The next stop on our whirlwind adventure through Utah was Bryce Canyon National Park, which would round out our weekend of three national parks in three days. Bryce Canyon was the park that I was personally most excited to see. In the past few years a couple different friends had been to Bryce and shared pictures, and I was very, very intrigued by the hoodoos, the spiky, orange stone monoliths that the park is known for. They did not disappoint.

Although we were more prepared for this park than the others, having sourced recommendations from friends on trails, directions, timing, etc., somehow we were still unprepared for the weather. We had checked the weather in the morning, as one does when getting dressed for a day of outdoor activity, but had failed to take into account the simple fact that our Airbnb was a full two hours and apparently several climate zones away from Bryce (more on that later). On our drive over, we watched in indignation as the thermometer dropped steadily from 52° to 19° and confirmed when we got there that the temperature at the canyon would not get above freezing for the day. Great. Luckily, even an unprepared J is more prepared than the average tourist, and we were able to don our emergency hats and mittens to keep comfortable. Plus, once you were in the canyon, you were pretty well out of the wind, which was nice.

Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop

The Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop trails seemed to be the main route through the park. On both the recommendation of a friend and the park ranger that we spoke to at the visitor center, we took the route clockwise. This served two purposes: first, it kept the main payoff of the trail in terms of views at the end rather than the beginning, and second, it allowed a steep, snowy portion of the trail that is partially shaded in the morning a chance to dry out a bit in the sun before we got there.

This hike dropped us into the canyon right away and gave us a chance to get up close and personal with some of the hoodoos. Once we were at the bottom, I felt like an ant on an ant farm, but in the best possible way. It was a giant natural playground! The trail wound around and through the rock formations and the surprisingly lush forest at the bottom. When it was time to climb again, the trail split into two different routes, Wall Street and Two Bridges. We were under strict instructions to take the Wall Street route, but unfortunately, the decision was made for us since Wall Street was closed for the winter. Two Bridges was the portion of the trail that the ranger had been referring to that was covered in ice and snow overnight, and was actively melting during the day. Until that point, the route was pretty easy and uncrowded. Apparently though, most hikers at Bryce that day did not get the memo to go clockwise around the trail, and they were all coming down the Two Bridges trail, which was slick with orange, cakey mud. I am immensely pleased that we were climbing, not descending for that portion, because the traction was minimal and the potential to look like you just ran a Tough Mudder was maximal.

While we did enjoy this trail, we spent most of the hike looking for the iconic view of the “hoodoo forest” that we had seen in our friends’ photos. We didn’t actually find it on this trail, but the payoff at the end was a pretty cool view from the top of Sunset Point. We wish Wall Street had open, because the view from that side of the lookout was stunning!

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On this trail we also learned about the geology and topology of the region and how the hoodoos formed. Around 50 million years ago, the area that is now Bryce Canyon was a lake and flood plain, so streams would carry particles from surrounding areas of higher elevation and deposit them in the basin. The minerals settled and solidified into rock that was then raised to its current elevation through the collision of a few key tectonic plates. All of this laid the foundation for the hoodoos by creating a fun blocky plateau that was a mixture of a ton of different kinds of rock – limestone, sandstone, and dolostone to name a few. Then came the master sculptor that is erosion. Moisture from rain and snow melt seep into the porous stone and dissolve the calcium carbonate trapped within the rock. The calcium carbonate occurs at different levels in each of the various rock types, accounting for the wacky formations of the hoodoos and the lack of uniformity in the erosion process. Plus, the current elevation of the canyon sees more than 200 nights a year where the temperature is both above and below freezing. When the moisture trapped in the rock freezes, it expands and puts pressure on the stone, weakening it. When it melts, the water gets back to work dissolving the calcium carbonate, and carries the sediment down to the canyon floor. So cool!

Rim Trail to Inspiration Point

Inspiration Point is the reason you should go to Bryce Canyon. A friend had outlined a route for us that included driving to Inspiration Point, but by the time we finished the Navajo Loop, we were feeling pretty good, and just kept walking along the rim chasing cooler and cooler views. The Rim Trail from Sunset Point to Inspiration Point appeared on the map as 0.7mi, but actually walking it was more like 1.4mi one-way. We’re not quite sure where the disconnect was since there wasn’t much opportunity to get lost just following the rim of the canyon. This trail was definitely less traveled than the other, and the conditions left it snowy and windy, but the constant breathtaking views back into the canyon were more than worth it.

When you get to Inspiration Point there is a main platform, and then two additional lookouts if you are willing/able to climb a bit. We were ready for that climb and went all the way up to the tippy top. This was the slickest part of any of the trails that we did since the packed snow was frozen into an icy ramp at what was effectively a 45° angle. Luckily, we had our Yaktrax and our hiking poles that helped us gain traction on the ice. The view from both of the additional lookouts was beyond amazing, but we couldn’t stay for too long – the wind up there was even crazier than on the rim!

Seeing the hoodoos along this entire trail and at Inspiration Point was the view that we had been looking for since arriving at Bryce Canyon. It was the “hoodoo forest” we had hoped to see from the beginning. To me, all the hoodoos standing at attention and lined up like that looked like the terra-cotta army at the burial site of of China’s first emperor. I’ve never seen the terra-cotta warriors in person, but whatever image I must’ve seen in a National Geographic magazine growing up really stuck with me, because it was all I could think of looking back into the canyon. If this was all we had seen at Bryce Canyon, the trip would’ve been worth it.

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Mossy Cave

This was a very short bonus trail that we tacked on to the end of our trip through Bryce. It ends at a small drippy waterfall in a little sheltered cave. Depending on the season of your visit, you’ll see either a cave full of icicles or a cave full of spongy moss. Of course, we got the icicles, and it was awesome! A perfect little chaser for our hoodoo bonanza from before. This would be a great trail to bring little kids on since you can splash around in the streams and waterfalls. There are only a few parking spaces at this trailhead though, so avoid peak hours if you can!

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