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

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.