18 Best Things to Do Near Bryce Canyon National Park
There’s so much to do near Bryce Canyon National Park!
While the national park definitely gets most of the attention in this part of Utah, I highly recommend adding a few days, or even a full week, onto your Bryce Canyon visit.
You’ll find everything from national forests and state parks to adventure sports and scenic drives. There’s some Wild West history, glistening lakes, and so much more.
In the guide below, you’ll learn about all of the incredible things that await on your next visit, including where each activity is in comparison to Bryce Canyon National Park, major points of interest at each location, and a suggested time outlay to help you plan your itinerary.
Some of the dramatic landscapes near Bryce Canyon National Park
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Where is Bryce Canyon?
Bryce Canyon City and the national park are located in southwestern Utah.
This area of the state is about 4 hours south of Salt Lake City, 4 hours northwest of Monument Valley, and 2.5 hours northeast of St. George, Utah.
Overall, this part of Utah is quite remote, and you’ll find few grocery stores and big box retailers. But that’s part of the charm!
What you miss in convenience for shopping, you make up in spades for easy access to incredible outdoor adventure opportunities.
This area is best known for Bryce Canyon National Park, which has been drawing visitors to its ampitheatres and hoodoos for over a hundred years.
More planning information for Bryce Canyon National Park:
You’ve got the national park at the heart of this area, of course, but there are also reservoirs for fishing and boating, lakes for swimming, scenic highways for lazy days on the road, national monuments and state parks for hiking, and historic sites to learn about the Wild West era and beyond.
All of the activities suggested below are within about a 2 hour drive, making Bryce Canyon City or nearby Cannonville excellent home base options.
While we were in this area exploring as part of our Utah Mighty 5 road trip with my kids, we stayed at the Bryce Canyon R Journey campground which I recommend.
Best Activities near Bryce Canyon National Park
ATV Tour of Dixie National Forest
Location: Bryce Canyon City, 5-10 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay: 2-4 hours depending on tour selected
Recommended for: 4 and up
The Camping Kiddos on our self-guided ATV tour through Dixie National Forest
Renting an ATV near Bryce Canyon ended up being one of my family’s FAVORITE activities in this part of Utah!
While it is pricier than most of the activities on this list, I found that the rental fee was worth the experience of exploring the gorgeous Dixie National Forest on our own.
We were able to see the 1,000 year old bristlecone pine trees, beautiful canyons without any other visitors, a colony of prairie dogs, and bald eagles.
You can opt for a guided tour through Ruby’s Inn, or do as we did and get an unguided rental through Bryce Canyon Wildlife Adventures.
We loved the flexibility of the unguided rental, though the helpful staff provided a map with a suggested route and points of interest.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Devil’s Garden in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Location: 55 minutes to main visitors center
Time outlay: at least one full day
Recommended for: 6 and up
This massive national monument stretches across nearly 2 million acres south of Bryce Canyon National Park.
Unlike the Utah Mighty 5, which have dedicated infrastructure, paved or maintained dirt roads, and on-site rangers, this national monument is much more rugged.
Still, there are some incredible hikes, a dinosaur tracksite, multiple natural rock bridges, and (usually) not another person in site. For more information, check out this helpful guide to family activities in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Be sure to bring plenty of water and sunscreen as trails are largely exposed. Keep your car filled with gas, and evaluate the roads carefully, especially if you don’t have a high clearance vehicle.
I also recommend carrying a handheld satellite unit (we have the Garmin InReach Mini, which I recommend) as cell service is spotty at best.
Because this area is so remote, I recommend waiting until your kids are a little older, so that they can fully appreciate the hikes and views.
Because the monument is so large and so remote, dedicate at least one full day to exploring. That being said, you could easily do an entire vacation just visiting different trails and overlooks here!
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Location: 1 hour 15 minutes west of Bryce Canyon
Time outlay: at least 1 full day
Recommended for: all ages
Unlike Grand Staircase-Escalante, Cedar Breaks National Monument is accessible to nearly all visitors.
