Bryce Canyon
At 7,600 feet, Bryce Canyon sits atop the Grand Staircase-Escalante, a series of vast plateaus that descend south toward the Grand Canyon. The park boasts the world’s largest collection of weathered rock columns, known as hoodoos, creating a landscape that looks almost otherworldly.
Bryce Canyon has topped my travel list since I was a child. I remember buying a jigsaw puzzle featuring this beautiful, mysterious place and promising myself that I would visit someday. At the time, I had no idea where Bryce Canyon even sat! More than 50 years later, that someday finally arrived. Better late than never!
Although the park looks enormous, you can experience many of its highlights in a single day. Like the Grand Canyon, Bryce lets you admire the landscape from the rim and then hike down into the heart of it. The scenic road follows the canyon rim for about 17 miles, stretching from the Visitor Center to Yovimpa Point and offering breathtaking views of the towering hoodoos along the way.
Several trails lead into the canyon and give you an up-close look at its remarkable geology. Today, we’re tackling one of the park’s most popular hikes: the Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop Trail.
Queen’s Garden Loop
The Queen’s Garden Loop stretches about 3 miles from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point. The trail starts at the top of the canyon and drops about 500 feet to the bottom, taking you deep into a landscape that formed 64 million years ago. Ancient rivers and lakes deposited layers of sediment here, and after the water disappeared, erosion slowly sculpted those layers into the spectacular hoodoos we see today.
The trail begins with an easy, gentle descent along red sandstone paths lined with towering hoodoos. As you wind deeper into the canyon, you pass through multiple tunnels that erosion carved into the rock. Pine forests at the bottom add another beautiful dimension to this already spectacular landscape.
Navajo Loop
The day started under bright blue skies, but storms threatened the afternoon. Around noon, clouds began rolling in, and the sky quickly darkened. We still stood at the bottom of the canyon with about 1½ miles left to climb to the top via the Navajo Loop. With the toughest part of the hike ahead, we picked up the pace and pushed hard to reach the top before the storm arrived.
But Bryce Canyon seemed to have other plans. “Not so fast!” The climb on this side proved far steeper than the descent we had just tackled. Endless switchbacks zigzagged up the canyon walls and slowed our progress. Once again on this trip, I found myself wishing I were 20 years younger and 20 pounds lighter!
The climb felt grueling, but the breathtaking scenery made every hard-earned step worthwhile. We stopped at several rest spots, caught our breath, and admired the spectacular landscape around us.
We finally made it out before the rain arrived and stopped for lunch at Bryce Lodge. And, by the way, they served the best tortilla soup we’ve ever had!
Even though the hike challenged us in places, it ranks high among the most beautiful hikes we’ve ever taken, and every step proved 100% worth it. If we could do it again, we’d start earlier, pray for good weather, hike the loop in reverse so we could tackle those relentless switchbacks on the way down, and give ourselves more time to explore.
We hope we get the chance to return someday and experience the magic of Bryce Canyon all over again.
Romin was sad that he couldn’t get his picture taken with the Bryce NP sign. The parking lot was full and there were too many people around. There was no way to position him to get a good picture. We’ll get you next time buddy!
Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time – Much love,
Romin, Pete, & Lori
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