Bryce Canyon National Park
In October 2020, myself and three buddies took a week long hiking tour of Arizona and Utah seeing the sites worth seeing. Of everything I saw that week, it was Bryce Canyon that was the most awe inspiring for me. From the first few at Sunrise Point to the last at Sunset point, I couldn't get enough of everything this National Park had to show.
I returned on August 3rd of the Summer 2021 road trip and made the point to see the park from the Bryce Point overlook.
April, 2023 - Snow Cover!
Matt and Karen Smith of the Dear Bob & Sue book series have raved about the beauty of Bryce Canyon with some snow cover and they weren't exaggerating. As part of the return leg in our 2023 Wave Hike road trip, we stopped by and took it in even getting to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the opening of the park!. I originally planned for us to camp in the park, but the extensive snow cover we bailed on that idea, but it didn't stop us from a short hike into the canyon to see Thor's Hammer up close.
June 30th, 2022 - Rainbow Point
As part of the epic Grand Canyon road trip, I took the kids through a stop at Bryce Canyon to take in the famous views and hike among the Bristle Cone Pine Trees, some of the oldest trees and living organisms on the planet.
Bryce Point, August 3rd, 2021
October, 2020
First visit with a few fellows from my neighborhood that included an approximate 9 mile hike down into and around the canyon.
Thor's Hammer!
These are the three medallion info stations I mention in the notes below. Plan ahead and bring paper and something to do a rubbing with for the cooler way to collect all three!
Key tips for enjoying Bryce Canyon National Park:
We hiked down into the canyon and completed the Queen's Navajo Combination Loop which totaled about 7 miles. It is NOT an easy hike and I highly recommend you wear good hiking shoes/boots, plenty of water, and hiking/trekking poles. There are a lot of ups and down as you walk the trails making the poles very valuable to keeping your legs strong.
Be ready to take a lot of photos. It seemed like every time we crested a ridge or walked around a corner, there was another gorgeous site to see. Also - it gets dusty. We saw many folks wearing masks, probably due to the pandemic, but it might be a good idea on a normal day with the amount of dust that gets kicked while walking around.
For the real National Park Geeks, keep a lookout for three information displays along this trail. Bring some paper and a way to do a rubbing of the three gold medallions for a 'special' reward back at the visitor center (which is a just a nifty little sticker for proof you did the full hike). You can also snag selfie pictures with the three medallions to also earn the reward, but the rubbing would be cooler in my opinion.
The only view point we didn't take in on this trip was Bryce Point and I look forward to crossing that one of the list when I go back with the family in 2021.
August 2021: I did not have the family with me on this trip, but made sure I stopped by and went up to Bryce Point. The Rangers recommended taking the shuttle bus due to crowds and parking, but it turns out that it wasn't that bad. It was great to see the heart and soul of the canyon from a new perspective.
June 2022: I came back with the kids to not just see and tour the park, but to also camp out under the stars. Getting a tent campsite was not too difficult but definitely something needed to planned ahead of time as the site fill up fast during the popular season. After taking in the view from Sunset Point, we drove about 30 minutes east while gaining significant elevation up to Rainbow Point which was well worth it. After completing the Bristle Cone Trail hike and seeing some of the oldest trees on the planet, we headed back to the campsite stopping at all the cool scenic overlooks and spotting our second Natural Bridge on our journey (Hickman Bridge at Capitol Reef being our first).
There was a new moon that night and I had planned to keep us up late to take in the stars in this certified night sky location, but with clouds in the area my hopes sank and we just crashed early. I stirred after about an hour of sleep, poked my head outside the tent, and was delighted to see the clouds had burned off opening the sky to the stars. Sadly, Avery & William had already passed out I bailed on taking everyone up to Paria View (Ranger recommendation as best place for night sky viewing). The bright side to missing out is that just motivates me to go back again with them someday down the road.
