A Perfect Day Trip from Zion

Bryce Canyon is the smallest nationwide park in Utah and is ideal for a day journey, both from Zion National Park (as we did) or if you happen to’re passing by on an extended street journey.

Its compact dimension makes it simple to go to Bryce Canyon in at some point. Even with half a day, you’ll be capable to admire the magical hoodoos (twisty spires of rock) from numerous viewpoints above and take a hike amongst them in Bryce Amphitheatre.

In this submit, I share our Bryce Canyon 1 day itinerary plus tricks to take advantage of your go to and a map with all of the locations talked about.

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Getting to Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park is in southwestern Utah and is finest reached in your individual automobile.

Or you could possibly take a day tour from Las Vegas.

Here are the distances from close by locations to Bryce Canyon Visitor Centre:

• Bryce Canyon City – 5 minutes / 2 miles
• Springdale (for Zion National Park) – 1 hour 50 minutes / 85 miles
• Torrey (for Capitol Reef National Park) – 2 hours / 108 miles
• Moab (for Arches National Park) – 4 hours 20 minutes / 249 miles
• Las Vegas, Nevada – 4 hours quarter-hour / 272 miles
• Salt Lake City – 4 hours quarter-hour / 273 miles

We made our Bryce Canyon day journey from Zion National Park as a part of an extended street journey. See our Southwest street journey itinerary for in all places we went.

We determined to not keep in a single day in Bryce to keep away from having to vary resorts.

We stayed at Cable Mountain Lodge in Springdale, which has the perfect location proper subsequent to Zion’s park gates. The lodge has unimaginable mountain views, a pool and scorching tub, and rooms have kitchenettes.

If you’d slightly keep nearer to Bryce (particularly to see the dawn and sundown), try Bryce Canyon Lodge within the park (closed in winter) or Best Western Plus within the tiny village of Bryce Canyon City simply outdoors the park.

We left Springdale at 6.30am and arrived in Bryce at 8.15am. An early begin is all the time really useful to benefit from the parks earlier than they get too busy.

On our winter go to, we left at the hours of darkness and noticed the dawn on the way in which. The first part of the drive from Zion to Bryce Canyon is on the Mt. Carmel Highway Scenic Drive.

It’s a really winding street previous hovering rocky peaks. As you move by Zion’s East Entrance, you’ll want to indicate your park move.

The remainder of the drive is much less scenic however simple and quiet.

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When to Visit Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon is open year-round. Spring and fall are one of the best instances to go to for milder climate with out summer time crowds, though it doesn’t get as busy as Zion.

Winter is the quietest time to go to. We beloved our journey in mid-February, regardless of temperatures of 14ºF (-10ºC). With 4 layers we had been in a position to keep heat when mountain climbing.

Bryce typically sees snow and the hoodoos look particularly magical right now. The park hadn’t had snow for a number of weeks on our journey, however there was nonetheless some left in shadier areas.

Trails are icy in winter so mountain climbing footwear or boots with good traction are important. I additionally extremely suggest traction gadgets that connect to your footwear for additional grip (they promote them on the customer centre).

We used Kahtoola Microspikes, which had been unbelievable and stopped us from slipping on the steep icy sections of the path.

Note that some roads, trails, and restrooms shut in winter, however there’s nonetheless lots to do. Check the Bryce NPS web site for updates.

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Bryce Canyon 1 Day Itinerary At A Glance

Here’s what we did throughout our at some point in Bryce Canyon:

• Sunset Point
• Walk to Sunrise Point alongside rim
• Hike Queens Garden & Navajo Loop Trail
• Bryce Point
• Inspiration Point

During our 4 hours within the park we solely visited the primary three miles and noticed lots. You don’t must drive far to see one of the best components of Bryce.

If you’ve longer, you could possibly prolong your hike on the Peekaboo Trail and drive to Rainbow Point, probably the most distant viewpoint.

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What to Do in Bryce Canyon in One Day

Visitor Centre

You’ll move by the Bryce Canyon National Park entrance gates simply earlier than the customer centre. Here you’ll must pay the doorway price ($35 for 7 days per automobile).

I like to recommend shopping for an America the Beautiful National Parks annual move for $80 if you happen to’ll be visiting different Utah parks like Zion. You should purchase it upfront from REI to save lots of time or on the gate.

The customer centre is the plain first cease to make use of the restrooms, examine present situations, and get any recommendation for visiting the park. There’s a retailer (with a number of primary snacks) and a water bottle refill station.

In winter, the customer centre and Sunset Point are the one locations with open restrooms on this at some point Bryce itinerary. In the hotter months, you’ll additionally discover them at Inspiration Point.

Sunset Point

Bryce Canyon has one 18-mile foremost street, the Bryce Canyon Scenic Drive, that runs by the park.

You can simply drive this throughout your at some point at Bryce Canyon and cease on the many viewpoints to look into Bryce Amphitheatre.

The first overlook is Sunset Point. You don’t have to be right here on the finish of the day to benefit from the spectacular show of vibrant hoodoos, spires of eroded rock that attain up from the edges of the canyon.

Bryce has the best focus of hoodoos on this planet, and it truly is not like anyplace we’ve seen earlier than.

Sunrise Point

There’s no parking zone at Sunrise Point, nevertheless it’s a flat, simple 0.5-mile stroll alongside the rim from Sunset Point with extra nice views on the way in which.

Sunrise Point had an particularly good view of the snow-covered parts of the amphitheatre.

