A Guide to Bryce Canyon National Park with Kids
Explore the incredible Bryce Canyon National Park with your kids for a Utah vacation they will never forget!
Best known for its cascading natural ampitheatres filled with red and orange hoodoos, Bryce Canyon National Park is an excellent choice for families looking for an outdoor adventure.
While the park is fairly isolated, there’s plenty of infrastructure in the park and directly around it, so you can camp, hike, shop, and stay within easy driving distance.
Below, you’ll find everything you need to determine if a trip here is right for your family, along with kid-friendly suggestions on what to see and do while you’re here.
Stopping near Sunrise Point on the Rim Trail while biking through Bryce Canyon National Park
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Family Vacations at Bryce Canyon: An Overview
For whatever reason, when you hear people talk about Utah’s Mighty 5 national parks, they’re often raving about Arches National Park and/or Zion National Park.
While both of these parks are well worth the praise they get, the other 3 parks in the Mighty 5—Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef—truly deserve more attention.
Bryce Canyon: What It’s Known For
Bryce Canyon National Park stands out for its towering pine trees, colorful amphitheaters, and incredible views from the overlooks. This park is best known for its hundreds of hoodoos, which are naturally occurring stone features slowly carved by erosion and the freeze-thaw cycle.
The hoodoos can be seen from many of the overlooks (more on that below!), and the density and bright colors are unlikely anything else you’ll see.
Despite the name, Bryce Canyon doesn’t have any canyons in the park. What were mistakenly labed as canyons are actually naturally occurring ampitheatres. Unlike true canyons such as Grand Canyon or Black Canyon of the Gunnison, which has a river at the bottom of two parallel cliff faces, the “canyons” at Bryce Canyon are the cascading sides of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.
No matter what you call the place, there’s plenty to do here from scenic drives to biking, so you can create a family vacation to keep your kids engaged at every turn.
Just a small portion of the hoodoos you’ll see along the Rim Trail in Bryce Canyon!
Safety at Bryce Canyon with Kids
PIN ME!
As we all know, the national parks are excellent for helping kids learn about nature, but they are still wild places to a large extent.
While Bryce Canyon National Park does have much more infrastructure like railings, bike paths, and lodges, there are still large swaths of the rim trails that do not have any safety fencing.
This allows for uninterrupted views of the beautiful amphitheaters, but it also can give nervous parents pause.
Walking along those portions of the Rim Trail can be disorienting if you’re not great with heights, and my kids naturally pulled away from the edge. However, if you’re got one of those kids who was born with no fear, talk with them before you get to the Rim Trail and watch them carefully.
Location of Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon National Park isn’t really close to anywhere. The area of Utah that Bryce Canyon is in—roughly just west of the center of the state—is home to small towns strung together by 2 lane roads.
You’re not so far out that you won’t be able to find a gas station, but you are going to have trouble finding a larger grocery store or RV shop.
The entrance to Bryce Canyon is off of Scenic Route 12, which wanders from Torrey, Utah, to Panguitch, Utah. If you are planning to visit Capitol Reef National Park on this same trip, it is located in Torrey, about 70 miles from Bryce Canyon.
NOTE: If you’re driving an RV or hauling a travel trailer, use caution when taking Route 12, which has several areas with steep drop-offs. While not as bad as driving Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, Route 12 is best done on a leisurely day trip and not when hauling a trailer.
(I have more on driving to and from Bryce Canyon below.)
When is the best time to visit Bryce Canyon with Kids?
Bryce Canyon National Park covers about 35,000 acres, making it a tenth of the size of Canyonlands National Park and, in general, a much more manageable experience for the first time family visitor.
This size puts it at the smallest of the Utah national parks, but there’s still enough room to roam that you won’t feel as if you’re constantly brushing shoulders with other guests.
Bryce Canyon, Season by Season
Bryce Canyon National Park is open year round, though some of the facilities are closed during the winter season since crowds are much lighter then.
