Bryce Canyon National Park was one of the parks that I knew least about when I started planning this trip. In a lot of planned out trips, from travel agencies, you see that they take Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park in one day, passing through them both.
It is possible to only visit Bryce Canyon for a couple of hours, and only do the scenic drive –which gives you spectacular views – but I think it’s part of the charm of the park, to also go inside the “canyon” and spend some more time here.
In the beginning I didn’t include this in our planning, but I’m so glad we did!
Bryce “Canyon” isn’t actually a cayon, it’s more like a series of amphitheaters, that are etched into the pink Claron limestone of the mountains. Most of the hoodoos are visible from the 37-mile roundtrip scenic drive through the park, with numerous viewpoints. But the scenic drive wasn’t enough for us ;-), and – instead of hiking inside the park – we pre-booked a horseback riding tour inside the park.
Scenic drive
There are two ways to do the Scenic Drive in Bryce Canyon: you can take your own car, or you can take the shuttle bus that will take you to most of the main viewpoints. We took our own car to do the scenic drive. The scenic drive is about 18-mile long and it follows the rim of the park. There’s an easy access to all viewpoints. The viewpoints you can’t miss out on, are Sunrise and Sunset Point (you can walk along the amphitheater from one point to the other), Inspiration Point, Bryce Point and Natural Bridge.
There are several different hikes that start from the various viewpoints. If we wouldn’t ‘ve done the horseback riding trip, the Navajo Loop Trail together with the Queens Garden Loop Trail would be our destination :-).
Horseback riding
But we did do the horseback riding! We pre-booked our tour with Canyon Trail Rides, and almost arrived too late when they divided the horses… because we couldn’t find the right entrance for the lodge. So… leave early enough :-).
We wanted to book the short, 2hours trip, from 9 A.M. ‘till 11 A.M., but those weren’t available at the time. So we booked he 3hour trip from 8 A.M. instead. Both of the tours take you to the floor of the Canyon, but the 2hour trip makes a loop and travels back up the rim, whereas the 3hour trip takes you into the heart of the canyon.
There are a lot of people that are eager to do the horseback trip. You’ll get divided in small groups of about 6-10 persons (we were with 8) and a cowboy as a guide. Ours was … well actually, he was funny, but nobody laughed. Tough audience. He made sure everybody was okay. Most people have never been on a horse before, and that’s fine. The horses are so used to the tour, that they can do it blindfolded. I hope. So you can just trust the horse. But you have to bear in mind that you pass by some steep chasms – but you can always look away :-). You also have to make sure that your horse keeps up with the horse in front of you. I had Nettie, and she was eager to bite in the tail of her forerunner, so no problems for me. But some people ride on mules, who are a bit more lazy. So you have to make sure they follow :-). That includes that the horses sometimes go trotting.
It really was a great way to get to know the Bryce Canyon National Park. I don’t think the boyfriend will ever get on a horse again, as it was his first time, but still. We liked it :-). Howdie ho!
Around the world in a lifetime 