Hiking Bryce Canyon National Park:
Queens Garden Trail/ Navajo/ Wall Street Loop with the Peekaboo Loop Addition
Bryce Canyon National Park, in Utah, is an absolutely breathtaking destination to visit, and the Queens Garden, Peekaboo Loop is the best hike to experience this spectacular landscape. Gorgeous pink and orange hoodoos dominate and create an unearthly, yet gorgeous atmosphere that is sure to stop you in your tracks.
This is in fact, the largest concentration of hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) found anywhere in the world. And to me, Bryce Canyon is one of the most gorgeous places on Earth!
At Bryce Canyon, you can easily view these hoodoo filled amphitheaters from numerous panoramic vistas along the main road (as shown above) or by taking a phenomenal hike down into the canyon to walk among them.
Hiking among these unique sandstone formations is an unbelievable jaw-dropping experience. The Queens Garden Trail, with its connecting loop addition (the Peekaboo Trail) and then back up the Navajo Trail to Wall Street is one of the most popular trails that weave among these hoodoos in Bryce Canyon.
On the Queens Garden figure 8 loop (with the peekaboo addition), the trail weaves down into the canyon among thousands of hoodoos, through man-made sandstone arches, across a valley forest full of pine trees and then back up through an impressive narrow-walled canyon. This loop is incredible and a fantastic way to experience the best of Bryce Canyon. We think it’s also…
The Best Family Hike in Bryce Canyon!
Since this whole trail is a figure 8, you can easily see how your kids are doing and whether or not you want to take the extra 3 mile Peekaboo Loop at the half-way point. This is such a great option to have, because with kids, you never know how quick they may poop out or if they are going to be full of energy and excited to keep going.
Trail Details (3 Options)
Queens Garden/ Navajo Loop (by Thor’s Hammer)
- 2.9 mile loop
- 646 feet elevation gain
- Moderate
- 2 – 3 hours
Queens Garden/ Wall Street Loop
- 3.2 mile loop
- 646 feet elevation gain
- Moderate
- 2 – 3 hours
*Queens Garden/ Peekaboo/ Wall Street Loop
- 6.3 mile (Figure 8) Loop
- 1,500 foot elevation gain
- Moderate
- 4 – 5 hours
- We took 4 hours 45 minutes total with breaks
Bryce Canyon Trail Map: Queens Garden/ Peekaboo/ Wall Street Loop
Sunset Point
Sunset Point is the beginning and end point for this hike. Here there is a large parking lot with picnic tables and bathrooms. Try and arrive early because this parking lot fills up.
From the parking lot, take the sidewalk to the overlook and be prepared to be amazed!
Hiking Tip: Hike as early as you can. The temperature will be cooler, there will be less crowds and the morning sun on the hoodoos is beautiful!
From Sunset Point, you will walk north 0.5 miles on the Rim Trail towards Sunrise Point. This is a gorgeous, easy & flat stroll along the canyon’s edge.
Sunrise Point has a pretty spectacular view too!
Here, at Sunrise Point, you will turn right at the sign for the Queens Garden Trail.
The Queens Garden Trail
The Queens Garden Trail begins your decent down into the canyon and is surrounded by stunning views.
I recommend hiking the Queen’s Garden trail first, and walking clockwise on this loop in the morning. Later in the day, this section of the trail becomes very hot and sunny. Wereas when you hike clockwise, your hike will end with Wall Street which is in the shade anytime of day.
On your walk down, the trail has lots of gradual bends which allow for getting some great pictures near your first close up hoodoos.
I loved this perfect heart cutout in the towering sandstone formation below.
The panoramic views along the Queens Garden Trail are amazing!
Hiking Tip:
This is one trail where it is highly beneficial to have the trail map downloaded into your phone. There is one spur trail that goes to “Queen Victoria,” off of the Queens Garden Trail that can be slightly confusing. And a downloaded map is also helpful when trying to make sure that you get onto the correct path (whether it’s to Peekaboo, staying off a horse trail spur or when you’re going to the Navajo Trail to Wall Street or past Thor’s Hammer.) We downloaded our map from AllTrails and it was a so useful! We even had several other hikers take a look at our map so that they could figure out where they were.
