Bryce Canyon Visit

[Steven@147]

We were there this past Sept, as part of our GC, Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands trip. I have to agree, Bryce is absolutely beautiful and for me, it's probably a toss up between there and Zion....I loved them both. Happy camping and thanks for sharing those pics, it brings back some fond memories for me.

Oh, and a PS.....if you get a chance to drive Fairyland Spur Rd, you might want to try it. It's the only place we saw elk while we were there. It is on the left side of the road as you are headed into the Entrance for the Park.....about a mile before the park entrance.

Tks we didn't get there on the first day. We are going to stop at Fairyland and then Mossy Cave and waterfall when we take the drive on highway 12 scenic byway. So many places to see in this area and not terribly far from the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

[xrated]

I'll answer, we can't do a lot of trail hiking, Tami's knees can't take it and her touch of asthma at higher elevations. But there are over 65 miles of trails along the main road 63 that runs through the park. The main trail links the overlooks like Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, Inspiration Point, Bryce Point then on to Swamp Canyon, Piracy Point, Farview Point, Natural Bridge, Agua Canyon, Ponderosa Canyon and so forth. You can enter the main trail at most any of the overlooks but when you get to Rainbow Point and Yovimpa Point, you are at 9100 ft elevation.

I would imagine it would be a hard choose to pick just 2, all of the overlooks are incredible.
Maps and trail guides are available at the visitor center entrance to the park.

We didn't do much hiking either....we had our 4 legged furry friend with us. Most, not all the trails do not allow for pets, but paved areas are the exception to that, generally speaking.

[lorend]

Tks we didn't get there on the first day. We are going to stop at Fairyland and then Mossy Cave and waterfall when we take the drive on highway 12 scenic byway. So many places to see in this area and not terribly far from the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like a place that should be on everybodies short list, I know that it is on ours. Has it been very crowded? We had friends visit Bryce in March and had trouble finding a parking place. They cut their trip short do to it being so crowded.

[orbiker]

My wife and I were there in 2012 on the Road King. I love Bryce.
Hatch has a little cafe and motel. The motel in some of the rooms was all decked out Harley stuff. The drawers were snap-on tool boxes. KEN

[Redapple63]

After seeing everyone’s pictures , I am way excited to go to Bryce!

Bill

[Steven@147]

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like a place that should be on everybodies short list, I know that it is on ours. Has it been very crowded? We had friends visit Bryce in March and had trouble finding a parking place. They cut their trip short do to it being so crowded.

Good Morning, No not really crowded, but during the week is better and we have found parking places for the Ram dually everywhere we have gone.

The park shuttle bus service is running great and can take you to wherever you want to go in the park. You can board the shuttle in Bryce City and it will take you into the park and you can get off at the countless stops, then re-board. Runs every 15 minutes. Information is the shuttle bus service is free. We drove the dually around the park.
The temps not bad either, 100s in Salt Lake and Provo but 80's at Bryce lower altitudes and 70s like at Rainbow Point at 9000 feet.

[Steven@147]

My wife and I were there in 2012 on the Road King. I love Bryce.
Hatch has a little cafe and motel. The motel in some of the rooms was all decked out Harley stuff. The drawers were snap-on tool boxes. KEN

Cool!! Also in Hatch is the Outlaw Saloon, nice restaurant where you can order your Ribeye or New York strip and cook it yourself on a big inside pit grill, lots of seasoning available at the prep bar and you can cook your steak just the way you like it.

But also you will find a few businesses in surrounding towns, like Hatch, that went out of business during the pandemic, they really got hurt. Bryce City just outside the park is fully open for business.

[Steven@147]

Tami and I drove highway 12 Scenic Byway yesterday from Bryce Canyon to Escalante and back. We have learned a lot since getting here. HooDoos I thought was a funny name to call some of these rock formations. We learned it came from the Piute Indian word ooo-dooos meaning scary figure. Well, yeah, I get it, some of the figures are kind of weird. By the way Bryce Canyon was named after Ebenezer Bryce, Scottish by birth, Mormon by choice and an early pioneer. This area was also the last uncharted , unmapped area of the United States and was completed in the late 1890s, this according to National Park Service info panels.

A great drive Hwy 12, very good 2 lane highway with lots of breath taking scenery. We started our drive at the Mossy Cave and Waterfall just off Hwy 12 @ 3 miles from the HWY12 - 63 round-a-bout. The trail and hike up to the water fall and cave is @ 1/2 mile easy.

The Mormons, using the water run off from the mountains in the 1890s dug a ditch that became a creek/riverbed to provide water for down stream settlement's to what is now the thriving town of Tropic. It took the Mormons 2 years to dig this ditch using nothing but hand tools and utilizing the natural layout of mountain passes and gorges. They say water has continuously run through the creek bed since the beginning, except for the mega drought in 2002. At most times it really is just a creek bed but during prolonged rain storms and run off, it becomes a raging river.

If your driving east on Hwy 12 the town of Tropic has by far the most to offer. Cannonville, Henrieville and Escalante are very small towns with not a lot there. In between these towns is a lot of wide open country, we passed very few vehicles and some RVs while driving. We thought it was worth the drive.

Man I got to tell you the Mormons had to be very capable early settlers, this country would not have been for the faint of heart back in the day. For the Mormons, tired of being ridiculed for their beliefs, this was the perfect place to settle and they created something out of very little. People living in these areas now have to be very self-reliant, especially in the winter, because there is not much out there. If you want solitude and peace, this is one of the places to go. It's not like you can run down to your local chain store and get what you need.

[FL-Guy]

We're only going to have 2 full days there are end of September - on the way to Tucson from Glacier NP, so no more time to stay and play.

What two hikes would you recommend? We're pretty causal hikers, so no more than 5 mikes is our limit.

Our favorite hike is Peek-a Boo loop BUT 5.5 miles. Other good ones are Queen's Garden 1.8mi and Navaho Loops 1.4 mi. We did not find any to be overly strenuous but when you go down, you have to climb back up.
There is a "back way" hike into the canyon from the town of Tropic.

Another much less crowded way to see similar landscape is Cedar Breaks National Monument. We call it mini Bryce. They have a great hike through 3000 yr old bristlecone pines that brings you to a canyon rim. Caution, hiking at 10k ft.
Its about an hour drive from Bryce. Very enjoyable ride too. Past several lava fields and old volcano cinder cones.

[John L]

If anyone is coming to Bryce, Suset Campground in the park, is first come first serve. We are camp host and there have been a lot of open sites for RV's every night.