Peekaboo Loop Trail

If you only do one trail in Bryce Canyon, make it Peekaboo. We've done Navajo Loop, Queen's Garden, and a few others here, and Peekaboo is the one that left us completely speechless. The trail drops you right into the heart of the amphitheater and you're surrounded by hoodoos on all sides for the entire loop.

We started from Bryce Point and headed clockwise. The initial descent is steep with a series of switchbacks carved into the rock. Within the first 15 minutes we were already looking up at hoodoos towering above us. The scale of everything is hard to convey in photos - these formations are massive and the colors shift from orange to pink to white as you walk through.

The middle section of the loop winds through narrow passages between hoodoos and through a couple of short tunnels carved right through the rock. There's one spot called the Wall of Windows where natural arches frame the canyon behind them. We stopped there for a solid 10 minutes just taking photos and soaking it in.

The trail shares a section with the horse trail, so watch your step - literally. The mule tours come through regularly and the terrain gets churned up. It's a minor annoyance in an otherwise perfect hike.

The climb out is real. About 800 feet of elevation gain in the last mile and a half, and at 8,000 feet elevation the thin air makes it feel harder. We were stopping every few switchbacks to catch our breath. But even on the climb out, the views keep getting better as you gain elevation and can see more of the amphitheater spread out below.

Go early. By mid-morning the trail gets busier and the sun is harsh. Early morning light in the canyon is magical - the hoodoos glow orange and pink and the shadows create incredible contrast. This is the trail that made us fall in love with Bryce Canyon.