Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 1, Bryce Canyon National Park/Fairyland Loop

Another spring, another spring trip. For this excursion, we planned to do a counter-clockwise route through Utah. Several stops would be at places we had been before in the hope we would cover new ground we hadn’t had time to do on the previous visits. We also included several new spots that have long been on the wish list. The Navibahn was recently upgraded. In addition to a brand new chassis battery, we replaced our house battery with an Epoch 30o lithium battery, complete with its own built in heater and bluetooth app to monitor its performance. We were eager to put it to the test.

Bridgit and I left on April 16th. Our first day was about an eight hour drive to a spot we commonly stay due to it being a perfect length for day one. The free campsite parking area next to the Oasis On The Snake must have been discovered. Normally there is at best one other vehicle but this time almost all the spots were taken. Our second day we drove down through eastern Nevada and got a spot at Sacramento Pass Recreation Area. This is a first-come, first-serve free campground. I’m a little nervous about not having reservations but there were plenty of spots when we arrived. When we got there we drove through a couple of sites to see if they were flat. On one of them the turn was a bit tight and I ended up snagging an iron fire pit ring under my Jeep. Luckily there was no damage (well the fire ring was a little bent) and I just added it to the list of many other bonehead moves I’ve made as an RV owner. This is a nice campground sitting at 6,692’. It is just north of Great Basin National Park and we had a good view of 13,065’ Wheeler Peak right from our site.

I try to monitor the forecast for all the places we plan to go on a daily basis unless I have no cell service. We knew there was a small chance for some light snow but when I woke up at 5:45AM the next morning it was snowing pretty hard and the ground was starting to get covered. We figured it would be a good idea to get down lower so we got moving by six-thirty and dropped down to the town of Baker, Nevada. We’ve driven this way to Utah before and I would have to say that regardless of what they say about US 50 (the loneliest road in America), the route from Baker on 421 and 21 to Milford, Utah is the most desolate stretch of road I’ve ever driven. Now add to that the fact that it was snowing a lot harder and beginning to stick to the road with poor visibility and you would be in a world of hurt if anything went wrong. We maybe saw two cars on this entire stretch which runs for eighty-three miles. Along the way it crosses several wide basins and then climbs over the mountains only to drop into another basin. By the time we reached Milford the worst was behind us, but it continued to snow all the way to Bryce Canyon. Driving through Red Canyon was breathtaking. I’m so mad at myself for not stopping to take photos. It was snowing all the way through the canyon and the combination of bright orange rock with snow covered pine trees was just beautiful!

We arrived at the roundabout entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park at 11:30AM so we had plenty of time to kill before going to our reserved campground down in Cannonville. The last time we were in Bryce was our first visit. We only had one full day allotted so we shot sunrise from Sunrise Point and then hiked the Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop. After the hike it was so crowded we just left so we really didn’t see any other parts of the park on that trip. We thought this would be a good opportunity to scope out some of the areas we planned to visit. I was eager to see several spots that had good potential for sunrise photography. I had thought that I would have good sunrise views the following morning from where we planned to start our hike so we drove to the trail start. It turned out there were a lot of trees along that part of the rim blocking the views so I decided not to shoot sunrise before our Fairyland Loop hike. Next we drove up to Inspiration Point. The short trail from the parking lot goes to Lower Inspiration Point but you can simply follow the rim up the hill to Middle and Upper Inspiration Point. We had never been to Inspiration Point and the view from the lower overlook was fantastic! Though it was still snowing, the sun had begun to break through and added to the beauty.

**The view from Lower Inspiration Point**

The entire rim between Lower and Upper Inspiration Point offers great views. I preferred a spot between the middle and upper viewpoints since there were fewer people and the view was as good if not better than from the official overlooks. One look into the Bryce Amphitheater from there and I knew that is where I wanted to shoot a sunrise from.

**Bryce Amphitheater from between Middle and Upper Inspiration Point**

After admiring Inspiration Point we drove up to Bryce Point. This parking lot was full when we arrived so we just decided to try again another time. Next stop was a visit to the visitor center. Just beyond the visitor center on your way out of the park is a short side road that leads to Fairyland Point. We really wanted to check this spot out as it had implications for our hike the following morning. It turned out to be more beautiful than I even expected and also had covered picnic tables by the parking lot which was key to our potential plan.