Most visitors, especially those with families, are visiting during the peak season of late spring into late summer. If that’s when you’re considering a visit, I have great news!
Unlike some of the other Utah national parks that are blazing in the summer (Zion, Arches, and Canyonlands, I’m looking at you), Bryce Canyon stays consistently more pleasant even in the depths of July and August.
Thanks to its position on the Paunsaugunt Plateau, which is itself at the very top of the Grand Staircase geological feature that runs down to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon’s elevation ranges from around 6,000 feet above sea level to around 9100 feet above sea level, depending on where you are in the park.
These higher elevations translate to cooler summers, making Bryce Canyon the perfect family vacation escape. When visiting in July, expect highs around 80 degrees and lows around 50. This means your kids can still go swimming comfortably, but you won’t be pouring sweat on those early morning hikes.
You can see incredible long range views of Grand Staircase from Rainbow Point on the Southern Scenic Drive in the park.
Do I need a reservation for visiting Bryce Canyon?
Some of the national parks, including Arches National Park in eastern Utah, have gone to a reservation system, where you must select a day and time of arrival before your actual vacation. This is done in addition to the entrance fee, which is paid when you show up at the park.
The parks that are doing this reservation system like Glacier, Yosemite, and Carlsbad Caverns, are doing so for crowd control and to disperse visitors across fragile landscapes.
So far, Bryce Canyon has resisted implementing a reservation system, so you do not currently need a reservation to access the park.
You will, however, need to pay the usual entrance fee, which is good for 7 days.
NOTE: If you are planning on visiting more than 2 NPS sites—including national parks, national historic sites, national battlefields, and national monuments—in one 12 month period, you should purchase the America the Beautiful entrance pass. You will then get free or greatly reduced entrance for everyone in your car! (I’m not an affiliate, just a happy pass holder.)
How long do I need to visit Bryce Canyon National Park?
Bryce Canyon National Park needs at least 2 days to fully appreciate, especially when visiting with kids.
That being said, you can do the park in just one day, but be prepared to skip some of the highlights that really are worth sticking around for.
If you’d like to spend an entire week here, there’s SO much to do in the immediate area, including ATV riding through the Dixie National Forest, exploring Red Canyon, eating in Panguitch, poking around ghost towns, and spending time in Kodachrome Basin State Park.
What Can You Do in Bryce Canyon with Kids?
Stop by the Historic Service Station for bike rentals for the entire family.
For a smaller national park, there is so much to do here with your family!
The park has 3 main areas:
the Bryce Canyon Ampitheatre, which is where you’ll find most of the hoodoos and the Scenic Rim Walk,
the Southern Scenic Drive, which connects the Ampitheatre to Yovimpa Point via an 18-mile road, and
Mossy Cave, which is accessed in a separate area of the park from the 2 areas above, and does not require an entrance fee.
You’ll find that there are kid-friendly activities in each section of the park, so plan to spend time in each.
Below, you’ll find my top recommendations for what to do with kids in Bryce Canyon, an estimated time outlay, and the area of the park you’ll find it in.
Visitors Center Interpretive Materials
Location: Bryce Amphitheatre
My son living his best life in the prairie dog exhibit inside the visitors center
The Bryce Canyon visitors center is more impressive than most with a large, well organized park store, large ranger information desk, excellent interpretive materials, and clean bathrooms. Plan to stay here for at least 30 minutes to an hour, which will give your child plenty of time to explore and shop.
My kids loved the interpretive materials in the museum exhibit, which is free to all visitors.
Here, they can learn about the geology, biology, wildlife, and history of the park in a series of hands-on exhibits.
One of the most impressive is the large 3D model of the Grand Staircase, the massive, sloping geological formation on which Bryce Canyon (and Paunsaugunt Plateau) sits at the top of. Zion Canyon National Park is located on the middle section of the Staircase, while the Grand Canyon is at the bottom of the Staircase 100 miles away as the crow flies.
NOTE: Much of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is also located on this formation, including the famed Wave hike in the Vermillion Cliffs area.
