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National Treasures
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Bryce Canyon National Park
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21 reviews for Bryce Canyon National Park
If you don't like this,
You are blind. Just f-ing blind.
America's best.
Awesome park. Happily and unhappily, the weather was kind of windy and rainy for 75% of the time we were there. Happily because at least it wasn't roastingly hot. Unhappily because the hoodoos were not as brilliantly colored as they would have been with more sunlight.
Be sure to climb up to an observation point and just check out all the crazy trees growing from weird locations, strange formations, etc.
We have to go back someday and spend more time; we didn't have time to climb down into the hoodoos this time.
To borrow shamelessly from Cole Porter's "You Do Something to Me"
Do do that hoodoo
that you do so well.
Even a grey overcast drizzly June afternoon could not mask those glowing hoodoos of red, salmon pink and white.
Seeing trees growing at the bottoms of many of these immense gaps, between the hoodoo was unreal.
This park is truly one of the earth's wonders. You simply must not die before seeing this.
We're already planning out trip back!
Friggin Breathtakingly Incredible. Campgrounds are great. It can get really cold at night, so be prepared and bring your own firewood. The hiking is amazing, but the elevation changes are challenging and I got lightheaded after a 5 mile hike. Bring a lot of water. Bryce Canyon is, perhaps more beautiful than Zion. Definitely less people. It's more rustic, which is great. It's magical. The Bryce Canyon general store is great - has laundry and showers and free wireless and ice cream. I've never seen anything like Bryce Canyon. Drip Castles.
Spectacular, and surreal. The hoodoos and all of the vibrant colors make you feel like you're on some alien planet or in a Salvador Dali painting. the canyon is absolutely breath taking.
Before you die, you must go to Bryce Canyon.
I highly recommend the Queens Garden/Navajo loop trail.
My boyfriend and I took a roadtrip to Zion and Bryce.
I love Bryce -- the red hoodoos against the blue sky is a wonderfully alien landscape. While Zion's massive rock formations look solid and permanent, Bryce looks pretty fragile and I'm guessing it will be gone in 10,000 years.
If you'v got an hour, take the Navajo loop which surrounds you with canyon walls. Next choice is Queen's Garden, where you get to close to the hoodoos and walk in a forest at the bottom. We also did the Peek-a-boo loop, and got some additional great views, but if you're limited on time, Queen's Garden and Navajo combine loop is the way to go.
Bring a blanket and come here at night to watch the stars! It's amazing, you never get anything like that in the city.
Bryce Canyon is unlike anything I've ever seen. You'll never be able to grasp the immensity and beauty of the park unless you go see it for yourself!
The park is smaller than most and very manageable. For most, it can be seen in a day. There are plenty of overlooks and trails for any level of hiker. I really recommend going down to "Wall Street" from Sunset point, then heading over to the Queen's Garden, and returning via Thor's Hammer. The trail is very steep on the return, but is well worth the effort, views, and rewards of hiking down into the actual amphitheater. Also, the Bristlecone Loop at Rainbow Point is nice; it leads through a forest to the edge of a cliff offering views of the park, hoodoos, and the immense Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument.
From Los Angeles, Bryce is about an 8 hour drive (don't forget to add an hour when going from CA to Utah), so it's worth it to spend the night, otherwise you risk exhaustion. Also, the elevation is around 8,000 to 9,000 feet, so it's easy to lose your breath. Take your time and drink plenty of water.
I can't wait to return to Bryce Canyon. It's a mecca for photographers, hikers, and nature lovers alike.
I have to admit, camping and tourist filled national parks are not my idea of a good time.
Tourists...I should preface that with, "harried, losers who only get out of their home state 1x per year, just so they can say they went on vacation, and torture the rest of the nation with their bullshit questions, blatant show of ignorance, ill manners and rude bahavior", really turn me off.
2 words - bug spray.
After blowing through the Louvre during the summer of '94 while listening to the excruciating noise of American tourists shouting and misrepresenting Les Etas Unis in the worst way possible, I vowed to never ever travel during the summer again, even in my own country, unless it is absolutely, positively necessary.
