Look up when hiking Zion, down when hiking Bryce

Then the hiking can begin. If solitude is your goal, beat the crowds with an early hike at Sunset Point. Narrow switchbacks will take you 1,755 feet straight down into a formation called Wall Street, which includes a frighteningly narrow passage into the heart of Bryce Amphitheater. It’s a popular round-trip trek, so a morning start is a must to avoid the throngs of daytrippers later in the day.

At the bottom, trails go in every direction. Options include a counter-clockwise trek around the Navajo Loop and a quick loop back up to Thors Hammer (just over a mile back to Sunset Point), or the Queens-Navajo combination loop, a three-mile trip from the Navajo Loop to the Queens Garden Trail. This second option requires a 1,785-foot climb back up to Sunrise Point, then a half-mile jaunt on the paved Rim Trail back to Sunset Point to finish. It’s considered a moderate hike, but the final climb up out of the canyon can be tough.

Add the Peekaboo Loop to the Navajo and Queens Trail Combination and the hike is almost six and a-half miles. It takes about five hours but shows off everything Bryce Canyon has to offer in a comprehensive and challenging hike.

For the best challenge in the park, consider the Figure 8 hike, starting and ending from Bryce Point, the park’s high point at 8,300 feet. The one-mile hike down to the bottom of the canyon is a breathtaking 1,755-foot elevation drop to the floor. Once at the bottom, the Peekaboo Loop awaits, followed by the Queens Garden Trail, the Rim Trail and the Navajo Loop, and back to the other side of the Peekaboo Loop.

This is a serious hike of just over eight miles, taking about seven hours to complete. Solitude will be your reward, as relatively few hikers attempt the whole thing. The trick here is to have enough left in your hiking tank to make the final one-mile hike back up the switchback trail to your car at the end.

Any of these treks can also be cut short, as shuttle buses stop at Bryce Point, Sunrise Point and Sunset Point to pick up tired hikers and deliver them back to the parking lots.

At Bryce, other options include Fairyland Loop, which starts and finishes at Fairyland Point. It’s the longest single loop hike in the canyon at eight miles, and has an elevation change of 2,300 feet. One negative is that this trail takes hikers away from most of Bryce’s main attractions.

There are other ways to get around both parks besides walking. Since Zion restricts cars, cyclists are allowed to use the park road from Canyon Junction up to the Temple of Sinawava. In Bryce, guided horseback rides are offered from stables near the lodge. If you’re hiking, you may encounter one of the horseback groups, with 10 to 15 riders. It can be unnerving to find an easy place to get out of their way; the lead rider can advise you.

Whatever trails you pick, when you’re done, pull off your boots and relax. You’ll be weary, dusty, and maybe sunburned, but you’ll also be smiling with a sense of accomplishment.
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If You Go…

ZION NATIONAL PARK: Located near Springdale, Utah; http://www.nps.gov/zion/. The only way into the main portion of the park is via shuttle bus (though guests at Zion Lodge may drive there). Major road work starting June 7 will shut the Zion-Mount Carmel highway — the park’s east entrance — weekdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m. until Oct. 28. Check website for details on closures, detours and delays.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Zion Lodge is the only lodging option inside the park, with rooms and multi-unit cabins often booked months in advance. Reservations are recommended for lodge dining too. A few hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants, and shops dot both sides of Route 9 in Springdale.

PERMITS: Both one-day and overnight “thru-hikes” at Zion require a permit from the backcountry desk at the visitor’s center. These can be difficult to obtain; only 40 individual permits are issued for each day for the one-day hike and there are only 12 campsites for overnight hikers. Permits start at $10 and increase in price depending on group size. The visitor’s center opens at 5 a.m. and permits must be obtained the day before your hike, with all parties present when the permit is issued. A few permits are also issued online.

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK: http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm. Because of roadwork this summer at Zion National Park, the National Park Service warns that the route between Zion and Bryce will involve detours and several hours of delays. Check website for details and alternate routes.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Bryce Canyon Lodge is located in the park, but the rooms are a bit outdated and they book up well in advance. Dining is pedestrian at best. Just outside the park, lodging options include Best Western Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel, a new property, and Best Western Ruby’s Inn, part of a busy, crowded complex that includes a restaurant, parking lot, gas station, campground and general store. The restaurant has good service and decent food, but the wait can be substantial unless you dine at off-hours.