Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon is about 1h30 from Zion NP. We’re still in Utah for 24h and this park was my favorite of the all American National Parks.

The park

This park is known for its wonderful sunrise/sunset above the natural orange chimney. Bryce Canyon is not really a canyon but rather a huge natural horseshoe-shaped amphitheater created by the erosion of the eastern part of the Paunsaugunt plateau. These geological structures are absolutely extraordinary. The park (18 miles in total) can be crossed by car but you can easily park in the numerous car parks and take a free shuttle bus from the park (from May to September). These shuttles are very practical when you only want to do part of the many hikes this park offers. From the main street, you can stop at the many viewpoints, each as splendid as the other. In front of you, a unique panorama will rise, stretching as far as the eye can see to merge on the horizon in the immense plateaus of Utah and Arizona with their many coniferous forests.

This park is located in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and you can observe various flora and fauna. I absolutely recommend that you stay at least 24 hours to have time for a hike.

Bristlecone Pine

4:00 p.m. – After our Angels Landing hike from Zion in the morning, a lunch break on the road, we arrived at this legendary park. Directly, we decided to cross the whole park to visit the viewpoints at the end and then stop at Bryce Point for the sunset. The first spot is a short 1.6km hike called Bristlecone Pine.

Window from the wall of windows

7 p.m. – We are now heading towards the viewpoints for the sunset. By the way we came across one of the “windows” of Bryce’s “wall of windows“. It is superb!

Inspiration Point

7:30 p.m. – We stopped at Inspiration Point for the sunset. It’s absolutely beautiful! The crest of these rocky needles which begin to turn red as the sun hides in the distance. This moment where light and shadows play with these hoodoos.

Bryce Point

7 am – We woke up early for this time to see the sunrise. It’s always so amazing. Then we left to park the van at Bryce Point then we took the free shuttle to sunset point to be able to make all the return on foot (and avoid making the loop, which would have taken us a lot more time).

Wall of windows

We pass by the famous wall of windows, magnificent with these two sky blue windows.

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Navajo and Peekaboo Loops

9 am – We started our hike with the original descent called “Wall Street” then we left on the Navajo Loop then the Peekaboo Loop to find our van at Bryce Point. The trails are magnificent, sometimes going down to 300m below the road, between the red canyons, on small dirt roads. Allow 2-3 hours to do this hike, counting the many photo stops!

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Maëva♥

✏ Next article about Arches and Canyonlands National Park.