Snapshot Planning Your Visit The Amphitheater behind us. It was comical how badly our first attempt here went. When we visited the park We visited Bryce Canyon National Park the second week of March after an unprecedented year of snowfall. Because of this, the park was only open to the Bryce Point turn off (Mile 3). There were parts of the drive to Rainbow Point that had over five feet of snow piled up. We also had to make a second attempt the park because the weather for our planned day was cold, raining, and thick fog. We couldn't see a single thing in the amphitheater. Regardless of how vision of visiting Bryce Canyon didn't go to plan, we loved the beauty of this place and want to come back to explore the rest of the park. We would like to come back in early fall sometime to see other parts of the park we could access.  weather-us.com Things to Consider 1. The first thing to know is, this park can get busy during summer months! Lodging, parking lots, and shuttles can fill up fast (sometimes by noon on weekends). Book lodging early, get to the park early, and plan for people to be around. 2. Of the Mighty 5, this is the one that I feel like can be impacted greatly by weather, besides flooding in Zion and Capitol Reef. We had to switch our plans, so be flexible. I want to see Bryce in late summer or early fall, I feel like that would be the best time of year for this park. 3. This park is only about 1.5 hours from Zion or Kanab, UT. Both offer a lot of other activities if the weather isn't cooperating. 4. Use the shuttle system to get around the amphitheater area, but make sure to drive the scenic route if you have time. 5. There is horseback riding available in the park April-October. I wish we could have done this with the kids!   How to Get There From the North: Take I-15 south to UT-20 (exit 95). Travel east on UT-20 to US-89. Follow US-89 south to UT-12. Travel east on UT-12 to UT-63. Take UT-63 south to Bryce Canyon National Park. The visitor center sits 1 mile inside the park boundary. From the South through Zion National Park: Take I-15 north to UT-9 (exit 16). Follow UT-9 east through Zion National Park to US-89. Travel north on US-89 to UT-12. Go east on UT-12 to UT-63. Take UT-63 south to Bryce Canyon National Park. The visitor center sits 1 mile inside the park boundary. Take I-15 north to exit 59. Go east on 200 north, then south on Main Street to Center Street/UT-14. Travel east on UT-14 to US-89. Go north on US-89 to UT-12. Follow UT-12 east to UT-63. Take UT-63 south to Bryce Canyon National Park. The visitor center sits 1 mile inside the park boundary. This is a very scenic route during the summer months and early fall. From the South through Bear (Dog) Valley: Take I-15 north to UT-20 (exit 95). Go east on UT-20 to US-89. Follow US-89 south to UT-12. Travel east on UT-12 to UT-63. Take UT-63 south to Bryce Canyon National Park. The visitor center sits 1 mile inside the park boundary. Additional Maps offered by the park Shuttle If you are staying outside of the park and do not want to deal with driving, parking, or navigating the park; you can use the Bryce Canyon shuttle. This shuttle service is offered April-October, and typically is on a 15 minute rotation. It takes you to popular destinations along the Amphitheater to Bryce Point, and also to lodging locations outside of the park. If the gates close because of no parking, you can still ride the shuttle to get you into the park (with the proper admission ticket). Get familiar with the shuttle schedule to save yourself a headache if you visit during the summer months. Bryce Canyon Shuttle Service Where to Stay Inside the Park The Lodge at Bryce Canyon This is one of the most historic buildings at the park. It offers 114 various lodge rooms, motel structures, or a western cabins ranging from $200 to $330 (not including taxes and fees). If you plan to stay in the park, book EARLY! The lodge is open April-October, so visiting during the off-season, you would have to find lodging outside the park. The lodge also offers options for eating inside the park. There is a restaurant and a pizzeria-cafe at the lodge, as well as a general store for basic needs. Campgrounds North Campground Open year-round, this campground offers 98 sites for people to camp with tents ($20) or RVs ($30). Reservation camping is available May 19th - October 7th; First-come, first-served October 8th - May 18th. Make a reservation at recreation.gov by searching Bryce Canyon, and locating North Campground. Sunset Campground Sunset Campground provides 99 sites on a first-come, first-served basis April 15th - October 31st. It is closed during the winter months. Due to the popularity of Bryce Canyon in recent years, campgrounds can be filled by noon, so have alternate plans and be flexible. Outside