So, between a wedding in Vegas, my brother's pending birth of his 1st child, and the opportunity to spend some true, quality time with the man I am totally enamored with...I challenged myself to roll across the country and mingle with the masses of fools who somehow got a week off the cog.
Bringing us to this review. After seeing Moab, I thought "this has got nothing on Garden of the Gods and Red Rocks...my state rocks!" Then I thought I can see all this in one day...what are we going to do for 3 or 4 days down here? Let's hit Vegas early.
Then we got to Bryce Canyon.
Wow! Just Wow! It reminds me of Atlantis. If all the water drained from Atlantis, Gods would sit atop these canyons, smiling at the excellence of their world. The kind of beauty that brings tears to your eyes, and makes you think you are in love. In love with your Unverse. In love with Mother Nature. Simply, in love.
Hey GUYS!! Girlfriend Alert! Great place to propose...seriously.
If you can catch a sunrise or sunset here, get yo' ass out of bed and do it! You will never see anything so breathtakingly beautiful.
I can't say enough about it. I was surprised and overly impressed (which rarely happens...believe that).
So grab your man-pris, your murses, your cousin Ned, and plan a road trip.
NOTE: The hikes are no joke. So, if you are out of shape, even a 2 mile hike at 10,000 feet may wear you out. Be prepared.
Beautiful place. Stayed at the Lodge and ate there. The lodge does not have internet access OR t.v. We played "Go Fish" instead & it was fun. The restaurant was good but not fantastic. For dinner, reservation is required. The breakfast was a good deal - $5 for kids for buffet.
The Sunset Viewpoint is incredible.. but I'm afraid of heights.
Bryce is beautiful. The orange tones complimented with a bright blue sky are truly unique.
Bryce is good for one day, but for me might get a little repetitive with more. There is more variety at Zion, so I would suggest putting in 1 day to Bryce along with 2-3 days at Zion.
Whenever I bring up Bryce Canyon in conversation, I find that most people, even park lovers, have not gone.
And when you get to Bryce canyon, you actually understand why. Even the Park Service undersells the park. The first page of the guide lists what you can do if you just have four hours.
Four hours? Sounds like there is nothing to do at Bryce, but it's really just that Bryce is STUNNING, but small.
Certain vantage points and a two-hour hike will show you the most dramatic views. Spending more than four hours will be worthwhile, but anti-climactic.
I think of it as a great opportunity to see the most amazing geology in a very short period of time. Get this - pound-for-pound, my wife and I agree that it's better than the Grand Canyon, Zion, and even Yosemite.
It's two hours from Zion. If you're in UT, spend the best four hours of your life here.
Highly recommended!! Amazing!!! The 1.1 mile tunnel is great very different from any other tunnels! A gotta go place if you are up there!!
Of the parks in the southwest, I think Bryce Canyon was the most enjoyable. It gets far less visitors than Zion or the Grand Canyon, which makes it doubly appealing. We went in the wintertime, which proved to be an excellent decision, since the snow offsets the red of the hoodoos so wonderfully. The two pictures I uploaded here in my photo album are 2 of my favorites.
I forget the name of the trail we did, but it was probably around a few miles long, where you go inside the canyon and walk amongst the rock formations....there are arches to walk through in there.....and you're basically just surrounded by serene beauty the whole time you're there. When you're at the bottom, it's quite the spectacle looking up for 2 reasons: the scenery, and knowing you'll have to walk up that hill. The walk back is absolutely brutal and the thin air (8000 feet elevation) doesn't help any.
Make SURE to go to the last pulloffs in the south part of the park though, as they offer outstanding vistas of the entire ampitheater....
There are moments when it looks as if Bryce Canyon is on fire. It is. Your task is simple here: drive to Bryce, park car, take short walk to rim of canyon, cry. Cry? Yeah, I've seen folks cry here. This is as good as vistas get, and if it doesn't move you deeply then it says you are meant to sit in front of a television set for the remainder of your days. This is drama, this is opera, this is the greatest concert playing silently below you.
