Zion to Bryce

It’s not a long drive to Bryce (2 hours), but we made a couple of stops for hikes and views along the way.

The first part of the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway drive from Zion takes you through two tunnels. The first is 1.1 mile long with windows to take in the fabulous views.

However, you can’t stop. The tunnel was built before larger vehicles like RVs and buses were common. So mostly it is single lane and continuous traffic through the tunnel so everyone fits through. Each direction of traffic takes turns traveling the tunnel. We were lucky to only wait a couple of minutes before our side started through. When we reached the other side the waiting line of cars and RVs was long. We were hoping to hike the Canyon Overlook Trail on the east side of the tunnel but the area was too congested especially given there is only about 10 parking spots for this trail on our side.

However, there is a “secret” hike to petroglyphs a few miles down the road (37.224762, -112.909293 for the parking lot). There were several cars parked in this lot but we didn’t see anyone on the trail (go to stillexploring.com/zion-petroglyph-canyon for directions). It was pretty cool to be alone on a hike within Zion.

And petroglyphs are always great to see.

There are several stops for views that are still within Zion including the Checkerboard Mesa.

We stopped at the Red Canyon Visitor Center within Dixie National Forest. While there were other people on the trails (Pink Ledges and Hoodoo Trails), it was MUCH less traffic than Zion or the later Bryce trails. 

Love this tree.

Hoodoos are a tall column of rock where the rock around it has eroded over time. We’ve been having fun trying to figure out what hoodoos look like. I’m thinking this looks like Ernie (of Bert and Ernie fame).

  

Excellent views!

And right past the Visitor Center is this.