Hey fam! Welcome to Day 4, and my final blog for this road trip adventure. (Arvada to Moab can be found here, Arches National Park to Monument Valley here & Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon right here.)
After our Grand Canyon adventures, we loaded up to head to another new National Park for our list: Bryce Canyon. Grandpa had been here before, but Chris and I hadn’t, so we were really excited to be hitting up this park on our ride back home. We were surprised how much snow was on the ground when we arrived, but luckily it was just enough to slightly cover the hoodoos (the amazing rock formations you’ll find in Bryce Canyon), but not to cover them completely.
Before we arrived in Bryce, though, we stopped off at Horseshoe Bend, which was only about two miles total to walk there and back, and was totally worth the stop.
Horseshoe bend was about 2.5 hours from our hotel in Williams, Arizona, and we had another 2.5 hours to go before we arrived in Bryce. It had taken us longer to get out of the hotel that morning than we originally planned, and the stop took longer, too, so we decided to rearrange our planned hikes. This turned out to be necessary anyway when we arrived and saw how much snow was on the ground!
Wednesday
Where we stayed: The Best Western Plus Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel (not to be confused with the Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn, which is right across the street is has way more things to do in the actual hotel!)
Where we ate: Ruby’s Inn Cowboy’s Buffet & Steak Room (this is right inside the Ruby’s Inn Best Western that was across the street from where we stayed)
Where we hiked: Sunset Point to Sunrise Point
Our original hike in Bryce — the Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden — was going to take about 1.5 hours to complete, so we figured we would get to it the following morning. Of course, that was before we did the Sunset Point to Sunrise Point walk and came upon the (very muddy, very steep) entrance for the Navajo Loop. We quickly realized that wouldn’t be happening for us, particularly with the three littles and the muddy/icy conditions. What we ended up doing was great, but I do hope to get back to do the Navajo Loop at some point, since it seems beautiful.
For our tired, hungry group of travelers, though, the (mostly chill, not too steep, but yes still muddy) Sunset to Sunrise Point walk was just perfect.
After our walk, a check of the general store and dinner, we were about ready to crash. It was the perfect dip of our toes into this gorgeous National Park.
Thursday
Where we stayed: Home2Suites by Hilton Grand Junction Northwest
Where we ate: We ordered Mexican to our hotel in Grand Junction when we arrived 😉
Where we hiked: We drove the Southern Scenic Drive to the highest point in Bryce, and did part of the Hickman Bridge Trail in Capitol Reef National Park
When we realized the Navajo Loop wouldn’t work for us, we stopped into the visitor center Thursday and asked a ranger for a suggestion. Turns out, the Southern Scenic Drive was perfect. It would take us to Rainbow Point (the highest point in the park) and past the Natural Bridge.
And that drive took us through to the end of our Bryce Canyon adventure. We headed back to Grand Junction, Colorado that day, but not before stopping at our fourth (if you don’t count Monument Valley, which is technically a Navajo Tribal Park) and final National Park.
Considering that I had never heard of Capitol Reef, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But holy crap was this park gorgeous! It wasn’t small, either — it took us quite a while to drive from end to end. The hike we attempted — the Hickman Bridge Trail — would have been gorgeous had we finished it, I’m sure, but it was pretty steep and rocky, and a storm was setting in. Plus, we were just ding dang exhausted after nearly a full week of travel! Still, we were able to get out of the car and stretch our legs a bit, which was all we really needed.
And then, just like that … we were back in Colorado!
One brief stay in Grand Junction and lunch in Frisco later, and we were … home!
Phew! Thanks for coming along that journey. It was a great trip from start to finish, thanks largely to awesome planning (the writer takes a bow), amazing weather and the best company a gal could ask for.
Until next time … BIS BALD, FRIENDS! And happy spring!