Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
576
To see Bryce Canyon the way the early pioneers did, you need to view the landscape
from the back of a horse.
Canyon Trail Rides,
P.O. Box 128, Tropic, UT 84776
(
&
435/679-8665;
www.canyonrides.com), offers a close-up view of Bryce's spectacular
rock formations from the relative comfort of a saddle. The company has a desk inside
Bryce Canyon Lodge (see below). A 2-hour ride to the canyon floor and back costs $50
per person, and a half-day trip farther into the canyon costs $75 per person. Rides are
offered April through November. Riders must be at least 7 years old for the 2-hour trip,
at least 10 for the half-day ride, and weigh no more than 220 pounds.
Bryce is beautiful in winter, when the snow creates a perfect white frosting on the red,
pink, orange, and brown rock statues.
Cross-country skiers
will find several marked,
ungroomed trails (all above the rim), including the Fairyland Trail, which leads 1 mile
through a pine and juniper forest to the Fairyland Point Overlook. From here, you can
take the 1-mile Forest Trail back to the road, or continue north along the rim for another
1.2 miles to the park boundary.
Snowshoes
may be used above the rim, but not on cross-
country ski tracks.
WHERE TO STAY IN & AROUND BRYCE CANYON
Note that room taxes add about 11% to the total cost.
Best Western Ruby's Inn
Kids
This large Best Western provides most of the
beds used by tired park visitors. The lobby is among the busiest places in the area, with
an ATM, liquor store, beauty salon, 1-hour film processor, and activities desks where you
can book excursions of all sorts, from horseback rides to helicopter tours. Off the lobby
are a restaurant, an art gallery, a post office, and a huge general store. Outside are car
rentals and a gas station.
Spread among nine buildings, the modern motel rooms feature wood furnishings, art
showing scenes of the area, and shower/tub combinations; some have whirlpool tubs.
Rooms at the back of the complex are a bit quieter, but you'll have to walk farther to the
lobby. All rooms are smoke-free.
Cowboy's Buffet & Steak Room
(p. 578) is a good
place to dine.
1000 S. Utah 63 (at the entrance to Bryce Canyon), Bryce, UT 84764.
&
866/866-6616
or 435/834-5341.
Fax 435/834-5265. www.rubysinn.com. 368 units. June-Sept $135-$199 double, $195 suite; Oct-May
$70-$140 double, $145 suite. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Pets accepted.
Amenities:
Restaurant; 2 indoor pools;
1 indoor and 1 outdoor whirlpool tub; courtesy transportation from Bryce Canyon Airport, on Utah 12
several miles from the park entrance; general store; liquor store.
In room:
A/C, TV, hair dryer, Wi-Fi.
Bryce Canyon Country Cabins
There's something special about staying in a log
cabin during a national park vacation, but there's also something very appealing about
hot showers and warm beds. Bryce Canyon Country Cabins offers the best of both
worlds, with modern log-style cabins and a historic two-room pioneer cabin, set on a
20-acre farm. The grounds surrounding the cabins are nicely landscaped, and you get
views out over the national park, although we wish the units were farther back from the
highway. The intriguing part of the facility, though, is the farm behind the buildings,
where cattle graze in the fields and the chickens think they own the place.
The comfortable modern cabins have knotty pine walls and ceilings, exposed beams,
and ceiling fans. Each has two queen-size beds, a table with two chairs, a private porch,
and outdoor barbecues. Bathrooms have showers only. The historic cabin, built in 1905,
has two spacious rooms with country-style decor, each with its own entrance. Each of the
rooms has two queen-size beds and a full bathroom. The historic cabin's two rooms can
be rented together or individually.
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