The short dirt road was clear and opens into a large grassy area near a cattle fence with plenty of room for a few class A motorhomes, for us it was easy to locate even in the extreme darkness of night.Ī Friendly Warning – We woke up just after sunrise to some rather exciting commotion in the living room…we have a mouse! The cats were on full alert as we listened for the pitter-patter of those little feet. Here is the exact GPS location of our free overnight camping spot: 37.731608, -112.094469 Travel EXACTLY 4.3 miles northeast on Johns Valley Road from UT Highway 12, and there will be a dirt road on the left. We pulled in safely around 9pm and the kicker is we had great cell service, so we uncorked a bottle of wine, flipped open the laptop and watched an hour of online TV…this is why we love RV Camping. So Nikki put her Free Camping search skills to the test and found us a safe place to wild camp just a few miles north of the park entrance. We arrived late, much later than we should have, and the Bryce Canyon website specifically recommends NOT to arrive at the campground after dark. (we visited November 2013)įree Camping Near Bryce Canyon National Park Entrance Gate The big plus side of exploring in early winter: We hiked all day and only saw a few people, the temperature was beautiful at the bottom of the canyon, and the snow can add some drama to photographs. We’ve heard November can be hit or miss when it comes to exploring Bryce, so make sure you plan well (unlike us) and have a backup plan in case the roads close due to bad weather. The weather was cooperative, but a little on the chilly side in the wee hours: Low of 21 and high near 60 with plenty of sun (well, until 3:30 when the shade starts taking over the canyon walls). For the amateur photographer, and the professional alike, Bryce provides a wonderland of enchantment and a post trip headache for editing! The photo-ops are never ending (kinda like this photo essay) and when you’re there in-the-flesh the majesty is amplified 10-fold compared to the images I’ve captured. I wonder if this is where the famous architect Antoni Gaudi captured his inspiration for La Sagrada Familia? We began our hike with coffee and pastries around 10am and ended as the sun was dropping behind the cliffs with a cold beer and nuts (thanks to the inventors of backpacks and insulated coolers)…now that’s what I’d call a successful day hike.Īt some spots the Hoodoo’s seem to reach miles into the sky, while other locations provide endless symmetry and repetitive shapes. With this hike we experienced multiple elevation changes, some extreme, which offered vastly different scenery. We started on the Navajo Trail, took a piece of the Queens Garden Trail and finished up with the Peek-a-Boo Loop Trail. With only one day to explore the park we drove in after a quick sunrise breakfast and started our day hike at Sunset Point, a strenuous yet rewarding drop deep into the canyon. …yep, that’s how I’d describe Bryce Canyon National Park in one sentence or less. “ A vast landscape of mini cities that have been etched into the canyon walls, and over the centuries have been brutally attacked by all the ferocity that mother nature could throw at it, yet this supreme creation still stands, quite possibly more beautiful than ever“.
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