5 Fun Things to do in Bryce Canyon National Park – Utah

Located in Southern Utah, Bryce Canyon offers visitors a completely unique type of landscape with its brightly colored hoodoos. In fact, this Utah National Park has the world’s largest concentration of “hoodoos” in the world! Bryce Canyon National Park is small, and most people only need one day in the park.

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Here are 5 fun things to do on your visit to Bryce Canyon National Park:

1.) Drive the scenic road, and stop at the pullouts

The scenic drive through Bryce Canyon National Park, all the way its terminus at Rainbow Point (elev. 9,000+ ft!) is only 18 miles one way. It will only take a few hours to drive the scenic road, even if you stop at all of the pullouts. If you only have a short time in the park, this should be your #1 thing to do on your Bryce Canyon National Park itinerary. You don’t even need to go to the end of the road; just make sure to see these turnouts (the National Park Service recommends these, and I do too)

• Sunset Point
• Sunrise Point
• Inspiration Point
• Bryce Point

If you are visiting during the winter or early spring, the road likely won’t be open all the way to Rainbow Point.

2.) Go for a hike!

Seeing the canyon and hoodoos from the canyon rim is great, but getting down into the canyon offers you a completely different perspective. I highly recommend doing at least one hike on your trip if you have the time. The best ‘bang’ for your buck is the Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop hike – it’s short and most people of average fitness can complete it.

Read more on how to hike the Queen’s Garden / Navajo Loop trail here.

3.) Learn more about the area’s geology at the museums in the Visitor Center

The hoodoo rock formations are like nothing else you’ve ever seen. If you want to learn more about how and why these rock formations are here, make sure to hit up the visitor center, as they have plenty of interesting information and exhibits, including a 24-minute film.

4.) Catch a sunrise!

While the beautiful landscape of Bryce Canyon National Park is gorgeous at any time of day, sunrise or sunset is absolutely spectacular – and it’s definitely worth waking up early for. We took these photos at Sunrise Point, but really, any turnout on the scenic road will be good for sunrise, as they face east.

As for sunset, I have not photographed Bryce Canyon at sunset. Your best spot for sunset photography in Bryce Canyon National Park would be the aptly-named Sunset Point. However, this point still faces east and with the sun setting in the west, the canyon will quickly fade into darkness.

If you can only do one, I’d definitely chose sunrise!

5.) Hit up the gift shops!

For me, gift shops and National Parks go hand-in-hand. I just love them! I can’t possibly visit a national park without buying something, even if I’ve been there multiple times. Bryce Canyon National Park has three ‘official’ gift shops within the park.

• Bryce Canyon Visitor Center: This is the first building you’ll see when you enter the park. This is my favorite gift shop of all of them.
• North Campground Camp Store: Another gift shop that also includes a small selection of gear and groceries.
• Bryce Canyon Lodge Gift Shop: Another smaller gift shop located within the historic lodge.

For more junk, make sure to check out the shops in nearby Bryce Canyon City (if you’re staying near the park, this might be where your hotel is. I always stay at the Best Western Ruby’s Inn when I visit Bryce Canyon). Ruby’s Inn has a gigantic gift shop, with everything you could possibly image. It also has a smaller store with more ‘bougie’ items, such as some very nice Native American handicrafts.

Here’s a list of all the hotels in Bryce Canyon City.

Across the street from Ruby’s Inn are a few smaller shops, including an ice cream shop. I personally did not like the shops over here – I thought they just sold junk, but I was tempted by the ice cream.

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There you have it! Five fun things to do on your trip to Bryce Canyon National Park. Of course, there are some other excursions you can do within the park, especially if you want to hire an outfitter – you can go for a horseback ride, take an ATV tour (though this won’t be inside the national park, rather just outside the park), or attend a ranger-led program from the visitor center. Happy planning!