Bryce Canyon

	Bryce Canyon is one of the jewels of Utah, and the United States. The views are virtually endless, limited only by your acuity at times. Hiking down into the canyon is the only way to fully appreciate what you see from the canyon rim. While the overall view is truly incredible, as well as awe inspiring, the experience of reaching out and touching these spires, seeing them block out all but a small piece of the sky, and the seeming delicacy of their being will call you again forever. Allow a full day at a minimum to really enjoy this park. A recommended loop trail is to go down Wall Street, and back up through Queens Garden (with a short hike back to the Wall Street parking lot along the rim), so named due to a formation that resembles Queen Victoria on her throne. All trails go downhill from the access, and back up to the rim for the return. Dress warm, even in summer, as elevations range from 9-10 thousand feet, and snow is possible any time of the year. It takes hours to reach the end of the park if you stop at all of the overlooks--take the hours. If you get there on a relatively clear day, either arriving near sunrise, or leaving near sunset, allow a minimum of 6-8 hours for a complete auto tour with stops and occasional short walks to each overlook, and a short hike down into the canyon. There is a sunrise and sunset view overlook, take advantage of them. September, June, and April have all been low traffic times when I have visited. There was still snow on the ground and some of the trails were very muddy in April, I thought the other two months would be a great time to go again. The pictures on this page were all taken in September of 2002, from overlooks on just the first half of the main park road, and include pictures from the hike recommended above. Nearby recommendations include scenic Route 12 and the Escalante Basin, Zion National Park, Kodachrome Basin, and Capitol Reefs National Monument.