Hiking Queens Garden & Navajo Loop Trail – Bryce Canyon National Park Utah

While you can get a great experience in Bryce Canyon National Park by just taking the scenic drive and stopping at the pullouts, hiking down into the canyon gives you a much different perspective of the landscape. Getting close to the hoodoos is amazing experience, so if you can, try to complete a hike in Bryce Canyon National Park.

The easiest hike to descend down into the canyon is the Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop hike. It’s the shortest hike with the least amount of elevation gain, so as long as you’re somewhat in shape, you should be able to complete this hike.

Queen’s Garden / Navajo Loop Hike Details:

• Length: 2.9 miles
• Type: Loop
• Elevation gain: 646 feet
• Permit needed: No
• Hike starts at 8,000 feet elevation, so you may find yourself getting winded, especially when hiking back up the canyon.

Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop trailhead location:

You can start the hike at either Sunset Point and hike the Navajo Loop down and go up the Queens Garden to end at Sunrise Point or vice versa. Either way, it’s easy enough to park your car at either Sunrise or Sunset Point because they are not that far away from each other, and once you’re done with this trail, you simply follow the rim trail back to where you started.

If you’re looking to avoid uphill switchbacks, then starting your hike at Sunset Point and descending down the Navajo Loop trail and connecting up with Queens Garden would be your choice.

I started my hike at Sunrise Point, going down Queen’s Garden, and then connecting to the Navajo Loop trail, and up the switchbacks.

If this is confusing, look at the map below and you’ll see that the two trails combine to make one nice looping trail through the canyon.

Hiking Queens Garden and the Navajo Loop Trail in Bryce Canyon National Park

As I mentioned above, I parked at Sunrise Point and started my hike at the Queen’s Garden trailhead. Immediately, as I got on the trail, I was stopping every few feet to take pictures because the views were so interesting. This trail took me much longer than necessary because of all the photography I was doing, but that’s okay! Prior to doing this hike, I had been to Bryce Canyon National Park at least 5 times, but never had the chance to hike any of the trails. Getting down into the canyon really gives you a whole different perspective!

I hiked this trail around 4pm in mid-May and the weather was perfect. The trail itself is hard-packed dirt and is pretty wide in spots. This is the most popular trail within Bryce Canyon National Park, so you won’t be alone!

The Queen’s Garden trail continues passing by the hoodoos and pine trees until you come to a sign – you’ll see one direction for the Queen’s Garden Trail (where you just came from) and another for the Navajo Loop. At that point, you can turn around and go back up the way you came, or you can continue on to the Navajo Loop. Either way, you’re going to have an uphill climb out of the canyon to get back to your car, so I’d recommend doing the loop and seeing new scenery.

I continued up through the Navajo Loop. If you’re lucky (and visit in the summer or fall!), you’ll have two choices to get back to the canyon rim – you can hike up the Wall Street route or you can hike up the Two Bridges Route.

I didn’t have a choice – the Wall Street section of the trail was still closed for the winter during my trip (this was mid-May) so I had to go up the Two Bridges route. While both routes are nice, the Wall Street Route has an interesting slot canyon, so if you have both routes available to you, I’d go with Wall Street.

So far, the trail has been easy, since it’s all been downhill, but once you reach the Navajo Loop/Queen’s Garden junction, you’ll start your ascent. It gets tougher as you go, especially when you reach the switchbacks. Once you’re through the switchbacks, you only have a little bit longer to go before you reach Sunset Point. You’ll have the chance to see Thor’s Hammer, one of the most well-known rock formations in the park. Unfortunately, a lot of wind started blowing through the canyon when I reached this point on my hike, so I didn’t get any good shots of it (just one photo below with it *in* the photo). Blowing sand and camera equipment are not a good combination, so I stowed my camera.

Up at Sunset Point, simply follow the path leading back to Sunrise Point. This path is completely flat and you’ll be at your car before you know it!

Hiking Bryce Canyon’s Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop Trails – Final Thoughts

The Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop Trail is the perfect trail for anyone who wants to experience Bryce Canyon from below the rim and see hoodoos up close, and I highly recommend adding this hike to your Bryce Canyon itineray.

Pros:

• Easy-ish, short hike that takes you down into the canyon for a different perspective on the park
• Trail is well marked – you won’t get lost!
• Trail is wide – I never felt like I was teetering off the edge.
• It’s a loop hike! Loop hikes are the best!

Cons:

• Very busy, most popular trail in the park
• The Wall Street route on the Navajo Loop is seasonal – mid May is even too early for this section.