There’s a scenic drive along Highway 148 with multiple overlooks. So, if you’re pressed for time and want to hit the highlights here, you can just do that.
Of course, there’s far more to this national monument than just the scenic drive, so I suggest you stop by the visitors center to speak with a ranger and get helpful information about hiking trails and other things to do.
Catch one of the free ranger programs during your visit. These are great for the entire family and focus on a variety of topics from the night sky to local plants.
There are amphitheatres to be explored here. They look similar to those amphitheatres over at Bryce Canyon with their bright red, orange, yellow, and white stone, but the hoodoos aren’t as fully formed here.
Panguitch Lake
Location: 1 hour and 10 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay: at least half a day
Recommended for: 4 and up
Panguitch Lake is less than half an hour from Panguitch, Utah, and Cedar Break National Monument, and you could easily add either one of those destinations onto a half day at Panguitch Lake for a fun day out.
While it’s known for its trout fishing, Panguitch Lake also offers an onsite campground, ATV trails, and hiking.
There aren’t any swimming beaches here, largely because of the ongoing algae bloom that makes the water unsafe for humans.
Still, if you’d like to try your hand at fishing or boating, Panguitch Lake is a great destination.
Tropic Reservoir
Location: inside Dixie National Forest, 30 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay: 4-6 hours
Recommended for: all ages
Tropic Reservoir on a sunny day
This beautiful reservoir is tucked into Dixie National Forest, and it is great if you’re looking for a lake day close to Bryce Canyon National Park.
You’ll find plenty of opportunities for fishing and boating (the latter only if the water levels are high enough). There are also swimming areas to help you cool off during the summer months.
There’s also easy access in this area to the Paunsaugunt Trail, a well maintained system of ATV trails, through Dixie National Forest.
Historic Panguitch, Utah
Location: 30 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay: 2-4 hours
Recommended for: 8 and up
Stores along Panguitch’s Main Street
If you’re interested in seeing what an old West town looked like, historic Panguitch is a bit like stepping back in time.
Unlike Widtsoe, below, Panguitch isn’t a ghost town, and you’ll find restaurants, hotels, shopping, and schools here.
In recent years, Panguitch has worked hard to market itself to the nearby Bryce Canyon visitors. The town has added informational stations throughout the oldest parts to help you learn more about the buildings and their history.
If you have kids who are interested in the pioneer era and Wild West settlers, plan to walk around the town for 45 minutes or so. You should be able to cover most of the 9 signs along Main Street in that time.
Start at the antique store and head north along Main Street to view all of the signs.
You can go in many of the historic buildings. The Smokin’ Hot antique shop on Main Street is housed in the old firehouse; the owners, two local women, are a wealth of knowledge about the town, and the antique store is full of fun finds.
While you’re in town, stop by the Cowboy’s Smokehouse Cafe, where you can get freshly made burgers, wraps, fries, and barbecue.
Red Canyon
Red Canyon near Highway 12
Location: 20 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay: at least one full day
Recommended for: 4 and up
This stunning location is another that gets overshadowed by the hoodoos and amphitheatres of Bryce Canyon, but it is well worth a visit on its own.
As you head from Bryce Canyon City towards Panguitch on Highway 12, you’ll see the gorgeous red cliffs on either side of the road that give this area its name.
Be sure to stop at the Red Canyon visitors center first, so you can talk with the front desk employees about the best hikes, mountain biking routes, and scenic overlooks. This is also where you can pick up souvenirs, learn about the local wildlife, and pick up brochures and maps.
You could easily spend several days exploring the trails throughout Red Canyon, but I recommend doing at least one hike here just for the contrast in landscapes from nearby Bryce Canyon National Park.
Widtsoe Ghost Town
Location: 20 minutes north of Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay:
Recommended for: 10 and up
One of the remaining buildings in Widtsoe
Once a bustling community, Widtsoe has been a ghost town since the final residents moved out in 1936.