By now it was after three so we drove about twenty minutes down to Cannonville where we had a reserved campsite at the Bryce Canyon RV Resort by Rjourney. This was the same place we had stayed on our first visit to Bryce. My great friend Mike from Steamboat had planned to do some hiking with us so he was camped in a sweet free spot up the Skutumpah Road along with a friend I hadn’t met named Greg and Greg’s dog Brinley. They popped over for an hour or so and we made our plans for the next day.

The Fairyland Loop is an 8.24 mile loop trail on the northern end of the park. Most people either start at Sunrise Point or Fairyland Point. We didn’t do either. Based on a tip I’d read, we drove into the North Campground and parked at the day use parking area. From there it is only about a fifty foot walk to get to the rim on a side trail. Since dogs aren’t allowed on the trail, Greg and Brinley had other plans. Mike, Bridgit and I stood on the rim at 7AM, just as the sun was breaking the horizon. The temperature was a balmy five degrees but we were dressed for it. More importantly, the sky was clear and it was going to be a beautiful day.

After a short walk south along the rim we came to the junction with the Fairyland Loop. Our plan was to hike it counter-clockwise which I believe is a bit easier than clockwise for elevation gain and loss. As we moved down the trail the sun began to light up the hoodoos and the further we dropped down the more hoodoos came into view. The trail wound around all sorts of rock formations and soon many opportunities for panorama shots opened up.

The trail was an absolute joy. The descents were gradual, the ascents were easy and over the miles the trail wound in and out of so many hillsides that every turn presented another wow moment. Mike and I both had hydration bags for drinking and even though they tucked away inside our packs, the drinking tubes stick out over your shoulder. Well it was so cold that our drinking tubes froze! We had to tuck them inside our shirts to thaw them out. That said, it really didn’t feel that cold to us and after a bit the sun warmed things up into the twenties and we were shedding a layer or two. After two miles we made it down to a dry creek bed and a junction with a short side trail that led us to Tower Bridge. This was a very impressive formation and the early morning sun was lighting it up nicely.

From back at the Tower Bridge junction, we began a slow ascent up and around several really nice groups of hoodoos. We were basically circumnavigating a large rock mesa called Boat Mesa. We had started on the rim west of Boat Mesa and now we were working our way around to the east of it. After one particularly scenic climb we came to the top of a hill and the view we came upon just floored us. We were now looking into an area called The Coliseum. We were perched on a ridge high above Fairyland Canyon and the vast array of hoodoos both near and far was perhaps my favorite view of the entire hike.

We hadn’t seen anyone since starting our hike but after Tower Bridge we did run into a few people. Nowhere on the hike did it ever feel crowded and compared to the Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop, this trail felt empty. We followed the high ridge east until a series of switchbacks dropped us down into Fairyland Canyon surrounded by tons of white and orange hoodoos. After a break we worked our way up Fairyland Canyon, gaining several hundred feet until we finally popped out at Fairyland Point. Here was where we had an alternate plan. After having already hiked six miles, I had told Bridgit that she could wait at Fairyland Point and I would finish the last two miles with Mike and then drive back and pick her up. After all, this was our first real hike of the year and I wasn’t too sure how tired she might be. But my wife is a scrapper and she said she felt good so the three of us began to hike south along the Rim Trail to where we had parked. We got some great views along the way of bits of our trail we had hiked and we even spotted Tower Bridge way off in the distance. All told we hiked 8.24 miles and gained about 1,300’ of vertical although according to Gaia it is more like 2,100’ so we will go with that! Hiking the Fairyland Loop was a fantastic way to kick off our vacation. While the Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop is stunning in its own right, I think I may have enjoyed the Fairyland Loop even more. Because it is almost five miles longer than the Queen’s Garden Loop it has more variety but for those visiting this great park, I highly recommend both!

Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 1, Bryce Canyon National Park/Fairyland Loop

Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 2, More Bryce Canyon National Park & Kodachrome Basin State Park