Schwieterman Summer Adventure Series 2025: Part 4.2 – Bryce Canyon National Park
The evening of our second night at Bryce Canyon National Park, we drove about three miles to the not-so-secret Mossy Cave trailhead for a sunset walk. Just a short .8-mile hike brings you to a spectacular waterfall out of a fairy tale. The rocks glimmer in hues of pink and orange, and the water is brilliantly clear and cold. Quite the refreshing and rewarding hike for anyone who is feeling the heat after a long day in Bryce Canyon National Park. Though the parking lot and overflow lot are typically packed during the day, we arrived around 8PM and there were only two other vehicles in the parking lot whose occupants we passed along our hike. Yes, we had the entire waterfall to ourselves. We took like a hundred pictures as the girls played in the ankle-high water and climbed around on the rocks. You could even walk behind the waterfall, which I gleefully did. It is, without a doubt, my favorite memory from Bryce.
The following morning, we took advantage of the brilliantly engineered shuttle system offered by the park. You simply show the driver your parks pass and take a seat on the bus as it makes its way around to many of the stops within the park. We hopped on the 8:15 AM bus and decided to return to Bryce Point to see the sights without all the crowds. It was a great decision. The previous afternoon we were surrounded by at least one hundred other tourists, but that morning there were only half a dozen people at the overlook, which allowed for a much more appreciative view of the massive hoodoos below. We hopped back on the next bus to Inspiration Point and from there, we hiked along the Rim Trail to Sunrise Point, covering 1.2 miles. It was breathtaking! The crowds were heavy at both Sunset and Sunrise Points, otherwise, the trailhead was quiet and mostly downhill. We recommend this hike; you can even start from Bryce Point if you want to add another 1.5 miles to your hike.
We returned via shuttle to our campground to meet up with our family, who was still vacationing with us, and we headed out to Kodachrome Basin State Park. It was a state holiday (Pioneer Day) in Utah, so we figured the national park would be incredibly packed, so we headed out of town about twenty miles to a less visited area. We took a dirt road to Chimney Rock to see an enormous, stand-alone sand pipe. The beautiful landscapes of Utah shine in this park as well. There are several hikes within the state park, but our girls weren’t up for the hike I had researched (Angel’s Palace), so we only hiked the .5-mile nature trail, which isn’t that impressive. We didn’t spend too much time in the park since we weren’t tackling any long hikes, so we opted to drive ten miles to Grosvenor Arch, part of the Grand Staircase. It was the longest ten miles ever! The dirt road is terribly rough. We could only go 15 mph for a majority of it. Was the arch beautiful? Yes! Was it worth the effort? For this family, no.
If you’re traveling to Bryce and looking for things to do outside of the national park, I would recommend Red Canyon over Kodachrome, and don’t miss Mossy Cave.
That evening, we went to the Pioneer Rodeo just a mile down the road. For us, an out West adventure just isn’t complete unless we take in a rodeo. It was a great time, and the bulls were on their game, only one cowboy made the eight seconds. (If you go, sit in the bleachers closest to the road, otherwise you’re looking directly into the intensely bright sun the entire time!) Afterwards, we headed back to the campground to sit around the fire ring for some stargazing. It was the perfect way to wrap up our time in Bryce Canyon. If you’re considering a visit to this national park, go for it! And I would recommend staying at Ruby’s Inn Campground or their hotel, they’ve thought of everything.
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