We had debated on rather to drive to Bryce because of the distance and time it would take but since we did not spend as much time in Zion we decide to go ahead and drive up to Bryce. So glad we did as it is very different looking. To get there you drive a long way through a part of Dixie National Forest and go through a small canyon area called Red Canyon before you get to Bryce.
Red Canyon is red, has lots of red cliffs and arches. We drove through Red Canyon but did not make any stops.
Shortly before we entered Bryce we came across a herd of deer, we think they are mule deer.
We made it to Bryce and it was still lightly raining and had gotten cooler.
Initially driving into Bryce is very different from Zion as you are driving at the top of the canyon rather than driving around at a lower level. They had lots of signs out warning about Prairie Dogs crossing the road but we did not seen any during our drive. They were probably staying down in their holes where it was warm and dry.
We finally started getting to the different view points where we got out of the truck and discovered it had really gotten cold, windy and damp. But the view were impressive. We unfortunately had worn shorts today. Thankfully we did have windbreakers in the truck so we put those on. Mine has an attached hood so I pulled it up and then put my hat over top of that, the hood helped in blocking the wind. The temperature hovered in the high 40’s while we were visiting Bryce, it was in the 70’s when we left the RV park.
Lots of arches are forming in some of the canyon walls.
From one of the views you could see a hiking trail down in the bottom of the park.
At one of view points we stopped at there were several chipmunks in the juniper trees and they had no problem posing for pictures.
One of them came down close to my feet to get a drink of water (it was still lightly raining at this time) and did not seem to mine being close.
Here is another one eating juniper berries.
Eventually the rained stopped and the skies started to clear.
We took a couple of videos of different view so you can see how impressive it looks.
Another video.
Enjoyed the views in Bryce, not sure I would want to try and hike to the bottom of the canyon but it would probably be very interesting to walk around in the bottom.