The Ultimate 3 Day Road Trip from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park is famous for having the world’s largest collection of hoodoos, which are rock columns, that form over millions of years due to erosion from ice and rain.

It became a national park in 1928 and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon settler that lived near the park. He built a logging road into the canyon and locals began calling it “Bryce’s canyon.” But back in 1200 AD, well before European Americans and Mormons explored the area, it was occupied by Paiute Indians.

And despite its name, Bryce Canyon is not actually a canyon, but rather a collection of natural amphitheaters, which sit along the eastern slope of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

Both parks cost $35 per vehicle ($30 for motorcycles), which covers 7 days in just that park. However, we highly recommend getting the America the Beautiful pass, which is $80 per year and will get you into any National Park, monument, or forest for free.

Day 1: Zion National Park

Catch the Sunrise

Start off your road trip from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park with some beautiful views! Watch the sunrise from the Canyon Overlook Trail (no shuttle required). It’s only 1 mile round trip and a 163 ft elevation gain, making it easy to get to in the dark. 

Fuel Up

Have breakfast and coffee at Deep Creek Coffee Co. This spot has an amazing upstairs deck, plus delicious coffee and breakfast!

A+K Tip: Depending on which hike you choose to do next, park at the Visitor Center and take the free shuttle to Springdale, so you don’t have to worry about parking later.

Continue your trip from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park with some hiking. Spend the morning and afternoon hiking at Zion (make sure to pack a picnic lunch). Here are our top hike recommendations, a mix of easy and difficult trails and all with beautiful views of the park. To see more trails in the park, check out our guide to the 12 best hikes in Zion National Park!

Observation Point via East Mesa (no shuttle required)– 6.7 miles, 695 ft elevation gain. This hike is our must-do, as it is less crowded, less scary, and has higher views than Angel’s Landing. The original trail has been closed due to rock slides, but if you hike via East Mesa you can still get to the epic view at the end. Check out our guide to hiking to Observation Point for more information on the hike!

Note: The East Mesa trail is located outside of the Zion Canyon area, so you will need to plan for some extra time to get in and out of the park. The road to the parking lot is very rutted (4×4 or AWD recommended), and the lot is also small. If you don’t have the right vehicle or plan to arrive later, when the main lot may be full, you can park at the Zion Ponderosa Resort and take a shuttle to the trailhead for $7 per person.

Watch the Sunset

Go on a sunset walk on the Pa’rus Trail (no shuttle required). This is an easy 3.2 mile round trip paved walk that goes along the river and has great views for sunset. This is also the only dog friendly trail in the park and a great way to end day one of your road trip from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park.

Get an early start for breakfast

Have breakfast and coffee at Perks or Canyon Coffee. Both open early, so try to get there at opening so that you can be on your way to start your hike as early as possible.

Hike the Narrows

No trip from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park would be complete without hiking the Narrows (shuttle required).This is an incredible and unique hike through a river! Yup, that’s right, you hike IN the water—so cool! (literally and figuratively). Read our guide to hiking the Narrows.
 
We recommend going 3-4 miles in (6-8 miles round trip) to the famous Wall Street section. Make sure to pack a lunch to enjoy on the rocks during the hike!
 
Note: Sometimes the Narrows closes due to flash floods. You can check the status here.

Don’t want to deal with the shuttle? Kanarra Falls, located about 50 minutes northwest of Zion Canyon is an AWESOME mini Narrows alternative hike, where you hike through a creek and slot canyon to a waterfall. It costs $12/person and they only allow 150 people a day, so book your tickets early!

Head to Bryce Canyon National Park

Head to Bryce Canyon National Park, around a 1 hour, 45 minute drive from Zion. Once arriving, grab or make dinner. Just keep in mind that there aren’t a ton of dining options in the park, but Bryce Canyon Pines Restaurant or Stone Hearth Grille (a fancier option) are two decent choices.

Watch the Sunset

If you arrive to Bryce Canyon before sunset, watch the sunset at Sunset Point. 

Spend the rest of the morning and afternoon hiking around Bryce Canyon (make sure to pack a picnic lunch!) Here are our three top hike recommendations in the park:

Navajo/Queens Garden Loop–3.5 miles, 662 ft elevation gain. This hike gets you up close and personal with the hoodoos in the park.

Fairyland Loop Trail– 7.9 miles, 1,545 ft elevation gain. This hike is pretty challenging, but way less crowded and you get great views of the park. You can either start at the Fairyland Loop trailhead or at Sunrise Point.
 
If you start at Sunrise Point, then we suggest going clockwise and if you start at the Fairyland Loop trailhead, we suggest going counter clockwise. This way, you get the “boring” part out of the way first. To learn more about the Fairyland Trail, read our guide to the hike!

