Short Hikes of Bryce Canyon National Park
Best known for its hoodoos, Bryce Canyon offers breathtaking views of colorful rock formations, both up close and many miles away.
Bryce Canyon's main sections are inside the amphitheater and outside (above) the amphitheater. Bryce has many roadside sights and viewpoints outside the amphitheater and along its rim because that is where the road and parking lots are.
Hikes inside the amphitheater tend to be steep and long due to the amphitheater's geographic structure. For this reason, there are not as many Short Hikes as some other parks. There are a few though, and they are covered below.
As beautiful as longer hikes are, many of us are not able to complete them, whether because of health, energy, time, or other limitations. Does this mean the National Parks are not worth visiting? By no means!
This is where Short Hikes come in. Below you'll find them broken down into Short Hikes (2.0 miles or less), Shorter Hikes (1.0 mile or less), and Shortest Hikes (0.5 mile or less).
All distances are roundtrip, whether the trail is a loop or out-and-back. For out-and-back trails, it is the total of the "out" and the "back."
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Short Hikes
Short Hikes are 2 miles or less. Check out these Short Hikes for Bryce Canyon National Park.
Jump to: Inside the Amphitheater | Outside the Amphitheater
Inside the Amphitheater
No Short Hikes. As noted above, there are no Short Hikes inside the amphitheater due to its geography. The shortest hikes inside the canyon are the Queens Garden and Navajo Loop trails noted as honorable mentions below.
Honorable mentions: Queens Garden - 2.6 miles, Navajo Loop - 2.3 miles, and their loop - about 2.3 to 3.2 miles
Queens Garden is an out-and-back trail that begins at Sunrise Point. It is considered the easiest hike inside the amphitheater. The Queens Garden trail is sometimes listed as 1.8 miles long since Sunrise Point is considered its trailhead, but this distance does not factor in the 0.4 mile hike each way (0.8 mile roundtrip) from the parking lot to Sunrise Point.
You could make this into a Short Hike by hiking only part of the trail. Normally we do not include such recommendations since they could be said of any trail. But I mention it here because the views going down into the amphitheater are very different from the rim views, and there are excellent, unique views from the earlier parts of this trail as well as the later parts.
Queens Garden's endpoint is actually part of Navajo Loop. Navajo Loop is 2.3 miles as a standalone trail and starts from Sunset Point. Because of the location of the Queens Garden endpoint, some hikers like to combine parts of these 2 trails to form a longer loop trail. This loop goes from the Sunrise Point parking lot to Sunrise Point (0.4 mile one way), then the full length of Queens Garden (0.9 mile one way), then the portion of Navajo Loop from the Queens Garden endpoint to Sunset Point (about 0.5 mile), then the Sunset Point to Sunrise Point portion of the Rim Trail (1.0 mile), then back to the parking lot from Sunrise Point (0.4 mile). So the full distance of this loop would be around 3.2 miles, definitely not a Short Hike but again a popular option for seeing the inside of the amphitheater from an eye-level view without having to go on much longer trails.
Alternatively, if you take the shuttle, you could do the above loop without the last 2 sections and instead catch the shuttle in the Sunset Point parking area, which is 0.5 mile from Sunset Point itself. This would result in a loop distance of about 2.3 miles, saving you about a mile.
Note that Navajo Loop is notorious for its switchbacks and is considered at least moderate difficulty due to its grade.
Outside the Amphitheater
Sunset Point to Sunrise Point - 1.9 miles
This popular trail runs between Sunset Point and Sunrise Point. It is the only paved part of the longer Rim Trail. The 1.9-mile distance includes the 0.4 mile from the Sunrise Point parking lot to Sunrise Point, 1.0 mile between Sunrise and Sunset Points, and 0.5 mile from Sunset Point to the Sunset Point parking area.
This trail is only a Short Hike if you take the seasonal shuttle, which runs from April to October, since Sunset and Sunrise Points have 2 different parking lots. Otherwise, if not taking the shuttle, you would need to retrace your steps. In that case, you would not be walking between one of the points and its parking area, so the total out-and-back distance would be 2.8 or 3.0 miles, depending on whether you started from the Sunset Point trailhead or the Sunrise Point trailhead.
Shorter Hikes
Shorter Hikes are 1 mile or less. Check out these Shorter Hikes for Bryce Canyon National Park.
Jump to: Inside the Amphitheater | Outside the Amphitheater
Inside the Amphitheater
No Short Hikes. There are no Shorter Hikes inside the amphitheater. In some cases, other sources may list a trail as a shorter distance because its trailhead is somewhere other than the parking lot. But this means that the distance listed in the source is not an accurate description of how far you would be hiking. See the explanation of Queens Garden in the Short Hikes section above.
At Short Hikes, we always strive to give you an accurate description of how far you would actually be hiking. An extra mile or half-mile may not make a difference to seasoned long-distance hikers, but it does to many of us short-hikers!
Outside the Amphitheater
Bristlecone Loop - 1.0 mile
The Bristlecone Loop is a loop trail that starts near Rainbow and Yovimpa Points. It winds around 1,800-year-old bristlecone pines and offers overhead views of the aphitheater.
Sunset Point Trail - 1.0 mile
The Sunset Point Trail is an out-and-back trail that is 0.5 mile each way. It ends Sunset Point, offering views of the canyon. Sunset Point is not to be confused with the roadside Sunset Point Overlook, although they share a parking lot.
Sunrise Point Trail - 0.8 mile
The Sunrise Point Trail is an out-and-back trail that goes between the parking lot and Sunrise Point. As the name implies, Sunrise Point has excellent sunrise views. It also serves as the trailhead for the Queens Garden trail.
Mossy Rock - 0.8 mile
Mossy Rock includes several features that make it unique from other trails in the park. It passes through a mossy grotto and a cave. It also includes a seasonal waterfall. The waterfall dries up in the winter, but the winter also brings impressively massive icicles throughout the cave.
Shortest Hikes
Shortest Hikes are a half-mile (0.5 mile) or less.
There are no Shortest Hikes in Bryce Canyon National Park. The shortest trails are 0.8 mile roundtrip, and there are also quite a few roadside sights. See the note in the Shorter Hikes section above.
Read More
Bryce Canyon National Park is also featured in these articles:
- Roadside Sights of Bryce Canyon National Park
- Plan a Visit to Bryce Canyon National Park
- Tips for Visiting Bryce Canyon National Park
