Step #6 of a 2017 road trip, starting from Las Vegas. The pictures may look familial to anyone who’s already been in the South West, but here’s the thing: it’s not Bryce Canyon.
The first time I went to Utah was in 2012, it was my first road trip, and I was in awe: everything was new, from the gas stations in the middle of nowhere to the never ending and straight roads, the national parks, the scenic roads, the motels. Bryce Canyon is one of my best memories: it was crazy to walk in the amphitheater of orange hoodoos. Last summer, we were driving nearby but we mostly wanted to stop in lesser known parks, like the one I’m talking about in this post: Cedar Breaks. However, it would have been too bad not to stop at Bryce Canyon: they are neighbors!
So, Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon: is it the same deal?
NB: Even if the pictures can look similar, I tried to pick different ones. It’s not only about orange rocks.
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Cedar Breaks
11am. Gas Station, Cedar City, Manu calls the bank: our credit card isn’t working here in Utah. I buy chap stick: the air is the driest. We hit the road again lacing up the mountains, it’s a spectacular scenic road, Route 14, which crosses canyons. We are in altitude, more than 3000 m (9000 feet), at the beginning of September. It’s hot outside.
12pm. Visitor Center, Cedar Breaks National Monument. There’s not a lot of hikes available, we talk to a ranger, buy the annual pass (80$) we will use for another places as well, and we start walking on the Ramparts Trail that goes along the edge of the amphitheater, 6,4km (4 miles) back and forth. The trail starts easy, on one side, it’s a cliff, and on the other side, it’s a pine forest, on top of the plateau. Most of the hikers stop at Spectra Point, but we want to go up to the end of the trail, just to be sure we didn’t miss anything. The trail goes down in the forest, I bet it’s gonna be hell to go back, specially because it’s so hot. The view point is amazing, lower than Spectra Point. I’m glad to be here, but now it’s time to suffer on the way back.
Great contrast
Hey! that’s a bristlecone pine! we saw many of them a couple of days before that at Great Basin National Park in Nevada
I have to be interested in geology when I travel to Utah: these are the “Pink Cliffs” the most recent geological formation on the Colorado Plateau
2:30pm. Picnic area. The hike took us 2 hours, it’s time to rest and picnic near the car. Now we feel the altitude in a different way: it’s cloudy and cold!
3pm. We drive along the scenic drive, stopping at the different points of view. On the edge of a cliff, somebody points out a family of marmots! After noticing this group, we see a lof of them. That’s really their spot, isolated, far away from the parking lot, behind the fence.
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Spectra Point
Rocks
Erosion
I’m not used to see pines in this kind of scenery
Bryce Canyon
6pm. We leave Cedar Breaks and drive on another famous road of Utah: Route 12. Memories are coming back… There’s something I haven’t noticed the first time: there’s a bike lane on the side of the road, beautiful and neat, it looks new. That could be a great idea to road trip at a different pace. We drive in front of Bryce Canyon, but don’t stop the first time: we are looking for a campground in a state park called Kodachrome. I’m anxious that everything would be full since it’s Saturday night, but we manage to find a spot in the rustic area, which is, in my opinion, the best of the 2 campground of Kodachrome (quieter, wilder, no RV allowed). We pitch our tent, and leave to Bryce: we want to see the sunset there!
7:30pm. I’ve forgotten how ugly the entrance of Bryce was: it’s a strip full of restaurant chains, cheap motels and private campgrounds. There’s a long line to enter the park, and all the parking lots are full! We find a spot at the sunrise parking lot. It’s crowded, but the view is spectacular. After a couple of days in the desert, it’s weird to see that many people in this kind of place…
Sunset/moonrise over Bryce Canyon (2017)
Just to compare the 2, this is Bryce Canyon, a pic taken in 2012
Same: it’s a pic from 2012, of the arch of Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon or Cedar Breaks?
I wish I could say to go everywhere, but choices are to be made in a road trip. The 2 parks, Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks, look alike because there are part of the same geological formation. I think Bryce Canyon is more amazing, but you have to deal with its popularity and the many people visiting it. Bryce is also bigger, and there’s more variety of things to see (like the beautiful arch above), there are also more hikes: Cedar Breaks can be seen in half a day, and you’d need a full day, even more, to appreciate fully Bryce Canyon. Bryce is a national park: there are more infrastructures around (restaurants, hotels) but it has a cost: it’s very popular. One last point: the hoodoos are more refined in Bryce. I don’t want to sound too harsh with Cedar Breaks! It’s still an exceptional park.
In both cases, I highly recommend to hike, not just to take a picture or 10,000 pictures at each point of view. Taking the time to sink into these beautiful scenery is a treat when you can do it slowly.
Cedar Breaks
- Protected since 1933
- Amphitheater: 3 mile wide (5 km)
- Altitude: 9800 feet / 3000 m
- Scenic road: 7,5 miles (12 km)
- 3 small hikes
- 28 spots at the campground
- Its name comes from the first European pioneers who wrongly identified the trees as cedars (instead of junipers). The first Indian name was “the place where the rocks are sliding down all the time”
Bryce Canyon
- Protected since 1928
- Amphitheater: 12 mile wide (19,3 km)
- Altitude: between 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2400/2700 m)
- Scenic road: 17 miles (27 km)
- So many hikes!
- 2 campgrounds, 51 spots
- Its name comes from a Mormon pioneer
Where to sleep in Bryce Canyon / Cedar Breaks
▶ There a several towns around: Tropic is the closest (supermarket, a few places to eat, gas stations, the Bryce Canyon Inn Cabins* looks pretty good), Cedar City is further away but bigger, and handy when you come from Las Vegas (hotel in Cedar City: Best Western*)
▶ During our first road trip, we were staying in a motel à Kanab for a few nights: it was a lot of driving to reach every day a different park (Bryce, Grand Canyon, Antelope). As newbie road trippers, it was a good option.
▶ If you like camping, I recommend the option we pick this year: the campground of Kodachrome (17$/tent) . It’s a very cool state park, we were almost by ourselves there, great view, close to Bryce and to a great scenic road we drove on the day after: Cottonwood.
▶ If you use this article to build your own road trip, please don’t forget to mention it or comment below!
▶ How was your experience of Cedar Breaks, Bryce canyon or even the campground at Kodachrome?