Unfortunately, the town’s location required it to rely almost wholly on irrigation from local lakes and rivers, a tenuous situation that was made untenable when drought caused crops to wither.
Today, you can still see several of the buildings and the old cemetary, though it’s in far less pristine condition than the ghost town at Bannack State Park in Montana.
If you’re interested in old West history or the pioneer movement, though, it’s worth the drive from Bryce Canyon City up through John’s Valley (a beautiful ride even if you’re not headed to anywhere particular!).
TIP: If you’re interested in ghost towns and you’re traveling near Zion National Park in southwest Utah, don’t miss out on visiting Grafton Ghost Town. This ghost town was abandoned in the 1940s, and still has multiple houses that you can walk through and a fascinating graveyard.
Butch Cassidy’s Childhood Home
Location: 50 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay: 1 hour
Recommended for: 4 and up
Walk in the footsteps of one of the most notorious figures in the 19th century at the Butch Cassidy homeplace.
Before his story hit the silver screen in the 1969 Paul Newman/Robert Redford film, Butch Cassidy grew up here, in this modest wooden cabin in Circleville, Utah.
Today, the cabin has been turned into a museum where you can learn about Cassidy’s childhood, how he turned into one of the most infamous outlaws of the Wild West, and more.
The museum isn’t huge, but it is worth a quick stop.
Kodachrome Basin State Park
Location: 30 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay: 4-6 hours
Recommended for: 4 and up
Some of the red, white, and orange rock formations within Kodachrome Basin State Park
We’ve come across several state parks that punched above their weight, and Kodachrome Basin is definitely one of them.
This remote state park is on the far side of Cannonville from the entrance to the national park, but it’s worth the drive.
There are so many things to do here, including complete an archery course, hike a nature trail, camp in the established campground, dig in the sand pit, and join a guided horseback tour.
At the heart of the park are red and orange stone spires that twist up to the skies. They’re not quite the hoodoos that you’ll find in Bryce Canyon National Park, but they’re spectacular regardless.
The bright colors of the stone against the blue of the sky is what prompted the name of the park, which gets its title from the popular Kodachrome color film.
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Location: 55 minutes east of Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay: 2-6 hours, depending on activities
Recommended for: 5 and up
While the petrified wood isn’t as abundant here as you’ll find in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, it’s still worth your time.
See chunks of petrified wood and ancient lava flows on the Petrified Forest Trail, or in the visitors center.
The park also has the Wide Hollow Reservoir within its borders, so you can enjoy a day of boating. If you don’t have your own boat, you can rent a kayak or paddleboard to explore the waters on your own.
Calf Creek Recreation Area
Location: 1 hour 15 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay:
Recommended for: all ages
Pack a picnic for a fun half- or full day at this outdoor recreation area that also has a small campground.
The real stars of the show here, though, are the 2 waterfall hikes.
Lower Calf Creek Falls is a 6 mile round trip hike that should be manageable for most families. The hike, while longer than most that I’d recommend for kids, is largely flat and cuts through the canyon bottom on the way to the nearly 200-foot cascade.
You’ll find some historical pictographs on the canyon walls as you make your way to Lower Calf Creek Falls, too.
NOTE: There is a small pool at the base of the waterfall, so pack a towel in case your kids decide they need to cool off!
The parking area for Lower Calf Creek Falls is well marked, as is the trailhead.
A shorter option is the Upper Calf Creek Falls hike, which is just south of the main recreation area entrance (and harder to find since there’s no obvious signage) on Scenic Highway 12.
Keep in mind that the trail isn’t as well maintained as Lower Calf Creek Falls, and its mostly uphill on the way to the falls.
Anasazi State Park
Location: 1 hour 35 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park
Time outlay: 4 hours
Recommended for: 5 and up
Learn about a people who lived in what is now Utah more than 800 years ago!
At this interactive state park, you can explore archeological ruins and a museum to learn about the Puebloan people. If you’ve ever been to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado or Homolovi Ruins State Park in Arizona, these were all built by the same group of early Native Americans.
