Red Canyon is only about 15 miles from the entrance of
Bryce Canyon National Park. Since our national parks aren't very dog friendly (pets are only allowed on paved areas), we decide to tour Bryce as a drive through rather than hiking the trails. Bryce does have an
excellent trail system that will have to wait for future trip sans dogs.
As we pull up to the gate, we see a sign announcing Bryce's
Sunset Campground is closed for a major renovation through July and the only other campground in the park,
North, is completely full. Again we congratulate ourselves for staying at Red Canyon.
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| Entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park |
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| Waiting to get in |
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Bryce is somewhat misnamed. It really isn't a single canyon pre se. The park straddles the edge of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau which has several spectacular canyons running down from the top of the plateau. Maybe the park should be named Bryce Canyon
s National Park? The
main road runs along the top of the plateau with overlooks for each of the major canyons. We decide to drive to Rainbow Point at the end and work our way back for easier driving as most of the overlooks are then on the right hand side.
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| Rainbow Point |
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| Ponderosa Canyon |
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| Aqua Canyon |
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By the time we stop at the Natural Bridge overlook, the wind has come up and is quite brisk. We hang onto out hats especially since it looks like many visitors have lost theirs over the edge.
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| Natural Bridge |
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| Caps carried off by the wind gather below the overlook |
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The last overlook we stop at is the large one at Farview Point. Since it's more spacious we take the dogs out for a short walk. After being cooped up in the van, they are intent on chasing ground squirrels. Good thing they are well restrained. Also at Farview we see evidence of the
2009 Bridge Fire. Generally it's the policy of most of our national parks to let fires to run their course as nature intends without the intervention of humans.
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| Peter holds back the rats intent on catching a ground squirrel |
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| Burnt trees from the 2009 Bridge Fire |
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| Farview Overlook |
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On our way out of the park back to Red Canyon, we stop at the Visitors' Center and store. My broad brimmed hat has gone missing (it probably fell out during a fuel stop in Cedar City) and I need a replacement. I am delighted to find a
Stetson hat in my size and price range. Although, it's pricier than any of my other hats, a Stetson does satisfy my Texan heritage.
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