Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah is a smaller park that is a little off-the-beaten path. It has some amazing scenery and great hiking opportunities. This is our guide to visiting the park and doing the short, but thrilling, Navajo Loop hike.

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Overview

Cool geological formations are the main attraction of Bryce Canyon National Park. It is a unique landscape filled with tall, thin rock formations called “hoodoos.” The main portion of the park is on the rim overlooking the canyon or “amphitheater” filled with hoodoos.

You can enjoy spectacular views just by driving around the rim and stopping at the scenic overlooks. However, hiking down into the canyon is not that difficult, even with younger children. The short Navajo Loop trail make a great 1 to 2-hour hike.

This is a small park that is perfect for a day visit. There is minimal lodging in the area, but we have always done a day visit.

Getting There

The closest major cities to Bryce Canyon National Park are Las Vegas to the north and Salt Lake City to the south. Both are 250 miles away, about a 4 to 5-hour drive. Either way, the park is located an hour and a half drive east of Interstate 15.

Our visits to Bryce Canyon National Park have always been day trips when staying outside Zion National Park. We usually stay on the isolated east side of Zion where Bryce is only an hour drive. The heart of Zion is in Springdale, Utah which is 84 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park. However, it can easily take 2 hours to drive this distance.

Note you will see some websites that talk about combining a trip to Bryce from the Grand Canyon. It should be noted that this is the more isolated North Rim of the Grand Canyon that is a 3-hour drive from Bryce. We have only visited the Grand Canyon South Rim which is probably a 6-hour drive.

When to Visit

Because Bryce Canyon National Park is fairly isolated it is not as crowded as other National Parks. We have visited in June, August and December and never had an issue with crowds.

Probably the biggest issue with visiting Bryce is the weather. In our experience Utah weather can quickly change and that has definitely happened to us at Bryce.

On our visit in the first week of August we were hit by a sudden storm while at the bottom of the canyon. We ended up hiking back in pouring rain and lightning. When we had started hiking it a beautiful sunny day.

The kids were traumatized by that event and when we went back in December, they were reluctant to hike the Canyon. Our December visit was on a cold brisk day, perfect for hiking. However, the next day a storm dropped a foot of snow.

Summer is of course the most popular time to visit. Bryce Canyon National Park is at a high altitude, so the heat is not as extreme. In addition, crowds are relatively small for a National Park.

Dining and Lodging

Bryce Canyon National Park is in a fairly remote section of Utah. However, there are several dining and lodging options right outside the park. This area is called Old Bryce Town.

Old Bryce Town is small and rustic. There is a general store, campground and a few lodging options. This is where we would stay if we spent the night at Bryce Canyon.

Further down the road are a few isolated lodging options and our favorite restaurant in the area, Bryce Canyon Pines Restaurant. This was originally a dance hall built in the 1930s. It is located on Highway 12 a few miles from Bryce Canyon

Like all then dining options in the area, Bryce Canyon Pines restaurant, specializes in basic comfort food. Pie is a specialty. One thing we like is each table has books by local humorist Ben Goode. These books have titles like How to Stay Humble When You’re Smarter Than Everybody Else, The Joy of Being Broke and 857 Habits of Highly Irritating People.

Entering the Park

The costs of entering Bryce Canyon National Park is a flat $35 for each vehicle ($30 for a motorcycle). This gets you access for 7 straight days. The National Park system is relatively inexpensive, even if you are only visiting for a few hours this is a bargain attraction.

If you are planning on visiting multiple national parks on a trip we strongly recommend the annual America the Beautiful National Park Pass. For $80 a year this allows entrance to most national parks for a year (exceptions include places like Alcatraz). Most national parks charge per vehicle so pretty much an entire family (or however many people you can jam into your car or RV) can get in on one pass. Note U.S. Military get in for free and people over the age of 62 get a lifetime pass for $80. If you are lucky to have a fourth grader you can get a free pass that works for the entire family.

Like most every National Park a trip to Bryce Canyon National Park will start in the Visitor Center. The Bryce Canyon Visitor Center is a great place to pick up information and is also a prime place to catch the shuttle that runs throughout the park.

The shuttle system is free with park admission and runs from April to October. You can even park outside Bryce Canyon National Park and take the shuttle into the park. When we visited in December we were able to drive right out to the hiking trails and find plenty of parking. However, during the summer we always take the shuttle.

The main places to start a hike are from one of three overlook points, Sunrise Point, Sunset Point and Inspiration Point. These areas are close to each other and the Visitor Center. This main area is called Bryce Amphitheater.

Further down the road there is an 18-mile drive along the canyon rim to Rainbow Point. There is a special 3-hour shuttle tour you can take to this area but we have not done this.

Of course, the main attraction with Bryce Canyon National Park is viewing the hoodoos in the amphitheater. This is easily done by hiking along the Rim Trail with its many scenic overlooks.

Like the Grand Canyon Rim Trail this is a long flat trail you can walk as far as you like. The Rim Trail runs 11-miles starting at Fairyland Point.

Grand Canyon Rim Trail and Trail of Time

We have only done the 1.5 mile portion of the Rim Trail from Inspiration Point to Sunrise Point. This gives you premium views of Bryce Amphitheater but is also the starting point of some of the best hikes into Bryce Canyon.

Hiking into Bryce Canyon is much easier than hiking down into the Grand Canyon. Our favorite hike in Bryce Canyon National Park is Navajo Loop Trail that starts and ends at Sunset Point. This is only about 1.5 miles but it takes you over 500 feet into Bryce Amphitheater.

Navajo Loop Hike

Starting Point: Sunset Point, Bryce Canyon National Park
Length: 1.5 miles
Elevation: 500 ft gain and loss
Type: loop

The Navajo Loop Trail starts and ends from Sunset Point. It can be combined with other trails. We have combined it with Queens Garden Trail which ends at Sunrise Point. This is a 3-mile loop with about the same elevation gain. The only issue is it can be pushing it if you have children. Bryce Canyon National Park is at an elevation of 8,000 feet which makes hiking more difficult.

On our next visit we plan to combine the Navajo Loop hike with Peekaboo Loop. This is a difficult 6-mile loop through the bottom of Bryce Amphitheater with constant uphill and downhill sections.

It is recommended that you take Navajo Loop in a clockwise direction. That is how we have always done it and I believe it is the way to get the best views.

Navajo Loop is a steep decline along a series of switchbacks to the lower canyon where it levels off. From this point you walk a short way along a flat section. Queen’s Garden Trail branches off to your left and Peekaboo Trail is to the right.