Bryce Canyon National Park is unlike any other national park you’re likely to visit. While visiting Zion, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks, it’s easy to imagine the forces of nature working diligently to create the magnificence before you. These parks look, feel, and sound like the great outdoors you’d imagine.
Bryce Canyon, on the other hand, is a fairy tale. I was there and still think it was spun from the imagination of a vibrant storyteller. The park is known for its hoodoos. orange spires, both round and sharp, that rise from a natural amphitheater. Look at the hoodoos from above for a sweeping sea of orange characters rising up from the canyon. Descend among the hoodoos and be transported to a surreal world where at any moment a hoodoo just might turn and nonsensically inquire where you’re headed.
25 Photos to Make You Want to Visit
Bryce Canyon National Park
When the alarm clock buzzed in the hotel room, it was 5 a.m. Luckily, our Bryce hotel was just outside the park and it would take just minutes to get to Sunrise Point. Even in April, the air was chilly. I needed layers and a hat. Bryce is at a higher elevation so cooler temperatures and even patches of snow persist well into the spring. We didn’t need our America the Beautiful Pass to enter so early but it came in handy later!
When we arrived, the hoodoos were sitting in darkness.
The sky brightened and an orange glow lingered just below the horizon.
As the sun peaked over the horizon, darkness became orange. The hoodoos yawned and stretched as they awoke.
Sunlight began to bathe the far wall of the amphitheater, where the hoodoos waited for the full morning light.
As the sun came up, the rays of light changed the formations from a subdued orange to a burning flame.
When a sunrise reaches its full glory, thoughts of why am I up this early instantly change to why would anyone sleep through this!
With all attention being paid to the hoodoos at the center of the morning light show, be sure to turn back and see the shadows the light makes throughout the canyon.
With the sunrise complete, head into Bryce Canyon. The Queens Garden Trail, which begins at Sunrise Point, descends toward the hoodoos and into a land of fairytales.
Smaller than a speck is how you’ll feel around these towering giants! If you’re early enough, you’ll have the path to yourself. Ever wonder what it would be like to go down the rabbit’s hole and end up in a land of magic and mystery?
The evergreen trees, with their tall and skinny trunks, shoot in between the orange formations in search of the light stolen by the flashy hoodoos above.
Step quietly and you just might come across some of the many mule deer that inhabit Bryce Canyon National Park.
After a day of hiking, make the steep trek back to the rim of the amphitheater and walk to see the canyon from different angles.
As the sky changes and the sun’s rays shine light over the hoodoos from all directions, the colors change from deep orange to light orange and even pink.
You might even feel like a pawn among many on the world’s largest chess board!
On a clear day, the sunset will be just as brilliant as the sunrise. Don’t these hoodoos look like Temples you’d see in the far east? Or perhaps they’re remnants of a lost mythical city?
Either way, Bryce Canyon National Park will dazzle you with its other-worldly landscape and transport you onto the pages of a fictional tale where the characters are called hoodoos and magic really does exist.
Plan your Utah National Park trip with my 1-week Utah itinerary.
Have you been to Bryce Canyon National Park? What national parks have you visited?
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Erika Bisbocci says
May 28, 2016 at 11:14 amThis is a stunning photo essay. I particularly like the photos that have a light brushing of snow…the white against the red is striking. I have visited Bryce once in my life, about 15 years ago. I’m dying to go back!
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
May 29, 2016 at 2:40 pmThe snow was such a good surprise, Erika. The other Utah parks we’d visited had no snow left. I agree. The color contrast between the reddish hoodoos and the white is a great effect. Hope you can return to Bryce soon!
Giulia Blocal says
May 28, 2016 at 12:58 pmLove your pictures, they really made me want to visit the Bryce Canyon Park! (btw, more than a chessboard, to me it looks like a kelp forest!)
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
May 29, 2016 at 2:38 pmThanks, Giulia! Hope you get to visit Bryce soon!
Sue Reddel says
May 28, 2016 at 7:07 pmYou’re right! Now I do want to visit Bryce Canyon National Park. The enormity is unbelievable. I’m glad you showed a few photos with people so we could really get the perspective of the size. What a wonderful photo-essay of Bryce Canyon. Thank you!
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
May 29, 2016 at 2:38 pmThanks, Sue! The size and depth of the canyon is truly incredible. Hope you can visit soon!
Marteen says
May 29, 2016 at 9:27 amThese are spectacular. It’s pictures like these that keep me motivated to travel and fill me with awe for the world that we live in. I haven’t been to any National Parks in America yet, but I am moving to Canada soon and hope to make a few trips down to visit some. In Ireland we have 6 beautiful National Parks.
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
May 29, 2016 at 2:32 pmLiving in Canada, you’ll have no shortage of gorgeous National Parks to visit, Marteen. You’ll certainly be able to get to the U.S. parks, too. Thanks for the tip on the National Parks in Ireland!
melody pittman says
May 29, 2016 at 10:24 amFabulous photos but it is already on my bucket list. Thinking of a family trip there next spring or summer.
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
May 29, 2016 at 2:30 pmOh perfect, Melody! You’ll love Bryce!
Wandering Carol says
May 29, 2016 at 4:51 pmThis photo tour of Bryce National Park is spectacular. While I’m not a fan of the get-up-at-dawn hike in this case it’s worth it.
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
May 29, 2016 at 7:29 pmThanks, Carol. It’s never easy to wake up at dawn, but you won’t regret it at Bryce.
Rosemary says
May 29, 2016 at 10:55 pmWhat spectacular photos. I always love the picture you post and this exposition of Bryce National Park is phenomenal. Have not made it to Bryce yet, but will definitively plan on it soon.
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
May 29, 2016 at 10:58 pmThanks so much, Rosemary. Spectacular and phenomenal are the perfect words to describe Bryce! Hope you can fit in a visit soon.
Nisha says
May 30, 2016 at 2:13 pmGorgeous, gorgeous pictures ! Such a treat to our eyes. I have seen similar serrated mountains in Spain also but they are just a few in comparison to these.
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
May 30, 2016 at 2:24 pmThank you, Nisha. I need to explore more of Spain and its landscape. I hope you can plan a visit to Bryce soon!
Lindsay Nieminen says
May 30, 2016 at 5:37 pmWOW! just WOW! if i didn’t already have Bryce Canyon National Park on my list of places to explore i sure would now!
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
May 30, 2016 at 11:20 pmI think my job here is done, Lindsay! 😉 Hope you can make it to Bryce soon!
Leah says
January 30, 2018 at 1:16 pmI’ve read all of your posts now to help plan my trip 🙂 One other place were trying to squeeze in our week is a slot canyon in the Escalante area, like Zebra Slot Canyon. Have you been to that area or know anything about it?
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
January 31, 2018 at 8:08 amThanks so much for reading, Leah. Unfortunately, I can’t help out with the Escalante area. It was a place we just didn’t have time to visit. If any other questions come up about the Utah National Parks or Monument Valley, feel free to reach back out. Good luck!