From Sunrise Point to the junction where you pick up the Peekaboo Trail, its 1.6 miles.
If you do not want to hike the approximate 3 mile Peekaboo Loop addition, then follow the sign toward Wall Street on the Navajo Trail. (The Navajo Loop begins and ends at Sunset Point. The Queens Garden trail meets up with the Navajo Loop at this junction. The south side of this trail goes through “Wall Street” and the north side of the Navajo Loop, goes by Thor’s Hammer.)
If you are up for the extra 3 mile loop, then you will follow the signs to Peekaboo and begin a flat walk through a pine forest.
When we got to this junction, we let our kids (the youngest being 10) decide if they wanted to do the extra 3 mile loop and they all unanimously said yes!
Hiking Tip:
If you are hiking this extra loop, make sure you have plenty of water with you. (This trail is very sunny and exposed) With the addition of this extra loop, this hike can take between 4-5 hours total instead of the 2-3 hours for the shorter version of this loop. For our family, we began our hike right after sunrise, when it was cool, and we drank about 1.5 liters per person. If you start later, it will be much hotter, and then you may need even more.
Family Hiking Tip:
Also, make sure you have plenty of snacks or energy boosters, like Clif Bloks Energy Chews, for your kids if you are doing the 6.3 mile loop.
On longer hikes, I also like to bring mulit-colored Tic-Tacs and we play a game where each color has a special energy boosting power. These powers may be a hill climbing power, a rock scrambling power, super vision, navigation powers (where they get to be the leader), a general energy boost or even animal spotting powers. Our kids love playing this game, especially our youngest when he needs that little bit of extra encouragement. This game really keeps them energized and excited on longer hikes.
Peekaboo Loop Trail
When you first start walking on Peekaboo trail, you will very shortly come to another junction. This is where the peekaboo loop starts. Peekaboo is one big circle from here and so you can go either way. This is also a horse trail so you made need to watch where you step in some places or move to then side to let a horse group pass.
We chose to hike Peekaboo Trail clockwise and I loved the views going this direction. But please do know, that either way you go, the first bit of this loop does not have as much scenery. Don’t get discouraged though because the backside of this loop is absolutely spectacular!
After the pine forest, Peekaboo Trail heads back up toward even more hoodoos.
Our kids loved these man-made arches that the trail ran through. There are several on this trail.
Trail Bathroom
There’s even a bathroom on the back part of Peekaboo Trail, which is such a nice thing to have on a longer trail.
Shortly after the bathroom stop, make sure you look up, because right along the trail is the incredible “Wall of Windows.” And the scenery surrounding becomes completely breathtaking.
Peekaboo Trail then turns and begins to wind up through a shaded small canyon.
Here, you can now look at the surroundings from a more elevated viewpoint.
After leaving this breathtaking section of Peekaboo Trail, you will head back through the pine forest and finish the peekaboo loop. After finishing the loop, you will take the short trail off the loop to get back to the same junction that you were at before after finishing the Queens Garden Trail. Here you can now choose which branch on the Navajo Trail you want to take back, the Two Bridges/ Thor’s Hammer side or the trail through Wall Street.
We chose to walk up Wall Street and we highly recommend it.
Please note that the Wall Street section of the Navajo Loop is closed during the winter and even into early spring.
Wall Street
Wall Street is an incredible, yet intimidating section of this loop. It is a 0.6 mile hike up 550 feet, and yes, it is hard to face this at the end of a long hike, but it is in the shade and the scenery is amazing! Just go slow and take lots of breaks.
Honestly, I found it kind of rewarding tackling this steep, challenging slot-canyon at the end of our hike, because when we finally reached the top, we were ready to celebrate our hiking accomplishment.
After hiking up Wall Street, we were now back up at Sunset Point, our original starting point, with this awe-inspiring view.
Now you are all set to hike The Queens Garden Loop (with the Peekaboo addition) and up Wall Street at Bryce Canyon National Park. We think this is the best hike in Bryce Canyon and I hope you love it as much as we do!
Have a Great Hike at Bryce Canyon with Your Traveling Feet!
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