the Park Bryce Lodging or Camping Bryce is the closest town for lodging options (about 5 minutes). There are many lodges and campgrounds within a short drive, but also a little further out. For a comprehensive list, use the link above for popular lodging options. Lodging close by in Bryce and on Shuttle Route -Best Western - Grand -Best Western - Ruby's -Ruby's Campground Callie's Cottage We stayed at a cute rental house in Hatch, UT about 30 minutes away from the park. There wasn't much opened in March around here, but there are more options for food (and coffee) during the summer months. We booked through booking.com, but it is also listed on VRBO or AirBnB. We were able to rent this whole house for $140. I usually try to find a place that we can do some laundry towards the end of our trip, and this place had just what I was looking for! I like to use the Beyond brand of laundry soap sheets, because they travel very easily. This two-bedroom, 1 bath house offered us enough space to spread out with great views of the canyon out the front window.   What We Did The first thing we noticed was the beauitful drive into Bryce through the Dixie National Forest. The drive along Hwy 12 takes you along the red cliffs and through these natural bridges. There is a visitor center for Dixie along this path if you are looking for a place to stop and learn more about this area. On our second attempt at visiting the park, our expectations were high after the remarkable drive there. We were not disappointed by what we saw, even though we were only able to get to mile 3 of the park. The first place we stopped was the visitor center. This helps us get oriented to the park and talk with rangers if we have questions. We also pick up the junior ranger books so the kids have something to work on while we are driving between locations. Then on our way out of the park, we stop back in to complete the Junior Ranger Program. Because there was so much snow on the ground still, we headed for the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater with the intentions of making the most of our trip. We started at Sunrise Point. The short hike to Sunset Point was covered in snow and slippery, so my husband headed that way, and I took the kids there by car. This hike along the canyon rim is stunning, and I wish we all would have been able to make it. We met up at Sunset Point, and drove around the lodge and cabins available for rent there. On a return trip, I would love to stay here! After that, we went down to Inspiration Point and and Bryce Point. All of these observation points had different and spectacular views of the canyon! Hike the Hoodoos Challenge Hiking the hoodoos is an optional challenge the park has put in place for visitors. The goal of this "scavenger hunt" hike is to hike at least 3 miles on specially-marked trails and collect "Hike the Hoodoos" benchmark survey markers. You may collect these benchmarks by obtaining rubbings or taking pictures of yourself with them. Once you have completed at least 3 miles of hiking and collected the markers on those hikes, you can return to the visitor center and show them to a ranger to obtain a special reward. Although you only need to hike 3 miles, you can hike all of the specially marked trails (18.4 miles total) and collect all 10 benchmarks if you are looking for something more challenging. Unfortunately, that was the extent of what we were able to see on our short visit, only about 20% of the park was open. When we come back, we plan on doing a horseback ride along the rim of the canyon, driving the scenic drive to Rainbow Point (and using the audio tour on the NPS App), hiking to Yovimpa Point, and hiking the Navajo Trail to Queen's Garden to Peek-a-Boo Trail. These hikes take you into the amphitheater of Bryce Canyon, and we are itching to get down there when the trail conditions and weather are better.
Where this fit in our Road Trip We had planned on going to Bryce Canyon before we ended at Zion, however the weather was very bad and a large point of the park was already closed down to deal with large amounts of snow. We adjusted our plans, and ended up going to Bryce the last day of our trip; which meant more driving than we had planned for. It worked out in the end though because the weather cleared and we could see well into and beyond the amphitheater. NPS App and All Trails Maps I highly recommend using the National Park Service (NPS) App, as well as the All Trails App for hiking. There is limited service in the park, so planning ahead is helpful. These two apps allow you to download sights, maps, and trails so that you can access information anywhere. The NPS app also links to the full National Parks Website, with a plethora of information.
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