If you ask most people to rank the Mighty 5, Bryce Canyon tends to land somewhere in the middle of the pack. Zion gets the hype. Arches gets the Instagram. Canyonlands gets the “serious hiker” crowd. And Bryce? Bryce is the one people say they liked — right before they change the subject back to Zion.
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I get it. I really do. On paper, Bryce is smaller than the others, the hoodoos look a little goofy in photos, and nothing about it screams “drop everything and go.” But here’s what I can tell you after actually being there: Bryce Canyon is the most underrated stop on the entire Mighty 5 circuit — and it’s not even close. The catch is, you have to stay until dark to find that out.
Let me explain.
Getting There (And The Garage That Worked Perfectly)
After Zion, we’d booked a stay at an Airbnb in Cedar City, UT — a garage converted into a two-bedroom place that worked perfectly for our crew. It sat roughly at the midpoint between Zion and Bryce Canyon, which made it a logical base camp for the night. The next morning we had about an hour and a half drive to Bryce, and of course, it was pretty scenic along the way. Utah has a way of making even the drive between things feel like a destination.
When we arrived, signs were everywhere about the Astronomy Festival — an annual, multi-day event that I’d stumbled across about two weeks before we left. I want to be clear: this was not great scheduling on my part. It was just a bit of good fortune. We happened to be visiting Bryce Canyon during what turned out to be basically the perfect conditions for stargazing. More on that in a minute.
The plan was to check out the hoodoos during the day, leave the park for dinner, kill some time in nearby Tropic, and then come back after dark for the Astronomy Festival. Simple enough. What I didn’t fully account for was how much the daytime portion of Bryce would already be knocking people’s socks off.
Sunset Point, Sunrise Point, and a Natural Bridge
We went over to Sunset Point first and then walked to Sunrise Point, giving the kids plenty of time to stare and contemplate the meaning of life. The hoodoos — those bizarre, orange, alien-looking rock formations — are genuinely hard to process when you’re standing above them. Pictures don’t do it justice, and I say that as someone who has used that phrase about approximately every natural wonder I’ve ever visited. But it’s especially true here.
Everyone was impressed with the overlooks, and mom was especially excited — Bryce Canyon is a place she’d always wanted to see in person, and watching someone check off a long-held bucket list item is its own kind of reward.
We also made a stop at the Natural Bridge, which is exactly what it sounds like and somehow still manages to surprise you.
As the evening got closer, we left the park and drove over to IDK Barbecue in nearby Tropic, UT. It was good. Not great. We killed some more time grabbing ice cream and doing some shopping, essentially waiting on the sun to set so we could get back in there for the main event.
The Navajo Loop: A Comedy in 42 Minutes
Before the stars came out, the kids set their sights on the Navajo Loop Trail — one of the best-known hikes in the park. I have to admit, standing above the zig-zag pattern that goes down seemingly forever does have a certain appeal. The kids were dying to go down there.
The adult in me, however, was doing math. Specifically: if I lead them down that zig-zag trail, I also have to lead them back up while they petition me to carry them because they are, quote, “so close to death.” I knew this. I went anyway.
I didn’t carry a trip diary, but if I did, it would have gone something like this:
- 3 minutes in: This was a great idea. We’re practically jogging down this hill. Wave to mom, guys!
- 7 minutes in: Wave to mom again! Wait… what color shirt was mom wearing? Man, we’re pretty far down here…
- 12 minutes in: Kids sprinting further into the canyon. Alright guys, let’s take a couple of pictures and start heading back. Kids: “No! Let’s keep going!”
- 15 minutes in: Alright guys, we can’t even see the top anymore. Let’s go back. Wait, let’s take a picture first so mom doesn’t make us walk back down here to get one…
- 19 minutes in: “Dad, I’m tiiiiired. Can we take a break?”
- 24 minutes in: “Dad, are we almost there?” I look up. I say nothing.
- 29 minutes in: “Dad, I’m dying! Can you carry me?” My response: You’re fine. Keep walking. (Meanwhile, my quads and hamstrings are begging for mercy.)
- 33 minutes in: I should have packed more water.
- 42 minutes in: We made it back to the observation area and were excited to tell mom how cool it was at the bottom. Sarah: “Jeesh! What took you guys so long?”
#Nailedit
Night Skies at Bryce: The #1 Wow Moment of the Whole Trip
Here’s where I need you to pay attention, because this is the part that changes everything.
I was excited to see the stars over Bryce Canyon. But I want to be honest — I walked onto that shuttle bus with tempered expectations. We’ve all seen striking photos of night skies and maybe assumed some fancy editing made them look better than they actually are. Kind of like when you see real estate photos on Zillow and think “that house is so spacious!” then you show up and the living room is the size of a walk-in closet.
I’m happy to report — that’s not the case.
When I stepped off that shuttle bus and looked up, it was almost an involuntary reaction. You almost couldn’t help but audibly say “wow.” It was honestly an overwhelming, awe-inspiring, and somewhat spiritual experience. I’ve picked our stargazing at Bryce Canyon as my #1 moment from this entire trip. It was that incredible.
Here’s why it hits so differently. Because of the lack of dense civilization and light pollution in the area, you see about 3X more stars at Bryce than you do in other rural areas of the country. Jupiter, the Milky Way — visible with the naked eye, no equipment required. And we just so happened to be there on the new moon, which is the optimal time for viewing. I can’t take credit for that. It just worked out perfectly.
For the Astronomy Festival, dozens of astronomers volunteer their time to come set up high-powered telescopes out in an open field for people to use. After chatting with a few of them, I’m pretty sure this was their Super Bowl. They each point their telescope toward a different constellation or planet and excitedly explain what you’re looking at while you’re looking into it. Honestly, they could have been making it all up and I would have believed every word. “Wow, that’s the Millennium Falcon orbiting over Neptune? So cool!”
But for me, looking up at the skies with the naked eye was the best part of it all. Once we were done with the telescopes, we headed back inside the park and were pretty much the only people around — just us and the stars over the hoodoos. It was absolutely spectacular.
Eventually, I pointed the Monster Van back toward Cedar City.
Here’s the thing about a trip like this one. You visit a lot of places in a short amount of time, and some of them blur together after a while. The overlooks start to look like overlooks. The scenic drives start to feel like scenic drives. But every once in a while, something happens that doesn’t blur — something that sticks, years later, as a clear and specific memory.
Bryce Canyon after dark is one of those things. Not because we planned it perfectly, but because we stayed. We didn’t leave after the hoodoos. We didn’t skip the Navajo Loop because our legs were tired (though they were). We waited for the sun to go down, and the park gave us something back that none of us expected.
That’s exactly the kind of stop that makes a family road trip worth the miles. Put Bryce Canyon on your radar — especially if you can time it around the new moon — and thank me later. Based on our own trip — first written up at Unforgettable Utah – 4 National Parks in One Epic Week, 2019 Road Trip Superlatives.
