Bryce Canyon National Park holidays

Follow the famous hiking trails of Bryce Canyon, or find your own way to explore. You can take a horseback tour through the twisting paths. Sit back and watch the scenery go by from a traditional covered wagon, or move a little faster on an ATV tour. Drive gently through the valley and climb rock face switchbacks to spectacular lookout points.

For a different view, why not rise above the landscape on a scenic helicopter flight? You’ll be able to get a new perspective on the spectacular formations below. Let a ranger introduce you to the stars above, unspoiled by city lights and creating a glittering tapestry in the night sky.

After an action-packed day, you can grab dinner and a show. Head to the rodeo. Or amble along a Wild West street straight from the movies at Old Bryce Town.

Bryce Canyon City is the permanent home to less than 200 people – but it grows each summer to accommodate visitors and workers for the national park. Get ready to experience a true slice of the Old West at the southern edge of Utah.

Stroll between the wooden porches and saloon doors of Old Bryce Town in the park’s tiny city. You can browse souvenirs from old western clothing to Native American jewellery. Try a dipped ice-cream or sit down for a Cowboy Dinner Show with wandering minstrels. And feel the atmosphere and admire the riding skills at your first rodeo.

Bryce Canyon is all about the trails meandering around a breath-taking bowl of hoodoos, with unique geological formations at every turn.

You can hike the Navajo Loop through the valley from Sunrise to Sunset Points. Pass Queen’s Garden and rise through scenic switchbacks to complete the trek via the Rim Trail. Or take on the eight-mile Fairyland Loop through a magical forest-like canopy of sedimentary structures.

Descend into the canyon amphitheatre along the Peek-a-Boo Loop, ducking through arches and passing beside cracked rocks. Walk the quieter paths of Bristlecone Pines where blue spruce and ancient firs are filled with desert birds and wildlife. Follow the three-mile out-and-back to majestic Tower Bridge, or explore the darkness of Mossy Cave. Whichever trails you choose, they’re guaranteed to take your breath away.

May to September in Bryce Canyon offers warm dry days, averaging 15°C to 25°C. And, at this time of year, there are lots of activities on offer across the park. June is also when you can catch Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, where you’ll be encouraged to lie back and look up into the unpolluted night.

Weather is more varied between October and April, when the days can be very wet or unseasonably warm. At the peak of winter, dustings of snow add new beauty to the volcanic shapes of the valley bowl and present an annual opportunity to explore on snowshoes or try cross-country skiing. The park is open, day and night, all year round – but some routes and facilities can be restricted during the quieter winter season, especially during bad weather.