

If you want an even more relaxing way to take in Bryce Canyon, you can book a covered wagon tour. This would be a fun, adrenaline fueled way to see Bryce Canyon and might be for you if you aren’t big into hiking or just love ATVs.

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We loved this trail ride, but you could also check out this 3 hour trail ride in Red Canyon! ATV TourĬonsider taking a one hour ATV tour of Bryce Canon! Children must be at least 7 to ride accompanied by an adult and 16 with a valid license to ride solo. During the ride, our guide lined us up to take our family picture also so we have plenty of mementos to remind us of that fabulous day. After the ride ends, you can purchase an 8 x 10 of each photo. We all breathed a sigh of relief when we finally made it down to the bottom!Īs you get close to the canyon floor, they have a photographer ready to photograph each member of your group. You start out going down into the canyon and for some reason the horses and mules like to walk right along the edge. I have to admit there were parts of this ride that made me quite nervous. He also told a lot of jokes that my kids continued to repeat for the next month or so! Our guide, Shawn, was awesome! He stopped and pointed out interesting places to us and told us a lot of history about Bryce. We did the half-day because our youngest was only 9 at the time, and you must be 10 or older for the full-day ride. Trail rides into the canyon are offered at the Bryce Canyon Lodge by Bryce Canyon Trail Rides. One of our very favorite memories in our 4+ years of full-time travel is the day we went on a trail ride into Bryce Canyon. After the astronomy program they had big telescopes set up outside and we were able to see Saturn with its rings. The night skies are really dark since there are no big cities nearby so you can see so many stars.

We attended an evening ranger program on astronomy. You can also pick up Junior Ranger books, and purchase some souvenirs. Zion National Park for surrounding towns, Bryce Canyon National Park for surrounding parks.Be sure to stop at the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center as you enter the national park and pick up maps and watch the park movie. Must-do nearby excursions include exploring the deep red sandstone arches of Red Canyon in Utah’s massive Dixie National Forest and navigating the highly photogenic multicolored mountains of Kodachrome Basin State Park. Still, the sheer variety of nature surrounding the more remote Bryce Canyon certainly makes up for it. The tiny hamlet of Bryce Canyon City is little more than a collection of a few shops and restaurants that, while pleasant, runs its course rather quickly. Bryce Canyon's gateway towns and nearby state parks The Zion area also features an abundance of lesser-known state parks located within an hour’s drive, including the criminally overlooked mini-Zion that is Snow Canyon State Park and the windswept desert landscapes of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.
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The town of Springdale just outside Zion is a classic national park town offering the full suite of amenities for travelers, with a wide range of accommodations and lively small-town restaurants brimming with local character. Our pick for Round 1īryce Canyon National Park for getting around, Zion National Park for landscape diversity.Ī road in Snow Canyon State Park in Utah © Jay Gentile / Lonely Planet Zion's gateway towns and nearby state parks Because of limited parking and to ease congestion, the park encourages visitors to take the optional shuttle bus service from April to mid-October, but travelers are allowed to drive through the park year round. Visitors enjoy panoramic cliffside vistas from 13 scenic overlooks along the 18-mile Bryce Canyon Scenic Drive. One of the country's most unique geologic landscapes is a rugged 56-sq-mile otherworldly universe marked by vibrant forested canyons and the world’s highest concentration of colorful rock spires known as hoodoos. The 8 best road trips in Utah Getting around Bryce Canyon National Park Most of the sights can be reached along the 6-mile Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, which is accessible only via a park-run shuttle bus from March to November. One of the USA's most diverse parks, Zion National Park is a 229-sq-mile natural wonderland packed with gorgeous sandstone canyons and forested mountains in a landscape that varies from rivers to desert. Scout new ways to explore the planet's wildest places with our weekly newsletter delivered to your inbox.
