Bryce Canyon Part 2

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We had hiked the Golden Wall Trail on the south side of State Route 12 at Red Canyon earlier in our stay and really enjoyed the park. When we had spoken to the volunteers at the visitor center, they had told us the trails on the north side were worth checking out. While these trails from the visitor center parking area aren’t as long, they can be linked together to form a 2 to 3 mile loop. We also have a couple of geocaches hidden along the trails so we set off Monday morning to see what they are like. The first cache isn’t actually near a trail and from what we read about it, the best approach is to start up a wash just east of the picnic area. The initial few hundred feet walking in the wash is easy enough but the cache isn’t along the wash but up the side of a hill. The loose, rocky climb is quite the challenge for footing with the grade being above 30%. I managed to make it to the hiding spot and sign in and the view from up here was very nice. The return trip down was nearly impossible without sliding down the rocks but I slowly made my way back down.

Smokey Bear Welcome's Us to Red Canyon

There's a Geocache Up There Somewhere

Nice View from Hide Location

From the parking area, we start up the Pink Ledges Trail. It’s a pretty hike with interpretive signs along the way. It is a decent climb, rising about 140 feet in a quarter mile.

Pair of Hoodoos High Above

Pink Ledges Trail

Just beyond the high point in the trail is a side canyon that leads to another geocache. This one is a rather old one. In fact we are just two days away from its 25th birthday having been placed in early August 2001. The wash up the canyon was littered with lots of large rocks and boulders but it wasn’t too bad to climb. Of course the cache was hiding about 100 feet up the side of the canyon which proved to be another tough climb. I think the canyon terrain was reducing the accuracy of our GPSr so it took some time to make the find.

Wash Leads to Old Geocache

With the two geocaches out of the way, we could now just hike real trails. The Pink Ledges Trail intersects the Hoodoo Loop Trail which then connects to the Birdseye Trail. It’s quite a pretty walk even though we are fairly close to the road noise below.

Heading Up

About 1.5 miles into the hike, we see a sign along the trail with the name “Serpent”. It would become obvious why as we progressed and found the trail was curving along the terrain like a snake.

Entering the Serpent

Why It's Named the Serpent

As we worked our way to the west, the trail became less well defined. There is another one named the Photo Trail that leads out of a pullout along the highway. I think lots of travelers stop here and work their way up the hill to get a view of the area but they don’t all follow the same path so it becomes a series of “social” trails.

Section of Red Canyon Across the Road

We manage to get to the pullout, cross the road and pick up the paved bike path back to the visitor center and our car. We grabbed our cooler and head to the picnic area for a spot in the shade for lunch. There was a pair of Steller’s jays nearby possibly hoping we would drop some food. They were fascinating to watch. We started to talk with two couples sitting next to us. Turns out they were on a long road trip seeing some of the sites in the region.  Since they didn’t seem to have a set plan or schedule, we gave them some ideas of other places they might want to visit as they travel.

Steller's Jay

Nice Hairdo

After lunch, we decide to head to another trail suggested at the visitor center. The Arches Trail sounded pretty even if it’s a bit of a drive to get there. Drive west along SR 12 about 1.5 miles and turn right onto an unmarked gravel road. Follow this for 2 miles to the parking area on the right. This portion of the road was in reasonable condition with some washboard but not too bad. There is plenty of parking and even a vault toilet for visitors. We had a geocache just south of the parking lot up a wash. It added a quarter mile before we started the real hike. There is also another trail out of this spot called Losee Canyon Trail that looks like it follows a large wash into a canyon that leads back into Red Canyon park. As we crossed the wash to get to our trail, there was a group on horseback heading up the canyon trail.

At Arches Trailhead

Heading Into Losee Canyon

The Arches Trail is listed as a 0.6 mile loop with only 180 feet of elevation gain that works around various arches and windows within the sandstone. Of course when we get to the first arch, we find there are all sorts of side paths that lead us closer to the arch and even permit us to walk through it.

Arch Above

After Climbing Through Arch

There are definitely some steep up and down sections that make the hike somewhat challenging. We didn’t really see another feature that we would consider to be an arch, but there are numerous windows in the rock walls. One such window even had the view of a different window behind it.

More Climbing

Window Within Window

There was one part of the loop that has a section of hoodoos jutting out with various windows and even a “door” that the trail leads to. As we continue the loop, we find a couple of side trails that look interesting. They both lead up to the tops of some of the hills. It was neat to explore and there are definitely great views from up here. We could even see a truck with a large horse trailer at a different parking area which likely explains where the riders had started from.

Fin Turning to Hoodoos

View from Up High

As we work our way back down the loop, it is steep enough in spots that stairs have been added. The rock layers in this area were rather unusual. There were well defined layers of sandstone separated by some other layers with small pebbles that were firmly cemented together even though it looked like they should just crumble when I touch them.