Figure Eight Trail– 6.3 miles, 1,499 ft elevation gain. This hike combines the Navajo and Queens Garden Loop, Wall Street, and Peekaboo Loop into one gorgeous hike through the hoodoos!

A+K Tip: If you need some fuel after your hikes, head to Valhalla Pizza near the lodge for some pretty solid (especially for a National Park) pizza!

Watch the Sunset over Bryce Canyon

End your day by watching the sunset at Inspiration Point or Bryce Point.

Have dinner by the Campfire

For dinner, either cook over a campfire or head to Bryce Canyon Pines Restaurant or Stone Hearth Grille.

If you have extra time…

If you have more than 3 days for your road trip from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park, here’s some great things to add to your itinerary!

Food

• King’s Landing Bistro (Springdale)
• MeMe’s Cafe (Springdale)
• The Park House Cafe (Springdale)
• Whiptail Grill (Springdale)​​
• Main Street Cafe (Hurricane)
• The Pizza Wagon (Hurricane)
• River Rock Roasting Company (La Verkin)
• Red Fort Cuisine Of India (La Verkin)

Activities

• Visit Kolob Canyons (Zion): This area is GORGEOUS and way less busy than the main canyon. The only downside is that it does have less hikes to choose from, but we recommend looking into: Middle Fork Taylor Creek (4.9 miles), Timber Creek Overlook (1.1 mile), and Kolob Arch (13.9 miles).
   
• Visit Kolob Terrace (Zion): We LOVED this area! Similar to Kolob Canyons, it is way less busy than Zion Canyon and still has great views! The Northgate Peaks trail was easy and had an awesome payoff at the end.
   
• Walk through water and a slot canyon to Kanarra Falls! This is a mini version of the Narrows hike, but with the bonus of having capacity limits (150 people a day) and a fun ladder and waterfall! Permits cost $15 per person and dogs are not allowed. This is a great hike to combine with Kolob Canyons! Read our guide for Kanarra Falls.
   
• Hike the Subway Trail (Zion)–7.0 miles, 1,305 ft elevation gain (requires a permit).
   
• Looking for dog friendly hikes in the area? Near Bryce Canyon National Park is a gorgeous area called Red Canyon, which is dog friendly and has similar views! Kodachrome Basin State Park also came highly recommended to us and is dog friendly, but we haven’t checked it out yet.

How to get to Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks

The main area of Zion, called Zion Canyon, is located in Springdale, Utah, about 2.5 hours northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. Springdale is a great little town, with tons of restaurants and coffee shops, outdoor stores, and anything you’ll need for your time in the park!

When we visited Zion and Bryce Canyon we flew into Las Vegas, rented a car, and drove to the parks. If you do this, then we recommend spending an afternoon in the Las Vegas area. Check out our Las Vegas Guide for ideas of things to do!

Bryce Canyon is located in Bryce, Utah, which is about 1 hour 45 minutes northeast of Zion National Park. It is not close to any major cities in Utah, so you’ll want to make sure you’re stocked up on supplies beforehand. Hurricane, just west of Zion has a Walmart, but if you don’t have time to go that way, Ruby’s Inn General Store near Bryce does have some groceries!

Note: You can also fly into Salt Lake City, but it’s 4.5 hours away from Zion. However, it can be a great starting point or ending point if you plan to visit all of the Mighty Five!

Glamping

• One of the coolest places to stay at Zion is Under Canvas, which is a glamping campground with luxurious tents (some have bathrooms too!) and a chef on-site.
• The Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort also has some glamping tents and wagons that are available to rent.

​Camping

• Zion has two campgrounds on site, South Campground and Watchman Campground. These can fill up fast so make sure to reserve as early as allowed!
• There is also camping available at the Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort. We camped here and it was a great alternative to the park campgrounds (although a bit farther from the park)!
• During our second visit, we stayed at the Old Highway 89 FREE dispersed campground and loved it! There aren’t tons of spots (most of it is an open area), but we never had an issue getting one, even during spring break. It’s close to Kanab and the east entrance of Zion.
• On the west side, we stayed at Sheep Bridge Road Dispersed Camping. This area has designated sites, which do fill up fast, but each site has a metal fire pit and epic views!

Want to learn of more FREE (and cheap) camping in Utah? Check out our sister website, Stoked to Camp, for our favorite Utah campsites!

Resorts and Hotels

• Zion Lodge (located in the National Park)
• Holiday Inn Express
• La Quinta Inn & Suites
• Hampton Inn & Suites
• Springhill Suites
• Cable Mountain Lodge
• Desert Pearl Inn

Vacation Homes/VRBO
These spots are a bit more spacious and offer access to kitchens.

