Fun Things to Do in Bryce Canyon National Park

You will never find a place quite like Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce Canyon National Park does not look like anything Earth offers you. Hoodoos built from red rocks look like they belong in story books. Or maybe another planet entirely. Every year erosion shapes unique hoodoo formations until they reached their present total number of 21,000 unique structures at Bryce Canyon.
The scenery of red rocks and hoodoos strikes you as non-earthly when you walk in the canyon or view it from above. You will want to know the secret behind every scene you see.
Add to it the park’s extremely black sky and high elevation, plus various unique things to do in Bryce Canyon, and you have one truly distinctive national park!

Top Activities To Do In Bryce Canyon National Park

Experience the striking hoodoos while exploring all the park's scenic regions. If you’re seeking for the absolute finest things to do in Bryce Canyon National Park, here are our top recommendations:

1. Take A Scenic Drive

• Taking a drive along the entire 18-mile scenic route should be your initial destination choice when visiting Bryce Canyon. The drive has 13 viewpoint stops with picnic areas and several trailhead entry points.

• The initial length of the road, in the northern area of the park, has substantially more hoodoos, while overlooks along the second half display wide-open views that continue far into Arizona. Allow 2-3 hours to complete the picturesque trip from start to finish, including small pauses.

2. Snap A Snapshot Of Natural Bridge

• Even though this is a popular stop along the park’s scenic drive, it’s worth noting individually as one of the finest things to do in Bryce Canyon since it’s so distinctive.

• En way to Rainbow Point (or on your return journey), make a brief stop to check out Natural Bridge. You can get a magnificent view straight from the roadside viewpoint, so this should be on your agenda even if you’re not completing the complete scenic drive.

3. Hike Queens Garden

• Distance: 2.1 miles, out-and-back

• Elevation gain: 406 ft Difficulty rating: Easy

• View the trail notes

Queens Garden is one of the most popular routes in Bryce Canyon, notable for being short (2.1 miles round-trip), very simple, and extremely picturesque. It’s easy to understand how the route received its name - the hoodoos here resemble a garden!
Along the route, which drops 320 feet down into the canyon, you’ll wander amid the hoodoos and under natural arches. At the namesake viewpoint, along a small side route, one of the granite pillars looks like Queen Victoria (if you apply a little of imagination, that is).

4. Hike Navajo Loop

• Distance: 1.5-mile circle

• Elevation gain: 515 feet

• Difficulty rating: Moderate

On this 1.5-mile circle trip, you’ll get a close-up view of Thor’s Hammer, the extremely fragile-looking Two Bridges, and Wall Street Canyon. This route starts at Sunset Point and covers a short circle.

Climbing two switchback paths makes Navajo Loop a challenging hike in addition to returning to the canyon's edge. The path shows visitors both well-known hoodoos and distinctive plant life of Bryce Canyon National Park.

In the winter, the Wall Street side of Navajo Loop closed owing to safety concerns about ice and falling boulders. The Two Bridges side, the one with the much-photographed pair of steep switchbacks, stays accessible year-round. Wall Street is the park’s sole slot canyon and if you’re there while it’s open, it’s one of the top things to do in Bryce Canyon.

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5. Check Out Rainbow Point

• We said that the southern part of the park’s scenic route boasts some pretty amazing views. Rainbow Point is one of them!

• As the penultimate viewpoint on the beautiful route, Rainbow Point offers off vistas of the whole park facing north and the colorful Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Vermilion Cliffs to the southeast. To find the greatest views, travel especially to Yovimpa Point.

• At Rainbow Point you’ll find facilities, plus a few hiking paths, if you want to get out and stretch your legs.

• The Bristlecone Loop route is a reasonably easy 1-mile route worth a little diversion. It’s not widely frequented and goes by ancient bristlecone pine trees. This climb is probably one of the most unusual, hidden gem things to do in Bryce Canyon!

6. Take In The Vistas From Inspiration Point

As its name says, Inspiration Point is by far one of the nicest vistas in Bryce Canyon National Park - maybe the best view.

• There are numerous tiers of vistas here, all gazing out over the park’s famed main “amphitheater” with thousands and thousands of hoodoos. There’s a parking area near to the main overlook, but the finest view is from Upper Inspiration Point, a 5-minute walk on a paved trail.

• You may also walk from Inspiration Point along the Rim Trail to Sunset Point, an easy trek that’s less than a mile and gives spectacular vistas.