So, you’re planning your vacation and wanting to make a stop at Bryce Canyon National Park. It’s a great choice. Depending on how much time you allocate to visiting the park, you may ask yourself if you can drive through Bryce Canyon. It seems a natural question to ask. After all, there are plenty of scenic parks you can drive through and see some amazing sights. Is Bryce 1 of those parks? Let’s examine that question here.
The Real Question
Bryce Canyon National Park offers a single entrance and a single road to drive the length of the park. Obviously, you can drive in the park. In fact, you can drive your private vehicle the entire length of the park’s road and into several side areas too. Indeed, there’s almost no time where access for private vehicles is restricted. The real question is whether or not you can see any of the sights from the car. Can you see anything worth seeing while driving by?
The Answer
There are multiple ways to answer this question. However, I decided to go with the comprehensive answer. I made a video of me driving through the entirety of Bryce Canyon National Park. Just to make things reasonable, I made it a timelapse so you can watch it in a decent amount of time instead of the 45 minutes which it takes to drive all the way up to Rainbow Point at mile marker 18
This is the view of the park from the front windshield. You can look out your side windows to look at things closer and longer. However, you can see enough from this partially constrained view to give you a decent idea.
More Details
If you watched this video like I hope you did, then you will know the answer to this question. Yes, you can drive through Bryce Canyon. However, you won’t see much from the car and the road. Most of what you will see is yellow pine forest with some meadows and even an old burn scar.
If you’re lucky, then you might see some deer along the side of the road. I’ve also seen pronghorn and wild turkeys, but those are rarer to see. Sadly, none showed up for this video. Oftentimes, when such animals do show up, you can expect traffic to slow or even jam up as tourists want to see these elusive animals in their natural environment.
The winter road was ideal for showing off what you can see from your car. There were very few cars on the road. During the tourist season, there’s many more private cars and tour buses on the road along with several NPS shuttle buses. All those vehicles, especially the buses, would have obscured the view much more.
If you are hoping to see views like these below from the main amphitheater or from deeper recesses in the park, then you must park and get out of your car. However, luckily for many people, some of the best views in the park are mere feet or yards/meters away from your car.
Main Amphitheater Views
Inner Park Recesses Views
Want to see these amazing views and more? You’ll need to exit your car to see them. They aren’t visible even from the parking lot.
Scenic Views of Bryce Canyon You Can Drive Through
There is a small part of Bryce Canyon National Park which you can drive through and also see some of the hoodoos which it’s famous for at the same time. In fact, you can do so for free as it’s not behind the gate. However, it’s brief. Again, if you want a better view of the hoodoos, you must get out of your car and enjoy the Mossy Cave trail.
If you really want to drive though Bryce Canyon AND see some sights, then the northern portion of the park on Route 12 is for you. This is a major artery for the area with very few places you can just pull off to look. You are driving down a cliff to the town of Tropic on the other side. However, there is a single turnout which offers this view.
This less-than-stunning view for Bryce Canyon is not what most people want when they come to the national park. All the views worth seeing are behind the gate. So, I wouldn’t make this Route 12 scene your only view of the national park.
Conclusion
So, the answer to the question of whether or not you can drive through Bryce Canyon is a ‘yes.’ You can indeed drive through Bryce, but you won’t see anything worth seeing in the park if you remain in the car. If you want a guarantee of seeing something from your car, then it won’t be the views worth seeing and it will be super brief.
In conclusion, Bryce Canyon National Park is indeed an amazing place with stunning views. However, none of those views are available from the car. You will need to park and exit your car to see the sights worth seeing.