Queens Garden and Navajo Loop Hike

Sunrise Point is the place to begin for one of the best at some point hike in Bryce Canyon.

I extremely suggest mountain climbing down into the amphitheatre if you’re ready. Getting up near the hoodoos is even higher than admiring them from above.

The hottest hike is the Queens Garden and Navajo Loop path, which is 2.9 miles (4.6 km) with 600 toes (183m) of elevation achieve. This took us about 1.5 hours.

There are loads of alternatives to adapt it for an extended stroll. We added on an additional hour (half-hour every manner) on a part of the Peekaboo Trail, however you could possibly do the entire loop (referred to as the Figure Eight Trail) for a complete hike of 6.3 miles (round 3.5 hours).

It’s finest to go clockwise beginning with the Queens Garden Trail because it’s the gentlest path into the canyon.

We completely beloved this hike. It feels otherworldly as you stand up near the hoodoos and admire all their completely different shapes and hues from vibrant orange to pale pink.

Walking by arches within the rocks is particularly enjoyable.

The Queens Garden Trail was simple and properly fashioned. There was no ice on our go to, however it may be very snowy in winter—traction gadgets are really useful and examine AllTrails for the newest situations.

Peekaboo includes a climb and is way quieter and snowier (we might not have managed with out our microspikes). We beloved the tranquillity and views.

After returning the way in which we got here, we started the toughest a part of the hike—the climb up Two Bridges. It took longer than we anticipated (35 minutes), however the views made it worthwhile.

Look out for the namesake Two Bridges, down a slim rock passageway, and additional up, the distinctive Thor’s Hammer hoodoo.

After some steep switchbacks, we completed at Sunset Point the place we’d left our automobile.

An various path to Two Bridges is Wall Street, which is narrower and simply as steep, nevertheless it’s closed in winter. Both find yourself at Sunset Point.

By the time we completed at 11.15am, the path and viewpoint had been a lot busier, so an early begin is properly price it.

Bryce Point

From Sunset Point we drove 5 minutes to the following two viewpoints, each of which had been quieter.

Bryce Point is at a better elevation than Sunset and Sunrise Points and provides a sweeping overview of the Bryce Amphitheatre. It’s only a quick stroll to the lookout.

In the hotter months, you may hike the Peekaboo Loop Trail from right here (the connecting path is closed in winter).

Inspiration Point

At 8100 toes, Inspiration Point provides one other birds-eye view of the colorful hoodoos.

There’s a brief flat stroll to the decrease lookout or a steeper (very icy in winter) stroll as much as two extra overlooks.

Inspiration Point is a gorgeous spot to see the dawn and is much less crowded than Sunrise Point.

You may also stroll to Inspiration Point on a 0.7-mile (every manner) portion of the rim path from Sunset Point and even proceed 1.5 miles additional to Bryce Point.

Rainbow Point (Optional)

We left the park after Inspiration Point, however you probably have a full day, you could possibly drive half-hour additional into the park to Rainbow Point.

This part of the park previous Bryce Amphitheatre is named the Southern Scenic Drive.

There are a number of viewpoints on the way in which together with Natural Bridge. Rainbow Point and Yovimpa Point are the very best lookouts within the park at 9115 toes.

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Map of Bryce Canyon

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Can You Visit Bryce Canyon and Zion in One Day?

If you’ve simply at some point for each Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon, it’s attainable to see them each, however I extremely suggest spending longer in Zion if attainable.

It would work finest if you happen to spent the night time earlier than in Springdale, go to Zion within the morning, drive to Bryce within the afternoon, and spend that night time close to Bryce.

Alternatively, if you’re in Las Vegas, you could possibly take today tour to Zion and Bryce, which incorporates an elective hike in Bryce however not in Zion.

With simply half a day in Zion, I like to recommend being on the path as early as attainable and mountain climbing up the West Rim Trail to Scout Lookout (and maybe persevering with to Angels Landing if you happen to get a allow and are courageous/match). The hike ought to take round 2-3 hours.

Although mountain climbing the Narrows (by the Virgin River) is superb, I believe it’s an excessive amount of to mix with Bryce.

If you need a neater and shorter hike, head up the Watchman Trail as a substitute. This 3.3-mile return path begins from the customer centre (so that you don’t have to fret about getting the shuttle) and takes round 1.5 hours.

After your hike, drive by East Zion and cease on the Canyon Overlook Trail for a surprising view. Allow round 45 minutes for this (together with time to benefit from the vista).

Perhaps eat a picnic lunch on the overlook earlier than persevering with the drive to Bryce Canyon National Park (1.5 hours away).

In Bryce, you may cease on the overlooks talked about above, and you probably have the vitality, hike the Queens Garden/Navajo Loop. If you’re staying close by, benefit from the sundown at one of many viewpoints.

It could be an extended, tiring day, however it’s attainable to see Bryce and Zion in at some point.

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Is it Worth Visiting Bryce Canyon in One Day?

Yes, completely! One day in Bryce Canyon is right for the highlights of the park together with a number of gorgeous viewpoints and a hike into the canyon to stand up near the hoodoos.

Bryce’s rock spires are very completely different from the landscapes in Zion National Park, and we’re so glad we made the day journey to see them.

Two days in Bryce would have allowed extra time for mountain climbing and the possibility to see the dawn and sundown, however you probably have restricted time, at some point is sufficient for this compact however gorgeous park.

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More USA Posts

Explore extra stunning US nationwide parks in our different guides:

Utah

California

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