Bryce Canyon: My Favorite National Park...So Far

Two days of heaven

• 📍 Bryce Canyon National Park

• 🚙 62 miles

• 📈 Elevation Change: 2,350 feet

Favorite moment: Looking up at the hoodoos after seeing them from above.

There are some places you visit that are beautiful in photographs, but when you finally see them in person, they are somehow even better. Bryce Canyon was one of those places.

From the camping to the views, the trails winding through the hoodoos, the unexpected rain showers and even a hidden food truck, my two days at Bryce Canyon National Park quickly became one of the highlights of this entire road trip. And somewhere along the way, Bryce earned another distinction.

My favorite national park so far.

Granted, I've only been to 14 of them. I still have a few more to go.

Those Views!

You can see hundreds of photographs of Bryce Canyon before visiting, but they don't really prepare you for standing at the edge of that enormous amphitheater for the first time. Hoodoos seem to stretch forever below you, with layer after layer of orange, red, pink and white rock. Every overlook gives you a slightly different perspective, and every change in the light seems to change the landscape.

It was one of those places where I kept stopping to take another picture—even though I'd just taken one a few feet earlier.

But looking down at the hoodoos wasn't going to be enough. I wanted to walk among them.

Maybe I Shouldn't Have Done That Hike...

So down I went.

Walking beneath the hoodoos gave me an entirely different appreciation for Bryce Canyon. From the rim, you see this incredible landscape spread out below you. Once you're down inside it, the formations tower above you.

The trail twists between them, and suddenly you're looking up at the same hoodoos you'd been looking down on earlier.

It was amazing.

It was also probably not one of my better decisions. Between a fractured ankle that was still healing and a body that was definitely not prepared for a hike at that elevation, this was more of a hike than I probably should have attempted. There were moments when I questioned my decision-making skills. But there were also moments when I stopped, looked around and thought, There is no way I would have wanted to miss this.

Sometimes both things can be true.

So Many Trails, So Little Time

One of the hardest parts about Bryce was seeing all the other trails I wanted to hike. Everywhere I looked, there seemed to be another trail disappearing into the hoodoos, following the rim or leading toward another part of the park that I wanted to explore.

I wanted to take all of them. My ankle—and possibly the rest of my body—had other opinions. So I had to settle for adding them to the growing list of reasons to come back someday.

Bryce definitely isn't finished with me yet.

The Hidden Food Truck

Then there was one of the more unexpected discoveries of the trip: a food truck tucked away where I never would have expected to find one. After days of camping, driving and making my own meals, finding someone else willing to cook dinner for me was already a treat.

Finding a hidden food truck while camping at Bryce? Even better.

Sometimes it's the little surprises you didn't plan that become part of what you remember about a place.

And Then It Rained

The weather added another surprise. Rain showers moved through while I was at Bryce, and instead of ruining the experience, I loved them. After days on the road, the rain felt like a treat. It changed the light, cooled everything down and gave the landscape a completely different mood.

Of course, there was one downside.

The clouds weren't doing my night photography plans any favors.

Again.

The Milky Way Will Have to Wait

After missing out on the Milky Way because of clouds at Great Basin, I had hoped Bryce might finally give me a clear night.

No such luck. Two nights at Bryce and still no good night-sky photographs.

Apparently, the clouds had decided to join me on this road trip. It was disappointing, especially in a place where I had been looking forward to photographing the night sky. But after everything Bryce had given me during the daylight hours, it was difficult to complain too much.

And there was one thing those cloudy nights were very good for.

Sleeping.

I had two nights of great sleep.

My Favorite...So Far

By the time I packed up camp, Bryce Canyon had officially become my favorite national park.

So far…

I've been to 14 national parks, which means I've seen enough to have some favorites—but nowhere near enough to stop looking for the next one.

There are still trails at Bryce I want to hike. There are photographs I didn't get. There's a Milky Way shot still waiting for a clear night. And there are a whole lot of national parks I haven't seen yet.

That's probably my favorite thing about traveling like this.

No matter how incredible one place turns out to be, there's always another road, another trail and another park still waiting.

But Bryce?

Bryce is going to be hard to beat.

Thanks for journeying with me!
~ Bridget