Visitors Center and picked up a shuttle from there to Sunrise Point. Here is where we first hit the school vacation impact. The center was very crowded, and a line for the next shuttle was forming. So, we opted out of the Visitors Center and waited about 5 minutes with lots of other people for the shuttle. The shuttle bus was crowded, but fortunately we were taking it only to the first stop.

We disembarked from the shuttle and made our way to the very busy Rim Trail, which passes along the Sunrise Point observation area. We made a random choice to start the loop hike at the Queens Garden entrance, go clockwise and finish coming up to the Navajo Loop entrance. Both of which are located by the Sunrise Point parking lot.

OK, so, this is definitely the most popular trail in the park.  We felt like ants along the trail. There was however, a reason for this.  The scenery is remarkable, and it’s an easy trail for most people (at least for now…nobody’s thinking about the return trip back UP to Bryce Point from the bottom!).

We did a spur trail along a marked horse trail for about a mile to get some quiet time from the many people.

Returning to the Queens Garden Loop trail we were near the junction where we were to start the hike up and out via the very steep and arduous Navajo Loop trail section. There were crying children, and looks of dismay and fatigue on those who anticipated a friendly hike from the parking lot…after all, this is one of the most popular and accessible hikes in the park. We stopped often on the ascent, which wasn’t really a problem since the scenery was so awesome.

We finally reached the elusive top at around 3:30 p.m.

At the busy parking area we started out walking back to the campground and stopped at the Bryce Lodge to check it out. The lodge restaurant was seating for lunch until 4:00 p.m., and we were pretty hungry, so we opted for an early dinner and took a seat. Service was quite slow, but we were in no hurry. After a tiring hike, even the most average food served slowly tastes great.

After our early dinner we began to trek back to the campground, but as we were walking we passed a shuttle stop and there was a bus with no line, so we grabbed that instead. With a bit of socializing with other campers and walking to the Rim Trail from the campground, we pretty much just hung out at the campsite for the evening. Our plan was for an early rise the next day so we could be sure to get a parking spot at Bryce Point, where the trailhead is for the Peekaboo Loop Trail. Anything to avoid the shuttle!

 

April 15

Peekaboo Loop Trail

Up at 7:30 a.m. Another brisk morning at about 45 degrees. We got in the car and headed to Bryce Point where we would pick up the 5.5-mile roundtrip Peekaboo Loop Trail. There was plenty of parking available at 8:00 a.m., so the strategy worked. The first shuttle bus appeared a few minutes after our arrival, as did more cars. We had cold cereal for breakfast in the car at the parking lot, then we dressed into our hiking clothes and hit the trail at about 9:00 a.m.

The connecting trail to the Peekaboo Loop Trail was a fairly steep 1/2-mile descent down from Bryce Point. This segment of the hike was the highlight for us in Bryce Canyon. Stunning rock formations, tunnels, arches, windows, hoodoos, and the abundance of colors was constant.

The trail continued to offer great scenery as we hit the bottom of the canyon and completed the 3-mile loop. The return up the initial connecting trail was again mesmerizing, now seeing it going the other way.

This video is from the bottom of the canyon (which technically is not a canyon…it’s an amphitheater). I capture Bryce Point in the video, showing where, way up in the distance, we started the hike.

We finished up this truly great hike around 12:30 p.m.

We contemplated doing another hike but instead rested a bit at the campsite and heated soup for lunch.  After lunch we headed to the General Store in the park so I could get a shower while Em waited on their porch charging our devices.

Bristlecone Loop Trail

At around 5:30 p.m. we headed back to Rainbow Point to do the 1-mile Bristlecone Loop Trail. This easy hike showcases the park’s geological variations, and ancient bristlecone pine trees. It also surprised with some truly stunning vistas. We thought we had seen all the views from the Rainbow Point area the day before, but apparently not.

It also provided the scene for my personal favorite picture on the road trip.

We are very glad to have gone back to do this trail…going back this way also gave us a second opportunity to gawk at the very cool Natural Bridge along the road approaching Rainbow Point.

We got back to the campsite around 8:00 p.m. We prepared a bit for our upcoming departure the following morning, sat at the fire, then called it a night. Our final night at Bryce Canyon.

April 16

Mossy Cave

Breakfast at the campsite and then we packed up and headed out of Bryce Canyon National Park towards Zion National Park about 2 hours away. We decided to do one final short hike in Bryce before leaving the park’s borders. Off of Rt. 12 we stopped at Mossy Cave Trail for a 1-mile hike. The hike is along a currently dry river bed and leads across a footbridge to a cool view of a moss covered cave, and then to a waterfall in the shadow of trademark Bryce Canyon reddish pinnacles. Of course, there is a waterfall when there is water flowing in the creek, which was not the case…YET…wait for it!

As we were looking at the mossy cave we suddenly heard the whooshing of rapidly flowing water. We walked back to the trail leading to the nearby waterfall and were amazed to see that the river just began flowing! It was like somebody opened up a dam.  It was remarkable how quickly the entire river bed was covered in rapidly flowing water. We realize now how people get swept up in sudden flash flooding…wow! Our timing to see this was perfect.

After our exciting Mossy Cave Trail experience we headed out to Zion National Park for real at around 11:30 a.m.

What a great Bryce Canyon finale!

Next: Zion National Park