Queen's Garden & Navajo Loop

Walk among whimsical rock hoodoos and soak in the contrast of their pink and peach colors against the blue sky.

Trail description

Note: This trail description is for a loop hike, in a clockwise direction, going down the Queen’s Garden Trail and up the Navajo/Two Bridges Trail (with steep switchbacks), and back to Sunset Point.

Bryce Canyon is not actually a canyon, but several amphitheaters carved into the east side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The brilliantly colored rocks are the Claron Formation, deposited in the bottom of a lake about 55 million years ago. The colors are created by the oxidation of various minerals such as manganese and iron.

The Queen’s Garden trail begins by following a ridge, which provides great views of Bryce Amphitheater and innumerable spires, hoodoos, fins, and gullies. The trail goes down a couple of switchbacks, and you reach the bottom of the amphitheater where gently rounded cream, pink, and peach-colored hills appear to your left in contrast to the jagged hoodoos. The trail works its way up one of the small drainages in the amphitheater bottom and goes through a tunnel. Immediately after the tunnel, a short spur trail to the Queen’s Garden takes off to the right.

After picking out Queen Victoria overlooking her “garden,” return to the trail, which drops into a drainage with enough trees to feel like a forest, with pink stone showing through the foliage. At 1.6 miles you reach the junction with the Navajo/Two Bridges Trail. It is 0.6 mile from this junction back up to Sunset Point on the rim.

Going right at the junction, you climb a fairly steady grade until the trail reaches a narrow canyon. A hundred feet after entering the canyon, two slender natural bridges span a side canyon on the right. The trail then begins to gain elevation in earnest up a set of tight switchbacks (reminiscent of the famous Walter’s Wiggle switchbacks in Zion National Park).

At the top of the switchbacks the view into an amphitheater on the right side of the trail suddenly opens up. A balanced rock on the skyline known as Thor’s Hammer makes you wonder how the rock stays put when the wind blows. One more long, and much less steep, switchback takes you back to the top of the rim and Sunset Point. After gazing down on the kaleidoscope of colors and rock formations you just walked through, return to your vehicle in the nearby parking lot. 

Directions

From the park visitor center, drive 1.2 miles south and turn left at the sign for Sunset Point. Walk north on the Rim Trail for 0.5 mile to Sunrise Point and look for the sign for the Queen’s Garden Trail.