I knew nothing about this place prior to my summer road trip with my buddies to check out some hiking spot. Most days you'll find me on the coach catching up on TIVO.
The hikes are not for the faint of heart as they are steep in some places and rock in others. However, it was well worth the sweat and yes a tear seeing the beauty of this amazing canyon.
A little fact: the striations of the rock formations are formed when ice melts slowly eroding bits of the sediment of the rocks.
Bryce is a really spectacular National Park with excellent hiking trails, like the 7.5 Riggs Spring Loop. You will never forget the glowing rock formations. You can take an auto tour (but it's a shame not to hike at least a little; try the 0.8 mile Bristlecone Loop). The National Park Service's website (http://www.nps.gov/brca/) offers a great deal of information on different vantage points, lodging, trails, permits, a detailed virtual tour, etc. Zion National Park (http://www.nps.gov/zion/) is nearby.
You've seen the pictures....they don't do it justice. It's absolutely breathtaking. The best way to see Bryce is in 3 ways in my opinion.
1. Drive to Rainbow Point at the far end of the park and work your way back to the gate of the park stopping at every overlook. The best views are the obvious ones--Bryce Point, Inspiration Point, Sunset Point, etc... Do not miss Sunset Point at Sunsent and Sunrise Point at Sunrise. It's beyond memorable.
2. Hike Under The Rim. Get down in the hoodoos and look up at what you've been looking down at the whole time. It's a remarkable experience.
3. Horse-Ride to the far reaches of the park. For economy of time, I recommend a horse ride to some of the points that are far reaching from the rim. If you've done 1 &2, you will have looked down into the amphitheater and then looked up at the rim from the floor....with this, you will feel like you are looking back from the far side of the park.
We camped at the Bryce Campground and it was fantastic. In the mornings, we had a 5 minute quick walk to Sunrise point. I also recommend that you drive the park at night and go to some of the overlooks in pitch black. It is incredibly eery and tingles the senses.
I've been to a lot of places in the US and this place is probably the most beautiful of them all. The canyon and its formations are amazing, otherworldly. You can just sit and stare at it for hours, and thousands come to do that yearly. The hiking here is pretty good too, ranging from tourist swamped, easy 2 mile hikes, to more challenging 10 mile loops. We did the Fairyland Loop which was fantastic - we got away from the crowds and got to witness some spectacular scenary. I would recommend staying in a tent at one of the campgrounds, the southern one seems superior, and taking 2 days to hike around. We had a day and a half, but that seemed about right for what we wanted to do.
Bryce Canyon rocks my world. No pun intended. It really is my favorite national park in the southwest. The hoodoos are beautiful, the colors are amazing, and the hiking is awesome. I was there a few days after Christmas and it was literally the coldest I've ever been in my entire life (high of 10 degrees with a windchill of negative 10), but it was absolutely worth it. Plus, very few tourists when it's 10 degrees out!
This is my favorite National Park. I love the "fairlyland trail"-5 miles of hoodoo bliss!! almost no tourists on that one-too strenuous for the standard couch potato. There are also nice showers at the store-very nice after a dusty hike! I gave it only four stars due to the fussy attitude of their rangers, especially of Ranger K Neuman who likes to give $75 parking tickets for parking 3 feet off the embankment. She also likes to hang out around Ruby's, and right north behind the hill at the Pariah Point turnoff to hand out speeding tickets (no doubt for going 5 miles faster than the gerontological national park speed limit of 35 mph...). Bottom line: Go hiking but watch out for the eagerbeaver rangers before you start enjoying yourself too much.
Oh, and did I mention that all "grocery stores" in the immediate vicinity of the canyon are a totally disappointing ripp-off ($5 baguettes in one of them...). This means BRING WHAT YOU NEED from the last bigger city you might pass through (like Cedar City or St. George). It will be much better quality and about 40% of the price!! The only decent place in about 25 miles distance is Joe's Main Street Market in Panguitch-The prices are reasonable considering the remote location, and they have decent fresh things. Of course nothing organic, but fairly fresh.