Mile 22208

 Today we are leaving Hurrican, UT to visit another great National Park in the state.  We enter again Zion N.P. but just to pass through and to catch Hwy-89 North at Mt. Carmel Junction, UT.  We enter again the Dixie Nat'l Forest and see some nice mountain / rock formations which prepare us for the highlight of the day.  

Entering the Red Canyon

 We take the turn-off to SR-12 and soon after passing the sign 'Scenic Highway 12 All American Road' we pass through the Red Canyon Arch before taking SR-63 to enter the Bryce Canyon National Park. 

Dixie N.F., Red Canyon Arches

 Nothing prepares you for the sight when you stop at the first vista point, the Bryce Canyon Sunset Point.  We take the trail to Lower Inspiration Point and Bryce Point, not that easy at today's temperatures.  

Bryce Canyon Sunset Point

Sunset Point, Thor's Hammer

Views from Inspiration Point and Bryce Point

 Back at the car we drive up to Paria View and then return to SR-63 to take the road to Yovimpa Point, the end point of the roadway in Bryce Canyon N.P.  We also make stops at the other vista points like the Black Birch Canyon and the must see Natural Bridge.  

More views ...

... of the Bryce Canyon

Natural Bridge

 After many hours in the park we make a stop at Bryce Canyon City to get an ice cream and Elke picks a rock, or better a geode which they cut open for her.  

Elke and her Geode

 Back on SR-12 we follow the Northern border of the Bryce Canyon N.P. and then the Northern rim of the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument (Kaiparowits Unit).  

Vistas from Scenic Byway 12 to Escalante, UT

 We enjoy the late evening drive on this scenic road and quit the day in Escalante, UT at a motel I know well from my last trip along this road.

"It's a helluva place to loose a cow."  -  Ebenezer Bryce, the name giver for the park, a Mormon pioneer who homesteaded near Bryce Canyon in the 1860s