• The Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort has 25 vacation homes that you can rent, all varying in size. These are perfect for larger group vacations!
• Cliffrose Lodge & Gardens has multiple bedroom suites and villas with kitchens
• VRBO Option 1
• VRBO Option 2
• VRBO Option 3

Where to stay at Bryce Canyon

Camping

• Bryce Canyon has two campgrounds on site, Sunset Campground (closed in the winter) and North Campground (has one loop open year round).
• Ruby’s Inn is a great spot for camping and even has some tipis you can camp in! We stayed in one of the tipis and it was super fun! It’s also a super quick drive to the park.
• Tom’s Best Spring is an awesome FREE, dispersed camping area about 15 minutes from the park!

Resorts and Hotels

• The Lodge at Bryce Canyon (located in the National Park)
• Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn
• Best Western Plus Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel

VRBO

• Option 1
• Option 2

Where to stay between Zion and Bryce Canyon

If you’d rather stay in one spot the whole trip, convenient to both Zion and Bryce Canyon, here are a few spots to check out! All of these spots have access to kitchens.

• Arrowhead Country Inn & Cabins
• VRBO Option 1
• VRBO Option 2
• VRBO Option 3

Looking to visit more National Parks? Check out our guides to the best West Coast, East Coast, and Southwest National Parks!

Tips for Your Zion to Bryce Canyon Road trip

Navigating two National Parks can be tricky if you’re not prepared! Here are some tips from our experience at both Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.

Zion Tips

• Parking at the Visitor Center fills up fast, so arrive early to secure a spot! If you can’t get a spot in the park, then you can park in Springdale (paid) and take the free Springdale shuttle to the park entrance. We also used this shuttle to to grab food and coffee during the day.
   
• Between March and November, Zion Canyon Scenic Drive (the road to Angels Landing and the Narrows) is only accessible by the park shuttle (no private vehicles allowed), Zion Lodge guests (only to the lodge and then the shuttle is required further down the road), and pedestrians, and bikes. The park has a FREE park shuttle that you can hop on at the Visitor Center to get to these hikes, but the lines can get pretty long, so arrive early and be prepared to wait a bit.
  
  Don’t want to wait around for the shuttle? We are noting which hikes require the shuttle and which do not in this guide.
   
• Since Zion is the 2nd most visited National Park in the US and gets very busy, especially during school holidays and summer break, we highly recommend doing hikes early and late to avoid the crowds.
   
• Angels Landing now has a lottery permit system due to the increased usage of the hike. It costs $6 (nonrefundable) to enter the lottery and if you are lucky enough to get a permit, it also costs $3 per person for the permit. There are a couple ways to enter the lottery, both in advance and the day before, and you can find out more about this permit system here.
   
• We also recommend visiting some of the lesser visited parts of the park, like Kolob Terrace and Kolob Canyons for more solitude. While we are not including these areas on the main part of the guide, we are including things do to there in the “if you have extra time” section! If you want to avoid the mid-day Zion Canyon crowds, we suggest going to these areas instead during the afternoon and then returning to Zion Canyon for sunset.
   
• Driving a large vehicle? If your vehicle is over 11’4″ tall, 7’10” wide, heavier than 50,000 pounds or longer than 35ft 9in, you will not be allowed to drive the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. Studies have concluded that large vehicles over these limits cannot safely traverse this road. Unfortunately you’ll have to take alternative routes. Visit the NPS website for more information.

Bryce Canyon Tips

• Bryce also has a free shuttle, but we didn’t have any issues getting parking, so we recommend parking at the park. However, between April and October, any vehicle over 23 ft long (like our van!) cannot drive in the main amphitheater area during shuttle hours. You can learn more about the shuttle hours, stops, and oversize parking here.
   
• Make sure to pack warmer clothes! It gets cold at Bryce Canyon due to the elevation. The farther down the canyon you go, the warmer it gets, so having lots of layers will help you stay comfortable.
   
• We noticed that Bryce gets busier for sunrise, as it’s the best time to take photos in the park (it faces east!) and then the crowds disperse a bit right after sunrise. During our latest visit, the trails were pretty quiet between right after sunrise and 9 AM, so take advantage of that window to do a hike!

Want to get 30% off an AllTrails Plus membership? Use our code aplusk30 (you must redeem this code on the website, not the app)!

We use AllTrails Plus on every single hike and it is the most helpful hiking tool out there! Some of the features we love are offline maps (so we can navigate even without cell service), wrong-turn alerts, and its 3D maps feature, so we can get a feel for trails before we hike.

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