Staircase Along Trail

Unusual Rock Layering

Closeup of Pebble Layer

We made it back to the car but with all our detours, we ended up with just under 1.5 miles and a little over 400 feet of elevation - par for the course for us. We saw there was a virtual geocache placed about a mile further up the trail and even though it was midafternoon, getting hot and we were a bit tired, we head up the road another mile to another trailhead by the cache. This section of the dirt road was definitely in much worse shape, but we made it to Casto Canyon. There is another large wash leading into the canyon and it looks like this area is more for ATVers. We get the info required to log the virtual cache and look around before heading back to camp. We didn’t want to overdo it today since we have a much bigger hike planned tomorrow.

At Casto Canyon

The Fairlyland Canyon Loop is a little over 8 miles and over 1500 feet of elevation gain. It’s on the northern end of Bryce Canyon and the parking area and trailhead is before you get to the national park entrance booth. Technically this loop could be started from various places such as Sunrise Point or even the North Campground since they are along the loop. We hope by getting out on the trail early, it won’t be too hot for this long of a hike. Our biggest concern will be having enough water. By starting at the Fairyland parking lot and going clockwise along the loop, we will make it out of the canyon after about 2/3 of the total hike and be able to replenish our water at the general store near Sunrise Point. We make it to the trailhead just after 8 AM and start the initial descent down into the canyon.

Overlooking Fairyland Canyon at Start

Wall of Hoodoos

Short Wooded Section of Trail

After 1.3 miles, the trail starts to climb as we progress through the canyon. It is incredibly beautiful and there are nearly no other hikers out on the trail which seems refreshing for a hike in Bryce.

In the Canyon Looking Up

Continuing Through the Canyon

The next couple miles has a fair amount of ups and downs as the trail snakes through the various side canyons. The rock formations along the way are great.

Looks Like a Cat

More Trees Than Expected

There is one stretch where there are long, narrow sandstone fins with some windows and gaps as they transition into hoodoos. I’m curious what they will look like in tens of thousands of years.

Large Notch

As we work our way down the southern portion of the loop, we start to get a glimpse of a rather prominent rock formation in the distance. Tower Bridge is an impressive sight. Some people will take a portion of the Fairyland Trail from Sunrise point and back just to see the bridge - a 3.8 mile out and back hike. I would argue that seeing it from a section of the hill on the opposite side of the valley provides an even better view.

Tower Bridge

As we reach the bottom of a valley, there is a sign and side trail that leads back to a point below Tower Bridge. This adds a quarter mile to the hike but does provide a nice view but it’s almost too close and at the wrong angle to really appreciate the formation. This works out to be roughly the halfway point of the hike at 4 miles and the shade in the valley here provides for a nice spot for a snack break.

Tower Bridge from Spur Trail Below

The next 1.5 miles of the loop is all uphill, gaining nearly 800 feet along the way. There are some nice views along the way which helps us deal with the tired legs.

Along the Valley

Other Worldly

As we neared the Rim Trail at Sunrise Point, we started to run into a few more people. I think we only saw a half dozen other hikers during the majority of the hike. We decide to go with our plan of stopping at the General Store to refill our water bottles. We also found they had ice cream in the store and we thought we deserved a treat even though we still have 2.4 miles before we get back to the car.

Harsh Conditions for Flower

Bryce Canyon General Store

After our break, we head back to the Rim Trail. In my mind, I think I had assumed that this part of the hike would be relatively flat like it is between Sunrise and Sunset Points. But it turns out that the first mile beyond the store has nearly 400 feet of elevation gain and some of it is rather steep - or at least it seems like it after we have over 6 miles under our belts. In the distance behind the visitor center area we spotted some water features which turn out to be wastewater treatment ponds for the park.

Unexpected Ponds

Along Rim Trail

Once we got beyond the last hill on this trail, it is a nice downhill hike to the Fairyland trailhead. There is one part of this trail where the land to the west is simply a field with a lot of trees but turning to the east is this incredible canyon view. As we approach the end of the hike, we can look across the valley and clearly see a portion of the trail we hiked several hours earlier. We arrive at the car 8.2 mile, 1776 feet elevation and about 5 hours after we started. What an excellent hike and workout.

