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Photo: Jon Zander (digon3) / CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Canyons & deserts

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon City, UT · Southern Utah$$35 per vehicle, cards only; non-US residents 16 and up without an annual pass add $100 each

About

Bryce Canyon's amphitheater viewpoints are all on the first 3 miles of the park road off Utah 12, and a free shuttle stops at them from April into October. For a first hike down among the hoodoos, take the Queen's Garden and Navajo combination loop: 2.9 miles and two to three hours. Like every trail here it starts downhill, so the climbing comes at the end, at about 8,000 feet with 70 to 75 percent of sea-level oxygen. In winter Wall Street closes, and the Navajo Loop's only open side is Two Bridges. The park runs about 100 astronomy programs a year.

Highlights

Largest concentration of hoodoos on EarthQueen's Garden and Navajo Loop, 2.9 milesSunrise, Sunset, Inspiration and Bryce PointsFree shuttle, April to mid-OctoberInternational Dark Sky Park since 2019About 100 astronomy programs a year

Getting there

Highway 63, Bryce Canyon City, UT 84764

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