Bryce Canyon National Park has one of the most colorful canyons in the US.

We originally wanted to camp for one night inside the park when we visited the canyon. It was not possible, but we were still impressed with how colorful the canyon was.

Our visit to Bryce Canyon National Park started a little later in the day as we spent the whole morning in the Glenn Canyon Recreation Area at Lake Powell. A lot of campers bring their RVs there and set up their base camps overlooking the lake.

It was a nice morning dedicated totally to Noah, and we still ended up having part of the afternoon left over to visit Bryce Canyon National Park.

We walked part of Scenic Byway 12, which runs off of Highway 89. Before entering Bryce Canyon National Park, we got to see Red Canyon. The rock tunnels there that look like the ones in Cars (cartoon movie) were a highlight of our trip. Noah is a huge fan of Lightning McQueen, and he told us how thrilled he was to see these tunnels because they look just like the ones from the film.

We arrived at a good time because it was not too hot and we were treated to a nice sunset. Once you enter the park you see that, like the majority of US national parks, Bryce Canyon National Park is an ideal setting for campers and visitors alike … We felt like fish out of water though, as we were surrounded by RVs when we only had our camping equipment! We eventually bumped into several groups of Japanese tourists, which made us feel like normal tourists again. That was, however, until they took out their cameras – which made ours look like children’s toys!

We couldn’t help but wonder how good the photos they take with that hi-tech equipment would be, given how long it would take to set everything up just right. We tried to enjoy as many sights as possible along the road that runs inside Bryce Canyon National Park, but the one we were keen on seeing was Sunset Point. Nevertheless, we experienced some beautiful views from the others along the stretch of road as well, such as:

Natural Bridge

Rainbow Point

Sunrise Point

Queens Garden Trail

Walking the Rim Trail between Sunrise and Sunset Point.

Sunset Point

Navajo Loop Trail (Wall Street)

We unfortunately still missed out on a number of sights, but Ruth came back to the park the next morning. Some of the sights she liked the most were Sunrise and Sunset Points, as the morning sun shines down differently on the rocks than at other times of day.

Near Inspiration Point viewing Silent City

A bit about Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park was underwater and, when the waters receded, they began to shape the rocks to how they are today. The limestone (which is normally white in color) became mixed with iron which oxidized, giving it its orangeish color today.  Manganese is also present here, making the canyon the colorful and beautiful place it is today.

Next stop, Grand Canyon North Rim!