Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon National Park gets some of our highest marks among the National Parks we’ve visited. Our 2021 visit only enhanced our opinion of the park.

Driving in from Death Valley, we arrived early enough in the afternoon to enjoy a quick drive into the park. The late afternoon visit refreshed our memory of the sharp, colorful spires known as hoodoos. It was great to be back.

Our friends, Deb and Steve, had arrived the previous day. After dinner, we made plans to head back into the park early the following morning. Wanted to catch the morning light and take a hike before it got too warm.

Navajo Loop Trail

As planned, we headed to Sunset Point under clear skies around 7:30 AM. The low angles of sunlight illuminated the towering spires and hoodoos and produced contrasting shadows. That lighting provided great photography opportunities with a wonderful palette of warm colors. Once we took ‘more than enough’ pictures we headed down the Navajo Loop Trail.

The Navajo Loop, starting and ending at Sunset Point, consists of two primary segments. The eastern trail descends down past Thor’s Hammer, for a bit over 1/2 mile. After dropping about 515′ in elevation, the trail continues around to the west and climbs through “Wall Street”, back to Sunset Point.

The initial trek down the trail took us past plenty of colorful limestone hoodoos. The morning sun was quite warm, but after about 1/4 mile we were in the shade, descending through a high walled canyon of color, and some impressive trees.

We were glad we’d elected to climb back up through Wall Street because that portion of the trail was shaded nearly the whole way. Wall Street is at times very narrow and mostly very steep. The trail was well maintained, and it was a completely different experience than the eastern descent. According to the Park’s website, the Wall Street section is closed during the winter. So plan to visit between April and mid-October.

Sunset

At sunset, we drove to Bryce Point and Paria View to explore the sunset colors in the park. Both locations were nearly empty of visitors and yet gave us beautiful views of the park. Visiting the park early or late in the day provides, what I think, are the best views. There are more vivid colors and the shadows provide so much more depth to the carved and colorful limestone spires.

Queen’s Garden Trail

Over three days exploring the park we got plenty of hikes in, and I’m guessing that Julie managed to reach 10,000 steps each day. On the last day, Julie, Deb, and Steve took the Queen’s Garden Trail down into the Amphitheater. I took my camera and remained upon the rim.

The trail has a lot less shade than other treks. As a result, my three companions climbed up the last of the trail looking pretty hot and tired. The good news is that I was back at Sunrise Point to grab photos of each as they arrived back at the rim!

If you have never visited Bryce Canyon, add it to your list of places to visit. For those who have been there previously, consider going back again. This is one great National Park.