One cannot fully enjoy the beauty of Bryce Canyon until one descends into the canyon to hike. Although it is stunning to view the hoodoos from the rim, there is not enough depth perception for one's eyes to fully process how vastly different each hoodoo and parts of the canyon are from a bird's eye view. As I hiked throughout the trails, I understood that it was the same canyon but it continually looked like a new canyon from different elevations and points of view. Consequently, I felt like I was falling in love with it over and over again as if it was the very first time.
The most travelled hike at Bryce Canyon is not an official trail. The Figure 8 Combination combines three of the park's most popular trails. Why do one great trail when you can do three of them in one shot? It took my friend and me a little over 3 hours to complete the 6.4 mile route. The elevation change is legitimate for a hike but the bigger challenge is the thin air. We found ourselves needing to catch our breath often. Then again, we were snapping photos nonstop so we just utilized those moments to multitask and breath as the views and thin air took our breaths away. There are connecting trails that make up the 6.4 mile combination route. Below are the three main trails that comprise it.
Navajo Loop Trail (0.7 miles)
The trail begins at Sunset Point. As you walk towards the direction of Inspiration Point, you will see the beginning of the trail and switchbacks. As you descend the initial set of switchbacks, you will see a rock formation called "Thor's Hammer". As the name implies, it looks like Thor's Hammer with the long handle and a rectangular rock at the top. Shortly after you begin the descent, there is a fork and an option to head toward Wall Street. Depending on the time of the year, it may be closed. In the middle of May, it was still closed during my visit. Instead, I went down another set of switchbacks in between two walls of the canyon. There were echoes when visitors spoke within this part of the trail. Moreover, there were distinct Douglas fir trees growing out of the switchbacks. For me, it felt like a magical gate that granted me entrance to a surreal place. Eventually, I made it to a sign for a sharp left that pointed me back towards Two Bridges to complete the Navajo loop. Instead, I kept on going until I made it to a three way intersection that had signs pointing the directions for the Navajo loop, the Peekaboo Loop, or the Queen's Garden Trail.
Peekaboo Loop (3 miles)
In my opinion, it is clearly the best and most beautiful loop in the park. It provides the best views of the hoodoos because you see them from all different angles and perspectives as you hike next to them and through them. At varying elevations along the trail, you look up at some of them as you will be below some hoodoos. You will also still be above others yet the perspective is drastically different as your view will be from a significantly lesser elevation than the rim. You can truly better appreciate the differences and uniqueness of the many hoodoos in the park via this loop.
Queen's Garden Trail (1.7 miles, including the connecting trail from Peekaboo (0.9 miles by itself))
As the name clearly states, the trail leads to Queen's Garden. It is named after a rock formation that supposedly resembles Queen Victoria and the garden she is overseeing. It is a unique part of the park. It is also connected to the trail I took back up to the top of the Rim at Sunrise Point. Moreover, if you only wanted to take a short trek into the canyon, it is definitely the easiest trail to hike down and back up among the options. Regardless, it provides its own unique and special vantage points of the canyon and its hoodoos.
If you are visiting and planning a trip to Bryce Canyon and looking for recommendations, feel free to message me for my itinerary. You can also find the electronic copy through the link my profile. read more