You’ll be able to picture the entire thing much better with the 3D model in the museum, which allows kids to explore with their fingers.
Your family can learn about the park’s history through the sections on the native tribes of the area, the Paiute, Ute, Hopi, and Zuni, which are centered around a series of filmed interviews that are continuously shown in the museum.
There’s an area with interactive farming and irrigation equipment to teach about the Mormon settlers who moved here in the late 1800s, mostly to cotton farm, of all things. (That venture failed badly since cotton is such a water intensive crop, and they were in the middle of an arid high desert.)
However, my kids’ absolute favorite part of the museum area is the interactive groundhog colony, where kids can explore a huge model and pretend to be groundhogs themselves.
If you have extra time and want to learn more about the park, there is a free 24 minute video in the visitors center about the cyclical changes that occur in Bryce Canyon.
Don’t forget to see the huge dinosaur skull near the bathrooms before you return to your car!
Shuttles
Location: Bryce Amphitheatre
During peak times, the park runs free shuttles from just outside of the park’s entrance and through the Bryce Amphitheatre section of the park.
While a shuttle ride might not be the first thing you’d think of when it comes to compiling a national parks itinerary, I am here to assure you that plenty of kids love riding around on a bus for no good reason.
(My 2 kids definitely fall into that category and begged me to take the shuttle even though crowds were low and we had our own car!)
The shuttle after dropping visitors off at Inspiration Point
The shuttles run from April to October usually from 8 AM to 6 PM, though service extends from 8 AM to 6 PM at peak times mid-summer.
The start/end of the route is across the street from Ruby’s, the massive hotel and shopping complex just outside of the entrance to the park. There’s a large free parking area here if you’re planning to make use of the shuttles during your visit.
Keep in mind that the shuttle runs from the Ruby’s Inn area to the visitors center, out to Bryce Point and then back to the main shuttle station. There are 15 stops in total.
For more information on this system and details on each of the stops, read my Bryce Canyon shuttle bus guide here.
Bike Rentals
Location: Bryce Amphitheatre
One of my family’s favorite things that we’ve done at Bryce Canyon is rent bikes and ride the multi-use path through the park.
The Camping Kiddos head towards Inspiration Point on their rental bikes.
Of course, you can bring your own bikes and accomplish the same thing, but for those visitors who are road tripping with no extra room for bikes or those who are flying into Utah for vacation, an on-site bike rental is convenient and easy.
The only place to rent bikes in the park is at the Historic Service Station on Lodge Loop Road. This old gas station (now a bike rental shop and small t-shirt store) is located just down from Bryce Lodge and near the intersection of Lodge Loop Road and Sunset Point Road.
The employees here are extremely patient and will work with you and your kids to get you just the right bike. There are adult-sized e-bikes, but none that have child carriers or baby seats like the ones we used while biking through Zion National Park.
Since I had my 7 year old who had no way to ride an e-bike alone and a 10 year old who wasn’t comfortable holding up the heavy e-bike, we decided to go with pedal bikes.
They even had a small 16” bike that my 7 year old hopped onto and loved. I appreciated the wide variety of pedal bikes they had available and how kind the employees were in ensuring we all had the right fit.
When you’re set up, you can head out on the 11 mile multi-use path which is right across Lodge Loop Road from the station and ride to your heart’s content!
Scenic Overlooks
Location: Bryce Amphitheater and Southern Scenic Drive
If you do nothing else at Bryce Canyon, you must do a couple of the scenic overlooks!
Pausing for a selfie with the hoodoos at Sunrise Point while biking on the Bryce Canyon multi-use trail!
The most iconic areas of the park are in Bryce Amphitheatre, where you can get incredible views of the orangey-red hoodoo formations cascading below you.
I’m partial to Sunrise Point as this part of the Rim Trail tends to be less crowded, especially if you enter onto it in front of the Lodge and keep walking to the left.
Keep in mind that there are no railings on the Rim Trail here, so hold onto those little hands.
