Bryce Canyon National Park Favorites

Favorite thing: If your time in Bryce is limited, at least take the scenic drive. The Bryce Canyon scenic drive is an 18 mile road that begins near the park entrance and ends at Rainbow Point. There are several places along the way to stop and admire the view, including Aqua Canyon, Paria View and the natural Bridge overlook. The scenic drive is a good way to get an overview of the fantastic rock formations that make this park famous.

Since the turnoffs are on the left side of the road, the best way to see Bryce by car is to drive to Rainbow Point at the end and then head back in the other direction, stopping at each viewpoint turnoff on the return route.

There is a spur road which leads to Sunrise Point, where the Rim Trail and several others, including the Fairyland Trail leading to the bottom, can be found.

Favorite thing: Southern Utah has some incredible scenery and this park is one of the greats. Bryce Canyon is a unique place with its "hoodoo" formations created by wind erosion. Although it's called a canyon, there's no river at the bottom. It's carved out of a high plateau, at elevations up to 9,000 ft. The hoodoos are constantly changing slowly over time.

I recommend hiking in among the hoodoos on one of the park trails to experience the best of the spectacular scenery. Colors in this area are brilliant and dramatic. The park is open all year round and I'd like to see it under its winter blanket of snow someday.

Favorite thing: Bryce Canyon is located a few miles south of the intersection of Hwy 12 and Hwy 63. There are plenty of signs along the adjoining highways that will point you in the right direction and the park is easy to find.

Bryce Canyon National Park is about 150 miles from St. George, 80 or so miles from Cedar City and about an hour's drive from Zion National Park.

Bryce Canyon is open year round, although at this elevation, there can be quite a bit of snow during the winter which may close some roads and trails. During the summer months, the higher elevation keeps things cooler than neighboring park Zion to the south.

Favorite thing: Bryce has many naturally occuring and unusual rock formations and this is one of the most striking and most accessible since its located at one of the overlooks along the Bryce Canyon Scenic drive. Its really an arch and not a bridge, but that's just technical information. The arch/bridge was carved by frost erosion on top of rock. The arch is 85 feet long and 125 feet high and is pretty impressive. The lighting is a bit off in this picture, but the arch has a deep rust color which contrasts sharply with the usually bright blue sky.

Favorite thing: I don't know how they got the names Sunrise and Sunset Points, but Sunset Point is supposed to have a better view of the entire Bryce Ampitheatre. To make things even more confusing, the name Sunset Point is misleading because the viewpoint faces east and doesn't have a view of the sunset. But from here, you can see Thor's hammer, a rock formation which looks like a hammer rising into the sky and take one of the trails leading to the Silent City.

Favorite thing: Bryce Ampitheatre is the largest ampitheatre in the park and probably one of the most photographed spots. It is here that you'll find the views that make Bryce one of the most scenic national parks. Seeing Bryce Ampitheatre is much like your first view of the Grand Canyon. It is a view that will leave you in awe.

The picture doesn't do the Amiptheatre justice, but there are rows and rows of hoodoos that appear to stretch on forever.

Favorite thing: This is supposed to be one of the best hikes in Bryce, and even all of Utah. The Queen's Garden trail starts at Sunrise Point. It travels through Bryce Ampitheatre passing en route the formation of Queen Victoria, which is how the trail got its name.

Queens Garden is about twice as long as the Navajo Loop Trail. The two trails intersect, providing an easier option for returning to the rim than completing the entire trail.

Fondest memory: Thirteen years later, I was happy to be driving around the southwest once again and this time with my wife when Bryce came up on the horizon. I had mixed feelings about the place but one doesn't travel around Utah and not make a call at Bryce. It's just too damn pretty and despite an almost Disney-like “can this place be real?” aura about it, it is perhaps the most splendid conglomeration of colorful rock formations in the world. I know one thing. If there is any competition, it's not too far away and it's also in Utah.

We'd been tooling around the Kodachrome state for a few weeks and were happy our Utah adventure was only half over. Many of the upcoming stops would be new and those that were not I had been on my own. In other words, they didn't have any baggage. Bryce was a place of surreal beauty but a sadness hung over it for me that I hoped would be lifted. Ironically, it was to be a rushed visit due to an impending snow storm but in a small park like Bryce, one can do an awful lot in two action-packed days.

We did all the hikes I'd done alone and then some. We even managed to find ourselves on a trail with very few other hikers, no small feat in a place as deservedly popular as Bryce. We did just about every trail in the main part of the park but we never seemed to find that elf without his snowy cap. He might have eroded away in the 13 years that had passed but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough. I guess I didn't need to. I'd already found what I was looking for. I had found my partner in crime and we were on an amazing road trip that had little room for sadness, elves, or snow ball eyes.