Bryce Canyon National Park Revisited - September 24th to 27th, 2024

Most national parks are large enough and diverse enough that you can visit them multiple times and have a different, wonderful experience each time. Also, the parks seem to change with the seasons. We visited Bryce Canyon National Park five years ago at the start of summer (Bryce Canyon National Park - June 24 to 26, 2019) and this time we came during the fall. Both visits were spectacular.

Tuesday was a travel day, from Snow Canyon State Park to Bryce Canyon National Park, both in Utah. Instead of heading up I-15, we took the back way up to Cedar City, via routes 18 and 56. It added half an hour to our drive, but was more pleasant than the interstate. Along at least part of route 18 was a lovely paved bike path. We love to see nice infrastructure for bikes.

In Cedar City, we stopped at Walmart for groceries and more toilet chemicals. Since we were right across the street from Costa Vida at lunch time, we went there again for lunch. Yes, we just ate there four days prior (Snow Canyon State Park, Utah - September 20th to 23rd, 2024), but it was hard to pass up. Ann even went wild this time and had raspberry chipotle chicken on her salad. She thought the seasoning would be added to the chicken before grilling, but it was just a sauce added on top. It was a little sweeter than she would have liked, or they just put too much sauce on it. Either way, she’ll be going back to her standard order next time.

From Cedar City, we took route 14 east to get over to US 89. It was a lovely drive over a mountain pass, but not recommended for semis, large RV’s or trailers. The aspen trees were wearing their fall colors. We stopped at a couple of overlooks to take in the beautiful views.

Our only other stop for the day was in the town of Hatch for gas, a bathroom, and cold drinks. Then we turned onto route 12 to reach Bryce Canyon. Route 12 goes through Red Canyon. The sun was wonderfully lighting up the canyon.

We arrived at Bryce Canyon around 3 pm. It took around ten to fifteen minutes to get through the entrance station, then we could drive straight to our camp site in the North Campground. It was a much more relaxing arrival than when we arrived during our visit five years ago. Back then, all the camp sites were first come/first serve. We were nervous about being able to get a site and we got one of the last available ones around noon when we arrived. We like having reservations allowing us to arrive late in the day and not being stressed about getting a site.

At the park entrance, they were sure to let us know that large vehicles (23 feet long or longer) are not allowed to park in most of the small lots along the shuttle route during shuttle hours. At this time of year, the shuttle runs from 8 am to 6 pm. Large vehicles need to park in the additional lot across from the Visitor Center, the shuttle station parking lot back in Bryce Canyon City, or at a campsite. Then use a free shuttle to get around.

Before dinner, we walked over to the General Store to stretch our legs. There are showers and laundry at the General Store. But the showers are $3 for 8 minutes and there are only three working washing machines along with a line of people waiting to use them. We’ll probably use our own shower in Red Tail (our Winnebago EKKO) and find a laundromat on our travel day when we leave in four days.

As Ann was doing her daily stretches outside in the evening, a small group of deer wandered by. The one stopped about thirty yards away. He must have stared at Ann for about ten minutes straight while she went through her routine. We could only imagine what he was thinking. Probably something like “What is that crazy woman doing? I’ve never seen those creatures act like that before”.

Before lunch on Wednesday, we walked over to the Visitor Center and watched the park movie. On our way over, another EKKO owner was throwing away his trash in the dumpsters at the campground entrance. We stopped and chatted with Chris for a while. It’s always nice to talk with someone who owns the same rig. You already have a built-in topic of conversation with them. Sharing experiences is a great way to learn new things about your rig. Safe travels, Chris!

After lunch, Ann went on a hike. Keith was fighting a cold and didn’t feel up to it. Ann went on the Rim Trail over to Fairyland Point and back. There is a cutover trail at the other end of the campground that brings you to the Rim Trail, so she could start her hike right from our camp site. We love it when we don’t have to drive Red Tail to a trailhead.

Being a rim trail, Ann was expecting the trail to be pretty flat. She should have looked a little more closely to a trail profile. From the cutover trail, the Rim Trail is pretty steep heading towards Fairyland. She didn’t bring trekking poles and was starting to regret it. However, it wasn’t long before the trail started leveling off. In total, Ann’s hike was 5.2 miles with an elevation gain of 768 feet which took her about two and a half hours to complete.

Ann didn’t know what the trail would be like. We didn’t hike it when we were here before. Fairyland Point is heading away from the iconic and popular views of Sunrise Point and Sunset Point. But Ann found the views along the Rim Trail and from Fairyland Point to be just as spectacular. There were hoodoos, windows, and eroded cliffs called fins with the typical pink color of the Claron Formation, the top step of the Grand Staircase of southern Utah. The Grand Staircase, with its distinctive colors for each step, extends from Bryce Canyon all the way down to the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

In the late afternoon, another EKKO arrived in the campground. The owners stopped on their way around the loop and chatted with us briefly. Two EKKO’s in the same day. It’s almost like a meet-up!

Thursday we relaxed in the morning and went for a bike ride in the afternoon. There is a paved multi-use trail that runs through the park, from Inspiration Point all the way to the shuttle parking in Bryce Canyon City. The path is about five miles long, so it’s ten miles round trip. A sidewalk continues through town and a bike path leads from Bryce Canyon City through Red Canyon. The Red Canyon Bicycle Trail is over 11 miles long (22.7 round trip) with an elevation gain of 1138 feet. Bikes are also allowed on the park roads, so you could ride all the way out to Rainbow Point if you are so inclined, but that is 36 miles round trip and who knows how much elevation gain. You can rent bicycles, including e-bikes, both inside the park and in Bryce Canyon City.