Inspiration Point is another excellent overlook with its own parking area and shuttle stop. This is located at the final stop of the shuttle loop before the route turns back towards the park entrance, so it tends to be popular.
There is a small section with wooden fencing to the left of the shuttle stop here, and that provides some peace of mind if you have little one who like to wander.
You can also walk up the steep incline to your right if you’d like to get to 2 even higher viewpoints. Both of these also have fencing if your kids can do the climb.
Don’t stop there, though, as the rest of the park has some incredible views, too. One of the best overlooks outside of the Bryce Amphitheatre area is the Natural Bridge overlook around mile 12.5 on the Scenic Drive.
You can’t walk up or under this massive natural bridge in the same way that you can on the Hickman Nature Bridge Trail in Capitol Reef National Park, but it’s still worth seeing.
This huge natural bridge is perched on a steep incline below the viewing area giving you the perfect vantage point for a memorable photo.
Natural Bridge as seen from the scenic viewpoint
Another must-do viewpoint is Rainbow Point at mile 18, where you can gaze for miles across the Grand Staircase to see cliffs in a range of hues, including white, grey, pink, orange, and brown. It’s an incredible landscape and well worth a few minutes of your time.
Plus, you can stretch your legs here or use the restrooms nearby before getting back in the car.
Southern Scenic Drive
While most people focus their time in Bryce Canyon on the Amphitheatre area, there’s much more to this park than that.
One of the other core areas of the park is the 18-mile long Southern Scenic Drive that stretches across the park’s southern areas.
You’ll wind your way through pine forests and along towering ridges as you pass through a much less crowded area of the park.
For kids, this is a great time to spot wildlife, including the adorable Uinta chipmunk or Utah prairie dog. The fascinating pronghorn is another great animal to look for on your drive.
We love a good scenic drive with our kids as it allows us to hop out when we see something interesting or just enjoy the scenery if we all need a break.
A great addition to your scenic drive is the Bryce Canyon National Park GuideAlong audio tour! We swear by these when we visit the national parks with our kids, as the audio guides allow us to add even more learning into our vacations.
For less than the price of a souvenir t-shirt, we can all listen to hours of fascinating content about Bryce Canyon’s history, geology, wildlife, and important figures. The tour doesn’t need Wifi once it’s downloaded to your phone, and each segment starts and stops automatically. You can skip or relisten to any sections you’d like, which is great for when the kids have questions and need to chat!
Junior Ranger program
Location: various
We love doing the Junior Ranger programs when we visit NPS sites! If you’re a beginner to the national parks and are unfamiliar with Junior Ranger program, it is a free (or very inexpensive) program that allows kids and kids-at-heart to learn more about each site.
To complete the Junior Ranger program at Bryce Canyon, stop by the visitors center before you begin your adventure in earnest. Head over to the information desk at the back of the shop to let the ranger on duty know you’d like to pick up your booklet.
The booklets are free at Bryce Canyon, making this a cost effective way to add some fun and education to your kid’s experience.
Your child will complete the assigned number of pages for his or her age group, and then return the completed booklet to the same information desk. Your little adventurer will then get sworn in and will receive a free wooden badge!
It’s a cute little ceremony and the rangers do their best to make it both meaningful and fun. Bring your camera to capture those sweet moments.
Ranger talks
Location: various
Bryce Canyon visitors on a ranger talk at Bristlecone Loop Trail | source
These ranger-led programs are excellent, and everyone should make time for at least one hike, talk or event while visiting Bryce Canyon.
While the program offerings do change daily and seasonally, you can typically find a short ranger talk about the amphitheatre’s hoodoos in the mornings and an evening talk about history, geology, or wildlife.
I highly recommend doing one of the ranger-led Rim Trail hikes, which are tailored to each unique group. The rangers love it when there are kids on the hikes and they will add in fun facts and questions just for them, so don’t think the information will be over your kids’ heads.
Check the calendar for upcoming Bryce Canyon ranger program dates, times, and locations here.