Trees and Field on Left of Rim Trail

Bryce Canyon View to Right

See the Trail We Hiked Across Canyon

The next day we knew any hike would need to be on the easier side after the Fairyland Loop. There is a segment of the Rim Trail that we’ve yet to hike. It’s about 2.5 miles between Bryce Point and Sunset Point. If we do this as an out and back hike, we’re talking around 5 miles which was longer than we wanted. This is where we can take advantage of the national park shuttle bus system. Knowing that Bryce Point is at a higher elevation, if we take the shuttle from our campground to Bryce Point, we could walk north along the Rim Trail which is generally downhill and bail out at several places along the way to catch the bus back to camp. We head out mid morning and have to wait 10 minutes before the next shuttle bus shows up. On the drive to Bryce Point, there was a couple from France that were trying to figure out what stop they should get off at and it was clear they were a bit confused. As we all got off at Bryce Point, we found the woman spoke some English so we tried to explain her options and what they might want to do after seeing the views from here. After we take a quick look again from the point, we start on the Rim Trail. As we turn the first corner, we get a completely different perspective of the canyon and can see Bryce Point in the distance.

Bryce Point View

Bryce Point Overlook

The first mile or so of the hike is slight rolling terrain as the trail weave along the rim of the canyon. We didn’t see any people hiking here once we made it away from Bryce Point. It was pretty and peaceful.

Window in White Fin

The high point of the trail is roughly 1.3 miles into the hike. We could see another overlook jutting into the canyon in the distance and there were plenty of people at Inspiration Point. As we drop into the Inspiration Point, there are two overlooks - an upper and lower. We obviously check them both out.

Inspiration Point in Distance

Inspiring View at Inspiration Point

It was around this area where I was using my Insta360 GO 3S to get some video of the canyon. I don’t shoot a lot of video but occasionally I like to get some to see if it is interesting. The camera and its host are fairly small so it can easily be carried in my pocket. But the camera itself detaches from the host and is barely the size of my thumb. It has a strong magnet that can be used with several accessories. Today I was using a neck pendant and had grabbed the camera unit to get some video along the rim. After recording, I went to stick it back to the pendant and for some reason the alignment wasn’t great and instead of the magnets in each unit attracting one another, they repelled and my fingers must have been a little damp with sweat. The camera flicks out of my grip and lands on the ground just a couple feet from the edge of the canyon. Even though my initial reaction was to try to get it before it went over the edge, I realized doing so might prove deadly. It rolled down the steep canyon wall, bouncing a few times before disappearing from sight. I debated whether there might be a way to lower a rope with another magnet and try to fish the camera out but since it was out of sight, there was no way of knowing if it was 20 feet down or 200 feet. Oh well, I can replace it or find a different unit if I choose.

My Camera is Along There Somewhere!

We could see some work crews down on the trails below likely making repairs to the ones that were recently washed out during the rainstorm. We continued past Sunset Point and caught the bus not far from the general store. It was a pretty and simple hike even if it was a costly one.

Trail Repair Crew

With just one day left in Bryce, we pick another hike back in Red Canyon. This one will be a combination of trails. Most of the hike will be on the Cassidy Trail with some of the return hike following the Rich Trail. The trailhead parking lot is about a mile east of the Red Canyon visitor center. We are able to get up early enough to be on the trail by 8:30. The early morning light was pretty on the red rocks. We expect the total hike to be on the order of 6 miles and a little over 1000 feet of elevation gain.

Start Along Cassidy Trail

It looks like the trails here are also used by horseback riders although we didn’t see any. In fact we only saw one other person and they were actually leaving as we pulled in. The first mile or so of the Cassidy trail is a constant uphill gaining 500 feet in that distance. It was still fairly cool this early so it wasn’t too bad.

More Uphill Hiking

At the 1.7 mile mark, we come to a great view of Losee Canyon below. This is the same canyon we saw a couple days ago when exploring the Arches Trail a couple miles to the west. The Cassidy Trail continues to the east and will eventually work down into the canyon and intersect the Losee Canyon Trail. That’s a much longer hike than we are up for, so we picked up the Rich Trail that heads along the rim of the canyon to the west.

Overlooking Losee Canyon

Trail Along Ridge

After about 3.5 miles, we get to a place marked as Brayton Point. Since this spot juts out into the canyon, there is an even better view. If you’re looking for a shorter hike, I might suggest doing an out and back hike to this spot.

View at Brayton Point

From here the trail heading back south, past where we came up the Cassidy Trail and on to a place called Ledge Point. This is a spur trail that adds rough 3/4 mile total to the hike but is also worth it.

From Ledge Point

From here, the trail is all downhill back to the parking lot. We were impressed with the beauty of Red Canyon trail and how we had the place to ourselves. We cannot recommend enough that if you have time while visiting Bryce Canyon, spend a day (or 3!) hiking in Red Canyon.

Heading Back Down

Ten nights at Ruby’s seemed to fly by. In the 9 full days we had to explore the area, we hiked every day getting in about 45 miles total and just over 8900 feet! Not bad for a couple of old folks. Of course our next stop is another national park so we will likely find some hikes in Capitol Reef to keep us busy.