We hopped on the Bryce Canyon Multi Use Trail and headed towards Bryce Canyon City. Along the way, we took the one mile spur road over to Fairyland Point so Keith could see where Ann hiked to the day before.

In town, we continued on the sidewalk to Old Bryce Town, a cute little strip mall owned by Ruby’s Inn. Our destination, of course, was the ice cream shop. Keith was disappointed that they didn’t have shakes, so we both had waffle cones with huckleberry and chocolate. They serve Farr Better Ice Cream from Ogden, Utah. That is the same ice cream that Nemo’s in Escalante serves, where we stopped for shakes on our way to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park at the beginning of the season (Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah - May 7th to 10th, 2024).

After we checked out the town a little, we rode all the way to the other end of the bike path, to Inspiration Point. The bike path is a nice, cruising path, but it is multi-use, so you have to slow down for pedestrians. There are also a couple of dismount zones as the trail passes by the Visitor Center and Bryce Canyon Lodge.

On the way to Inspiration Point, we stopped to help a person with their rental bike. The pedal had fallen off and he did find someone earlier to help put it back on, but they put the pedal in the wrong position, so the pedals were no longer opposite from one another. Luckily, we had the right size Allen wrench with us so he could put the pedal back in the right position, making the bike rideable again. We were so glad that we could help.

We locked up our bikes and checked out Inspiration Point. The views from there are spectacular, overlooking the dense concentration of hoodoos. We made one more stop, at sunset point, before returning to camp.

After relaxing at camp for about an hour, we hopped on our bikes again to ride over to Bryce Canyon Lodge. We arrived just before 5 pm to see if we could get a table for dinner. The dining room opened at 5 pm and there was already a line waiting to get in. There were about a dozen or so people in front of us in line, but we only had to wait about ten to fifteen minutes before getting a table.

The Bryce Canyon Lodge is the only remaining lodge built in the National Park Service rustic style from the Grand Circle Tour from the 1920’s. The tour included Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Kaibab Plateau, Zion, and the Grand Canyon north rim. The similar lodges in Zion and the Grand Canyon burned down and the one in Cedar Breaks was dismantled.

For dinner, Keith had the roasted half chicken while Ann had fettuccine with chicken. For dessert we had the lemon cake and the chocolate cake, both were served with fresh berries. The chocolate cake was small but very rich. It really satisfied Ann’s chocolate addiction.

After dinner, we walked over to the canyon rim and Sunset Point to enjoy the evening light on the hoodoos. Then we got back on our bikes and pedaled back to camp.

Friday, Keith was still not feeling well enough to go on a hike, so Ann went alone again. The hike she picked out was the figure eight route which is from Sunset Point, down the Wall Street Trail, over to the Peekaboo Loop, then back out the Queens Garden Trail to Sunrise Point, and finally the Rim Trail back to Sunset Point. This is basically the same hike we did the first time we were at Bryce Canyon. If you want to experience being down among the hoodoos and have the ability to do it, this is the most popular route. However, if you want something a little shorter, the Navajo Loop is also very popular. It is going down either the Wall Street Trail or the Two Bridges Trail and back up the other one.

To get to Sunrise Point to start the hike, Ann walked over to the Visitor Center and took the shuttle bus. Along the way, she got off at Bryce Point to take in the views, then hopped right back on the next shuttle bus.

Even though Ann had hiked the trail before, it had been long enough that much of it felt new again, but with faded memories coming back to the forefront. Every now and then she would be thinking “Oh, I remember those trees growing at the bottom of the Wall Street Trail now” and “Peekaboo Trail seems to go on forever”.

It is such a different experience to be among the hoodoos than just looking at them from above. Although Peekaboo Trail looks like a simple three mile loop, Ann found it disorienting both times she’s hiked it. It winds around and has quite a few steep ups and downs that you lose your sense of direction and your feel for how far around the loop you are. Somehow, after the first steep uphill, making a turn, and starting a steep downhill, you are fooled into believing you are half way around the loop. However, upon checking the GPS tracker, you aren’t even a quarter of the way.

The views along the trail are spectacular. Almost around every corner, there is a new stunning view, and there are a lot of corners as you wind among the rock formations. It is a photographer’s paradise. And Ann didn’t have to worry about slowing Keith down with all of her picture taking since he wasn’t on the hike with her.

When Ann reached Sunrise Point, she did not take the Rim Trail back to Sunset Point, since the campground was in the opposite direction and we’ve already seen the views along the Rim Trail. Instead, she headed straight for the General Store for a cold can of Coke. While she sat on a bench enjoying her drink, she called Keith to let him know where she was. She had sent InReach messages from Sunset Point when she started, from her lunch spot along Peekaboo Trail, and from Sunrise Point when she ended. So she didn’t want Keith to worry about how long it was taking her to get back to camp from Sunrise Point.

During her phone call with Keith, she found out that he had bought a Coke at the General Store earlier and it was waiting for her in our fridge. He stopped at the General Store on his way back from checking out the views along the Rim Trail. Keith also put in a request for a bag of potato chips. So Ann went back in the store for those and brought them back. It was a large enough bag that we shared them, as Ann drank her second can of Coke back at camp.

Ann clocked the hike at 6.2 miles with an elevation gain of 1490 feet in just under four hours, from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point. She didn’t count the mileage back to camp. By the statistics, it was a comfortable hike for our abilities, but somehow it felt harder than the stats indicated. Perhaps Ann was fighting Keith’s cold as well.

Keith was disappointed that he didn’t get to go hiking in Bryce Canyon this time, but he still enjoyed the visit. We can’t imagine getting tired of Bryce Canyon National Park. We’ll be back in the future for more adventures.

Check out our related video: Bryce Canyon National Park Revisited

(Ann)