The younger Camping Kiddo near the start of the Mossy Cave Trail
Kid-Friendly Hiking Trails in Bryce Canyon
Location: Mossy Cave, Bryce Amphitheatre, and Southern Scenic Drive
Given that there are over 65 miles of hiking trails in the park, there are a surprisingly few number that I’m willing to recommend to families.
This issue is thanks to the overall difficulty of hikes in the park. Since most of the trails here go down into the ampitheatres, there is significant elevation loss and gain on the most popular hikes that are going to challenge younger kids and beginning hikers of all ages.
Plus, there are only a handful of hikes under 3 miles, which is usually a good distance for little hikers.
However, the 4 hikes I do recommend for families below are excellent, and they will help your kids learn about this incredible park without exhausting everyone.
Mossy Cave
The waterfall near Mossy Cave
This 0.8 mile round-trip hike is one of my favorites in all of Bryce Canyon, thanks to the incredible waterfall and stream that runs alongside much of the trail.
Oddly, the titular Mossy Cave isn’t the key focus here, as the crystal clear water of the stream is what captures kids’ attention.
Make time to visit both the cave (which is really more of an overhang) and the waterfall area.
The water is slow moving and shallow enough for kids to wade, so bringing an extra towel isn’t a bad idea.
While little children will have a tough time with the last quarter mile, which is up a steep hill, just about anyone can do the first half of the hike, which is flat and well maintained.
To access Mossy Cave, you need to exit the main area of the national park, and look for the signs for Mossy Cave 4 miles up Scenic Highway 12 going towards Torrey.
Rim Trail: Sunset to Sunrise Points
This might be the prettiest mile of the entire Rim Trail, which is saying something since the Rim Trail is one of the most incredible places in the entire Mighty 5.
From Sunset to Sunrise Points, you’ll have the some of the best views of the hoodoos in the park, which were dubbed “the Silent City” by the local Native Americans. They believed that an ancient people had been frozen by the Trickster God to stand here forever, which is an incredible image when you’re looking down at the hundreds of hoodoos in the amphitheatre.
Keep in mind that there are no handrails throughout this section of the Rim Trail. I took both of my children on it, but was cautious about where they stood.
It is 0.5 miles point to point or a mile round trip if you return to your starting point.
Bristlecone Loop
This trail at the end of the Southern Scenic Drive is the perfect way to see the Grand Staircase without the crowds you sometimes get at Yovimpa or Rainbow Points.
You can access this 1 mile loop from either Yovimpa or Rainbow Point as it passes by both. There is about 200 feet of elevation change on this trail, but it is manageable for most kids if you go slowly.
Remember, the elevation here is around 9000 feet, so you’ll want to drink lots of water and hike more slowly than usual.
Queen’s Garden at Sunrise Point
Going down into the amphitheatre is the easy part! | source
If you really want to do one of the hikes down into the amphitheatre with your kids, this is the one to do.
At 1.8 miles round trip, it’s long enough for you to make headway into the hoodoos and see them up close (which really is worth the trouble!).
There is 450 feet of elevation change across this out-and-back hike as you descend into the canyon and then return to the room, so be sure to keep encouraging your kids to get them through those tougher spots.
My 7 year old is a strong hiker and has taken on much longer hikes like Providence Canyon in Georgia and steeper hikes like the Lower Falls Viewpoint in Yellowstone National Park, so he could handle this trail with plenty of snacks and encouragement.
Older kids, even those who aren’t strong hikers, should be able to manage this trail (also with plenty of snacks and encouragement!), and it’s a great way to assess if they’re ready for a longer, more difficult hike. If they do this hike and want something more, you can do the Navajo Loop (1.3 miles round trip with 515 feet of elevation change) or add both the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop together for a total hike of 2.9 miles and 625 feet of elevation change.
Hike the Hoodoos Program
Location: Mossy Cave, Bryce Amphitheatre, and Southern Scenic Drive
My kids and I can find motivation in even the smallest of things—stickers, the promise of dessert, or relaxing by the pool.
