Navajo Loop Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park

Overview:
The Navajo Loop Trail is a relatively short, but very scenic hike. It's a fantastic way to explore the beauties of the Bryce Canyon National Park's hoodoos with your entire family, and see quite a lot of scenery in just a short distance. A short distance from the trailhead of Navajo Loop Trail, you will arrive at the hoodoo formation called Wall Street, which is an area of the canyon where the canyon walls and a few impressive Ponderosa Pine tower above you as if they were skyscrapers, hence the name.

Note: There is a park entrance fee of $25 to enter Bryce Canyon National Park.

Trailhead:

• From the I-15


• Take exit 95 for UT-20 toward US-89/Panguitch/Kanab


• After 20.5 miles, turn right at the T-junction of HWY 89


• After 10.1 miles, when you arrive at Pangutich, take a left on center street to continue on HWY 89


• After 6.9 miles, take a left on UT-12 towards Red Canyon


• After 13.5 miles, take a right on UT-63 towards Bryce Canyon National Park


• You'll receive a park map at the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park which will help you locate the Navajo Loop trailhead at Sunset Point

GPS: 37.623763, -112.167763
Distance: 1.5 miles
Difficulty: 2
Hike Time: 1-1.5 hours
Trail Condition: Well-maintained and easy to follow.
Season: Late Spring to Late Fall

Detailed Description:
From the entrance of Bryce National Park, head to Sunset Point, which is one of the first turn-outs of Bryce National Park. You can access the Navajo Loop Trailhead from the parking lot there. A very short distance after the trail begins, the trail forks as the loop begins. You can take either path, but Wall Street is to the right. Shortly after the fork, the trail begins to descend very steeply, through a series of many switchbacks, 521 feet into Bryce Canyon. The switchbacks are some of the steepest I've seen on a hike, but they're very short, so it's not so bad. In fact, on a normal day in the Spring/Summer, you're bound to see several families with children undertaking these switchbacks. Once you've descended, the next half-mile or so is a relatively flat, gentle walk until the trail starts heading back up towards Sunset Point. As you're coming back up out of the canyon (assuming you've come by way of Wall Street) you'll see another famous rock formation called Thor's Hammer, which is a prominent hoodoo with a large boulder on top (see photos).

Maps:






Pictures:






A gigantic Ponderosa pine towers above the trail in Wall Street.






The magnificent Thor's Hammer can be seen on the right side of this photo.