The next morning we drove over to the Bryce Canyon road, UT-63, and through the little town that has grown up outside the park entrance (named, appropriately enough, Bryce Canyon City). We spied one other restaurant that we planned to check out later. Not for lunch—we expected to be hiking all day, and brought food for that.
Although Bryce is close to Zion, the entrance fee for one does not cover both (like Yellowstone and Grand Tetons do). Using the map provided to us on entry, we chose a parking spot near the North Campground, with easy access to the Rim Trail. We planned to take the Fairyland Loop Trail, part of which follows the Rim Trail.
We started northerly along the Rim Trail, and had to cross a couple of saddles and a part of the mesa before we got to Fairyland Point, the nominal start of the Fairyland Loop Trail. It was pleasant enough, but unremarkable as far as high desert woodland hiking goes, so I have no photos from that part of the trail.
Once the trail leaves Fairyland Point, though, the real scenery begins. Hoodoos, spires, walls, arches, and all the gorgeous colors associated with Navajo sandstone stretch on for miles. Without further ado, some photos:
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| Heading down into the canyon |
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| Looking north down the canyon |
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| Looking south along the west rim |
Views of the canyon walls from the Fairyland Loop Trail
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| The Pink Cliffs |
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| Erosion is a funny thing |
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| One of the canyon’s residents |
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| Coming up out of the canyon |
Our hike was done for the day, and we still had a few hours of daylight left. After refreshing ourselves and checking out the lodge, we drove out to Sunset Point. Since it’s very close to the lodge, it was quite crowded. We took a couple of pictures and moved on.
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| Looking north |
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| Looking south |
The next stop was Inspiration Point, because a name like that generally indicates nice views. It wasn’t nearly as crowded, but there was still a fair amount of foot traffic. We stayed a bit longer and took more pictures, but only a few are worth posting.
On the way out we stopped by the lodge again to consider eating dinner there. Between the highway and the parking area, we spied another park resident of note:
We ultimately decided to go back out to Bryce Canyon City, to the restaurant we saw on the way in, for dinner—the Canyon Diner inside Ruby’s Inn. It was good food, with very friendly service.
The next day, we decided to take an extra day to get back home rather than go back to Bryce Canyon. We made our way back up to US 50 near the Utah-Nevada border, passing by Great Basin N.P. east of Ely, NV. If you like caves, the Lehman Caves in that park are a great visit—which I may write about some other time. We didn’t stop there this trip. In the dusky twilight we saw plenty more pronghorn antelope, some deer, and of course thousands of head of open-range cattle, some with calves munching on the tender new growth in the barrow ditch alongside the roadway. US 50 in eastern Nevada is really a beautiful road to drive.