So, it’s no wonder that we immediately set out to accomplish the Hike the Hoodoos program as soon as we heard about it!
This is a separate program from the Junior Ranger program above, so you can come away with multiple badges from your time in Bryce Canyon.
You don’t need anything specific to begin the program, nor do you need to let the rangers know you’re participating.
Simply visit any combination of the qualifying trails and search for the USGS (United States Geological Survey) markers along the trails.
These large silver markers are found alongside interpretive posters, which makes them easier to spot.
Once you’ve found at least 3 of the markers and hiked at least 3 miles, you can bring your rubbings or photos of the markers to the information desk to get your free “I Hiked the Hoodoos” sticker.
The sticker is pretty—it’s gold with hoodoos designed to look like one of the USGS markers you’ve been looking for.
The Camping Kiddos on the Mossy Cave Trail, one of the qualifying trails for the program
The qualifying trails are:
Mossy Cave (recommended for kids, above)
Rim Trail to Fairylane Point (recommended for kids, above)
Tower Bridge
Queen’s Garden (recommended for kids, above)
Navajo Loop
Peekaboo Loop
Wall of Windows
Sheep Creek
Bristlecone Loop (recommended for kids, above)
Tips for Visiting Bryce Canyon National Park with Kids
What to Pack
A great summer outfit for Bryce Canyon: lightweight shorts, a wool t-shirt and Keen Newport H2 hiking sandals
Bryce Canyon National Park is at a higher elevation than any of the other Utah Mighty 5, so the weather here is consistently cooler than what you’ll find elsewhere in Utah.
Because of this, you’ll want to bring layers, even in the summer.
Summer days are warm (but still pleasant) but the evenings can be chilly enough that my thin Southern blood wanted a sweatshirt.
If you and your family are visiting in spring or fall, you’ll want to keep a sweater or sweatshirt at hand throughout the day as the weather can shift as you move around the park.
It is cold in the winter months, so if you’re coming here to do some hiking or snowshoeing, be sure to pack warm, moisture wicking base layers and a protective water resistant outer layer.
You’ll also want to pack day packs, comfortable hiking boots or shoes, a water bladder, and extra snacks no matter the time of year.
Get gear suggestions here:
Driving to and from Bryce Canyon
Whenever we’re road tripping with our Winnebago Micro Minnie trailer in tow, I’m always paranoid about road conditions, gas availability, and the like.
Because of this, we made the decision to not take the more scenic route on our most recent trip to Bryce Canyon. We left Torrey, Utah, after visiting Capitol Reef National Park, and then had to decide whether to travel on Scenic Route 12, or go the longer way.
Scenic Route 12 is beautiful with long range views of Grand Staircase-Escalante and the infamous narrow stretch called the Hogback.
Both take roughly the same amount of time, but the slightly less scenic way is flatter with wide shoulders for most of it, both of which are great for driving RVs and travel trailers.
If you choose to go the same way we did, which is best for RVs or travel trailers, you’ll leave Torrey, Utah, on Highway 24, then turn left at Burrville to get onto State Road 62. Follow this road down through Koosharem and Widtsoe, and you’ll find yourself at the roundabout in Bryce Canyon City.
No matter which route you take, know that both are remote, and you will likely go long stretches without seeing substantial traffic, a gas station, or reliable cell signal.
Buy your groceries ahead of time.
Because of the remoteness of this park, you’ll want to purchase the groceries you need for your trip before you get to the park. This will save you money and will allow you to bring what you really need and want for the trip.
The only markets nearby are both small and overpriced. There is one inside Ruby’s Inn just outside of the Bryce Canyon National Park entrance and, in Cannonville, you’ll find Clark’s Country Market.
If you’re traveling with a baby, know that there are very limited baby supplies at both of these. You will be able to find diapers and baby food, as well as regular formula, but the selection is slim. If you know your baby needs a specific size of diapers, a specific kind of formula, or allergy-sensitive snacks, don’t rely on these shops to have them.