You can walk through the models of the Puebloan dwellings to get a hands-on look of what life must have been like for the people who made a home in this harsh desert environment.
National Scenic Byway 12
Location: runs between Panguitch, Utah, and Torrey, Utah
Time outlay: full day
Recommended for: 8 and up
You could easily design an entire itinerary around exploring National Scenic Byway 12 in Utah.
This incredible drive takes you from historic Panguitch (above), past Bryce Canyon National Park, through Cannonville and past Kodachrome Basin State Park, through a portion of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, along “Hogsback” (a notorious winding section) to just outside of Capitol Reef National Park.
It might only be 122 miles long, but this byway is one of the prettiest stretches of road in the entire southwest.
Lake Powell
Location: 2 hours 30 minutes
Time outlay:
Recommended for: all ages
The rock formations that make up much of the edge of Lake Powell
One of the most popular lakes in the entire southwest, Lake Powell is the place to go for boating, paddleboarding, kayaking, and fishing.
If watersports aren’t your thing, you can see Horseshoe Bend just south of the lake, take an ATV tour around the lake, or explore the incredible Antelope Canyon.
The Wave
Location: 2 hours 30 minutes
Time outlay:
Recommended for: 10 and up
The Wave | source
Probably the hike that I’d do if I won a wish from a genie, The Wave has long been on my bucket list.
This 6.5 mile round trip hike is so coveted that there’s a lottery in place to distribute access. The Wave formation itself is fragile and cannot stand up the thousands of people who want to do this hike, so only lottery winners are permitted to undertake it.
To get a lottery ticket, you’ll need to plan 4-5 months in advance in order to get your ticket in.
If you are one of the lucky lottery winners, you’ll get to see the rolling red and orange stone formations that few others have seen.
Capitol Reef National Park
Location: Torrey, Utah, a 2 hour drive from Bryce Canyon
Time outlay: a full day (or more)
Recommended for: 4 and up
Capitol Reef National Park is truly a gem in the Utah national parks system. It has a little bit of everything: pioneer history in the Fruita district, natural bridges and incredible hikes, towering stone structures in the Cathedral of the Sun and Moon, and scenic drives connecting it all.
There’s also fresh pie made daily in the Gifford House, free fresh fruit to pick in the summer, and fantastic ranger programs throughout the day.
While I think that Capitol Reef deserves its own trip, I know that many people are short on time and might only be able to make this a day trip from Bryce Canyon.
No matter how long you have here, Capitol Reef is unforgettable.
>> Get all of my free park resources in this ultimate Capitol Reef National Park guide. <<
Biking the Multi-Purpose Trail along Highway 12
Location: starts in Bryce Canyon National Park and runs to Red Canyon
Time outlay: variable (at least 1 hour)
Recommended for: 8 and up
Biking along the shared use path
This paved shared use path is fantastic for seeing the Bryce Canyon ampitheatre area, Bryce Canyon City, and Red Canyon cliffs.
If you were to do the entire stretch, you’d bike 18 miles one way. But, you can bike as little or as much as your itinerary allows.
There are several places to rent bikes near the national park, including Ruby’s Inn, Bryce Canyon Wildlife Adventures, the service station in Bryce Canyon, and Bryce Canyon EZ Riders.
Learn more about biking in and around Bryce Canyon in my guide here.
Final Thoughts on Vacationing near Bryce Canyon National Park
In short, this area of Utah is so much more than Bryce Canyon National Park!
While the national park absolutely deserves a day or two of your vacation itinerary, be sure to include plenty of time to soak in all of the other incredible sights, activities, hiking trails, and overlooks.
Because this area has to much to do within a 2 hour driving radius, you can easily set up a home base in one of the rental cabins, campgrounds, or hotels in or near Bryce Canyon City.
This means you’ll spend more time learning and exploring and less time checking in and out of your accommodations.
I highly recommend visiting this part of the Beehive State! It’s a wonderful addition to any vacation in Utah.
