Fun fact. We actually have never been to Bryce Canyon in Utah before. Since packing up and moving here on a whim back in August (read more about that here!), we have been all over the valley of Salt Lake City.
Exploring the canyons and plethora of hikes that are near us, but we finally ventured South and took a day to hike Bryce Canyon National Park – in the midst of January.
Getting There
We packed up our gear the night before and hit the road at about 6:00 am, knowing that we had a good 4-hour drive before we got to our destination. The drive is easy enough and is a beautiful scenic experience; plus we had no idea that it was in proximity to so many additional parks in Utah.
Zion National Park is a little over an hour from Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is about an hour and a half, and Capitol Reef National Park is a little over two hours.
There are so many parks and sights in the vicinity that we know we will need to plan out a longer trip to just stay down in that area and make our way to each park and do some serious hiking.
What You Need to Know
The off-season is a stark contrast (I would assume) to the busy season, but in reality I feel like it was still busy when we were there. We did a bit of research before heading that way, and I am so glad we did because you need to know a few things…
1. Yes, it does snow in southern Utah.
2. Yes, it is cold and windy and very icy.
3. There is a cover charge for entering the National Park, Bryce Canyon is $35.00 – we actually opted for the yearly pass for $80.00 since we plan on visiting and re-visiting many of the Utah National Parks this year, which you can buy on-site or buy your yearly pass here!
4. There are not many shops, gas stations, and stores open during the off-season.
5. The bathrooms on the trails are closed during the winter.
6. Food is minimal with all the shops closed, make sure to pack accordingly – or head over to Ruby’s Inn Cowboy’s Buffet & Steak Room. It’s attached to the hotel and is the only place open in the off-season for food!
How to Prepare
If you are planning to do some hiking in the off-season at Bryce Canyon, make sure to pack many layers. You can also check conditions ahead of time online (check here). But there’s no guarantee to the weather, we all know that!
There are many trails that may be closed and others that will be groomed in the winter, the best way to find out which trails are open is to make a pit stop at a warehouse across the street to Ruby’s Inn. Inside they have a map that shows which trails have been groomed and which trails are closed for the day/season.
In addition, you can find rental gear such as snowshoes, skis for cross-country skiing, trekking poles and ice skates – a great option for the family as there is a little ice-skating rink in front of the warehouse.
The prices are fairly reasonable for a full day rental, we knew that we would be getting into some snowy conditions, so we rented snowshoes and poles for the day, which for two people was $20.
*Side note: We ended up leaving the snowshoes and poles in the SUV, but afterwards wished we had not!
The Best Views
Since we have never been to Bryce Canyon before, we asked our sales woman at the warehouse what the best trails were for the best views – when in doubt ask the locals!
The trails and instructions she suggested were:
1. Park at Sunset Point
2. Go along the Rim Trail
3. Go down Queen’s Garden
4. Connect to Peekaboo
5. Do left side of Peekaboo
6. Finish the loop
7. Connect back to Queen’s Garden
8. Go left towards Navajo
9. Come up Navajo Trail
See What Had Happened Was …
Now – we did this – but on accident followed the horse trails at a small junction of the Queen’s Garden Trail thinking we were following Peekaboo. Remember when I said we wished we had the snowshoes? This is that moment, trudging through knee-deep snow on a trail that was not groomed.
We eventually connected to the ACTUAL entrance to Peekaboo and by that point were at least 3 miles into the hike, having marched through snow for the latter half of 1.5 miles, which is exhausting.
At least we know for next time to go the proper way, and to actually bring the rented gear along with us. I am pretty bummed because the notorious Wall of Windows are on the Peekaboo trail as well as The Cathedral – if you haven’t heard of them check them out!
Gear We Wish We Had
Although you can rent solid winter gear, we definitely wish we would have had some specific gear that would have greatly improved our winter edition of the hike.
- Hiking Cleats which are attachable to your hiking boots/shoes and great for icy conditions. I cannot emphasize how amazing these would have been coming up the Navajo Trail on our way back up the canyon, which was completely iced over.
- Leg Gaiters, quick slip on waterproof covers that go up to about mid-shin and are waterproof. These would have really helped while we ventured through the snow and not have had frozen feet post hike!
Overall Thoughts
Bryce Canyon was an absolutely stunning place to behold and hike, the combination of the orange Canyons and Hoodoos topped with white snow is truly breathtaking, and I’m so glad we got to see it in the off-season.
Even though we technically strayed off course, we managed to get a solid hike in even with our detour through the horse trails. Check out our stats below!
If you’re looking to hike Bryce Canyon I would highly recommend doing so! We can’t wait to go back in the summer and hike it again!
