Day 51: Bryce Canyon National Park

National Park #20

The first thing you should know about Bryce Canyon, is that it’s not a canyon. It’s actually several natural amphitheaters along the side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in Southern Utah. Truth in advertising issues aside, the “canyon” is stunning with its colors and iconic natural spires (hoodoos). It’s also incredibly visitor friendly, and many may actually prefer Bryce to it’s more crowded and complicated (planning wise) neighbor Zion National Park.

There are two main things you’ll want to do at Bryce Canyon. The first is spend time in and around the main amphitheater. We’d recommend starting with a walk from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point, which will give you a great plateau-edge view of the vast amphitheater. Once you do that, you’ll want to go down into the amphitheater and see the hoodoos up close and personal. There are several trails, but we did Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden, where you can see Queen Victoria, Two Bridges, and Thor’s Hammer.

The second thing you’ll want to do is the Bryce “Canyon” Scenic Drive. The drive itself isn’t necessarily the most scenic, but it takes you to a number of spectacular overlooks like Rainbow Point, Yovimpa Point, Black Birch Canyon, and Natural Bridge, among others. It’s a great, quick way to see what makes Bryce Canyon so beloved amongst travelers.

Bruce Canyon may not be a canyon, but it’s an absolute must for anyone seeing the sights out west. Located just two hours north of Zion, it’s an easy park to visit and take in, and we can’t recommend it highly enough.

What you need to know:

  • May not get as much press as Zion, but every bit worth the trip (and only 2 hours away).

  • You can definitely do Bryce Canyon in one day - though there’s certainly enough to do and see if you want to spend multiple days here.

  • The park has an excellent shuttle service that goes all the way out to the town of Bryce and runs regularly to all the major sights.

  • Make sure you spend time in the main amphitheater, and traversing the scenic drive.

  • You’ll also want to make sure you can see either a sunrise, or a sunset here. It does spectacular things to the hoodoos.

  • Cell service actually isn’t too bad. It probably won’t work down in the amphitheater, but along the edge of plateau and parts of the scenic drive it was good.

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Day 52: A lovely Saturday at Capitol Reef National Park

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Day 49 & 50: Zion National Park