Utah National Parks: Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon - This was my second favorite of the four parks (and almost tied with Zion)! The rock formations are so cool. I couldn't stop taking pictures! I was only at Bryce Canyon for about 24 hours, but I saw and did so much in that short amount of time.

The first day I just drove to different viewpoints and walked the short path from sunrise point to sunset point, which has some of the best views! You can look out and see the amphitheater, which is just rows and rows of hoodoo rock formations. Each stop along the way is breathtaking!

The other lookouts aren't quite as spectacular as Sunset/Sunrise, but you can still see many different rock formations - some look like arches, bridges, tall spindles, or sand castles. It's truly one of the most unique places I've ever been!

On the second day I hiked down among the rock formations of Bryce Amphitheater. I took the Queens Garden Trail to Peekaboo Loop, and then hiked the Navajo Trail on my way out. For a shorter hike, I would recommend skipping the Peekaboo Loop and just hiking Queens Garden and Navajo Loop. There are a lot more rock formations and it takes about half the time. Hiking through "Wall Street" at the end of the Navajo trail was really cool, and I also loved seeing some hoodoos up close!

Hoodoos are tall skinny totem-pole shaped rocks that are formed by water or ice eroding the rock layers at different rates. It was fascinating to find out how these spindly rocks are created.

If I went back, I would check out the Fairyland Loop, but I was really happy with all that I was able to see and do in just 24 hours!

One downside to Bryce - there's not as many places to eat as Zion, so your options are pretty limited. They have one restaurant, but it's kind of fancy with long waits, so I went to a little pizza place across the street because that's all there was to choose from. Next time I would probably drive 20 minutes to the nearby town and try to find something there.