Trek Utah — Bryce Canyon National Park, USA

Navajo Loop & Queen's Garden — The Bryce Amphitheater Circuit

The classic half-day combination: drop off the rim at Sunset Point through the Wall Street switchbacks, cross the hoodoo floor of the Bryce Amphitheater, and climb back out through Queen's Garden to Sunrise Point.

Duration: 1 days
Distance: 4.6 km
Ascent: 200 m
Difficulty: Moderate
Best season: Late spring to autumn (about April–October), when the rim is mild and the Wall Street switchbacks are open; the park stays open in winter, but snow and ice close Wall Street

Bryce Canyon is not a canyon at all. It is a series of huge natural amphitheaters eroded into the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, filled with hoodoos — tall, thin spires of soft rock capped by harder stone that shelters each column from the weather. Linking the Navajo Loop with the Queen’s Garden Trail is the standard way to see them from below rather than from a railing, and at about 4.6 km round trip it is the most rewarding short hike in the park.

The route drops off the rim at Sunset Point, threads the shaded slot of Wall Street, wanders the amphitheater floor among the hoodoos, then climbs gently back out through Queen’s Garden to Sunrise Point. A stretch of the paved Rim Trail closes the loop back to your car.

Getting there. Sunset Point and Sunrise Point sit about 800 m apart on the rim road, both with parking; in summer the park shuttle links them, so you can walk the loop one-way and ride back.

Which way round. Almost everyone walks it counter-clockwise — down Navajo, up Queen’s Garden. The Navajo side is the steep one, and it is far kinder on the knees and lungs as a descent.

Good to know:

The altitude catches people out. The rim here sits at roughly 2,400–2,700 m. The hike begins with a descent, so the climb comes at the end, when you are already tired and the thin air makes an easy grade feel much harder. Carry more water than the distance suggests and pace the return.
Wall Street closes in winter and typically stays shut into spring — the narrow slot holds ice and sheds rockfall. When it is closed, the Two Bridges branch of the Navajo Loop usually serves as the alternative; check the day’s trail status at the visitor center.
Snow and ice can linger on the shaded upper switchbacks well past the first warm days, and traction devices are worth having in the shoulder seasons.
Summer afternoons bring thunderstorms to the plateau; start early and be off the exposed rim when they build.

Day 1

Sunset Point to Sunrise Point via the amphitheater floor

Sunset Point → Sunset Point (via the Rim Trail from Sunrise Point) 4.6 km ↑ 200 m

Navigate this day

The full combination circuit: a steep switchbacked descent, an easy wander among the hoodoos, and a steady climb back to the rim.

Segments

Sunset Point and Thor's Hammer 0.3 km ↑ 0 m 📍 Map

Sunset Point parking → Navajo Loop trailhead

Paved rim overlook

Walk out to the railing for the view over the Bryce Amphitheater. Thor's Hammer — a hoodoo with a broad block balanced on a slender neck, the park's most photographed formation — stands below the rim here and is visible from the overlook and the first switchbacks. About 15 minutes.
The Wall Street switchbacks 0.8 km ↑ 0 m 📍 Map

Navajo Loop trailhead → Foot of Wall Street

Steep packed-dirt switchbacks in a slot

The signature descent: a tight stack of switchbacks folds down into a shaded slot barely wide enough for two people, where a pair of Douglas firs have grown tall reaching for the light. Steep and loose in places, and closed through the winter months. About 30 minutes down.
The hoodoo floor 1 km ↑ 30 m 📍 Map

Foot of Wall Street → Queen's Garden junction

Easy sandy trail between spires

Out of the slot the trail levels into open ponderosa woodland on the amphitheater floor, winding between hoodoos that now tower overhead rather than falling away below. This is the quietest, strangest stretch of the loop. About 30 minutes.

About this place

A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock formed by erosion. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. They generally form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Luca Galuzzi (Lucag) · CC BY-SA 2.5
Queen's Garden 1.7 km ↑ 60 m 📍 Map

Queen's Garden junction → Sunrise Point

Steady climb, short rock-cut tunnels

Climb back toward the rim through Queen's Garden, passing under short tunnels cut through fins of rock to the spire said to resemble Queen Victoria, which gives the trail its name. The gentlest way out of the amphitheater — but it is still a climb at altitude. About 45 minutes.
The Rim Trail back to Sunset Point 0.8 km ↑ 110 m 📍 Map

Sunrise Point → Sunset Point

Paved, mostly level rim path

Follow the paved Rim Trail south along the edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau back to your car, with the whole loop you just walked laid out below. In summer the shuttle covers the same ground if you would rather not. About 20 minutes.

About this place

The Paunsaugunt Plateau is a dissected plateau, rising to an elevation of 7,000–9,300 feet (2,100–2,800 m), in southwestern Utah in the United States. Located in northern Kane County and southwestern Garfield County, it is approximately 10 miles (16 km) wide, and extends southward from the Sevier Plateau approximately 25 miles (40 km), terminating in the Pink Cliffs at the southern end.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Lee Siebert (Smithsonian Institution) · Public domain