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pandemicperipatetics · 6 months ago

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Weekend in Bryce Canyon National Park

Overview

A classic view of Bryce Canyon from the Rim Trail

Bryce Canyon was epic. The main hikes descend into the canyon, which felt similar to the hikes at Grand Canyon, although the scenery looks different given Bryce’s hoodoos. I would rank this among the most stunning national parks we visited, alongside places like Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Big Bend, and Mount Rainier. There are also some nice places to visit nearby – we enjoyed Willis Creek Slot Canyon (kind of a random hike, no official entrance or fees) and Kodachrome Basin State Park (although hiking there in the baking sun at mid-day was tough).

More classic views of the national park

We visited in mid-May, and it was already very hot and sunny during the daytime, though still cold at night. I think going earlier in the season would be more pleasant for hiking (though not too early, given potentially icy conditions/road closures). We booked our trip about ~6 weeks ahead of time and all of the decent-seeming hotels and nearby campgrounds were fully booked out, so we glamped at Under Canvas, which was totally fine (unique and luxurious in some ways and a downgrade from a regular hotel in others). That said, the park didn’t feel very crowded – despite getting a late start (~10am arrival), there wasn’t much of a line to get in, which we observed even around noon (when we accidentally exited the park), and we didn’t have difficulty finding parking throughout the day.

Bryce Canyon Hikes

We spent Friday visiting the national park. Bryce has quite a few options for hikes, but the big ones that caught our attention were the Queen’s Head/Navajo Loop Trail (most popular hike in the park), Peekaboo Trail (much less crowded and very nice), the Fairyland Trail (8 miles, we wanted to try it out but didn’t have time), and the Rim Trail (like Grand Canyon’s Rim Trail, this one is relatively flat and goes around the rim of the canyon). The Rim Trail connects several pretty lookout points such as Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, Bryce Point, and Inspiration Point. Most of these lookout points also have hikes that start from them.

One of the trails. Probably Peekaboo given how empty it is!

For Queen’s Head/Navajo Loop, there are 2 ways to do the Navajo Loop portion – the “Wall Street” side or the “Two Bridges” side. We ended up trying both and thought the Wall Street section was much more interesting.

Navajo Loop - Two Bridges option (can you see the two rock "bridges"?)

Navajo Loop - Wall Street option. The narrowness was very cool.

Other Nearby Hikes

We spent Saturday until mid-afternoon doing some nearby hikes, and then made the ~4 hour drive back to Vegas.

Willis Creek Slot Canyon was really cool. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Bryce Canyon and the walk is mostly flat with a shallow stream running through it. It seems like a fantastic option for people with kids or dogs.

We arrived on Saturday at 9am and departed around 11am, and there was plenty of parking at both times. The last bit of the drive there was a little bumpy, but nowhere near a bad as we expected based on reading reviews. There is no fee to enter.

We managed to keep our feet mostly dry!

Kodachrome Basin State Park is also a ~30 min drive from Bryce Canyon and has several hikes, of which we tried two. We liked the relatively easy Panorama Trail (3 mile loop); it was well worth adding on the very scenic Panorama Point out-and-back (1 mile total). However, there was no shade at all and the desert sun was baking hot, even though the forecast said it was only 70 degrees out. The Grand Parade Trail, which was just across the street from the Panorama Trail and shares a parking lot, was nice but would not make the cut for me in this type of weather. The state park has a $10 daily fee per vehicle (credit cards accepted but it might be good to bring cash if you can, their card reader was temporarily down when we arrived).

View from the Panorama Trail

Food

Like most U.S. national parks, the vegetarian food options in the area were pretty sad. Subway is the best bet, and since they didn’t open on time when we were there, we picked up some basic takeaway breakfast items (yogurt, boiled eggs, a bagel) at Bryce Canyon Coffee Co. one of the days. The national park lodge seemed to have okay options (the black bean burger and quinoa salad were not terrible for lunch) and Under Canvas was also okay, though overpriced/small portions/light on vegetarian protein and potentially only available to guests (not sure about this). The best food we ate on this trip was Mixed Greens in St. George, Utah, an unexpectedly delicious and reasonably priced salads and bowls place in a strip mall about halfway between Las Vegas and Bryce Canyon. We were also happy to eat at Urth Caffe inside The Wynn/Encore in Las Vegas when we returned our Hertz car rental there.

Lodging

We stayed at Under Canvas, a luxury glamping site located a ~20 minute drive from the park entrance. It was in a very pretty area with cozy outdoor seating and many amenities (breakfast and dinner available for purchase onsite, hammocks, yoga mats, games, campfires and smores kits, etc.). The glamping tents had comfortable beds and sufficiently warm bedding for the cold nights, a shower with hot water, a sink, a normal toilet, a contraption for making a fire if desired, and Anker battery packs for charging devices overnight. There was no wifi or electricity (i.e., it wasn’t possible to use a hairdryer or laptop), and cell signal didn’t work for us onsite (so be sure to download offline maps for the park in advance!). The staff were all very nice and helpful. Apparently this is just the second season this site is open, and it generally felt pretty new and clean.

Glamping tent

Under Canvas was a unique experience, but given how expensive it was, I’d choose to stay at a regular hotel if I had the choice – it’s just a bit more convenient in terms of driving time to get to the park, electricity, staying warm overnight, etc., and likely at least a little bit less expensive. That said, if glamping were the only option, I’d totally stay here again – there were no issues and the chance to visit Bryce Canyon made it absolutely worth it.

View from the outdoor patio at Under Canvas

#brycecanyon #williscreek #utah #undercanvas #hoodoos

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