Bryce Canyon Figure 8

Bryce Amphitheater viewed from along the Rim Trail

6.4 miles loop, 1700 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate
Access: Paved road to trailhead, Bryce Canyon National Park entrance fee required

The hoodoos of Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park are some of the oddest and most fascinating geological features on the continent. The Figure 8 loop, which combines the Queens Garden and the Peekaboo Loop Trails in Bryce Amphitheater, provides direct access into the most spectacularly eroded sections of this wonderous terrain; it is the absolute highlight of a visit to this smallest of Utah's five national parks.

I visited Bryce Canyon in winter to see the pink hoodoos of the amphitheater coated in snow. Bryce Canyon is a pretty long ways from anywhere, unless you live in Cedar City, Utah, so I'll skip the directions to the trailhead; I would briefly like to note though that on the February day when I drove to Bryce, the temperatures hit -4 degrees F (-20 degrees C) while I was driving east on Utah Highway 14 from Cedar City. Temperatures when I arrived in Bryce were a balmy 6 degrees F. Winter brings beautiful scenery but also plenty of hazards: hypothermia is possible in low temperatures, snow on road can cause dangerous driving conditions, and snow and ice on the trail may require hiking with traction devices.

I started the hike at Sunset Point, although it's also possible to start the trail from Sunrise Point as well. From the large parking area at Sunset Point, I walked along the paved walkway to the overlook itself, where a fenced platform jutted into the canyon, providing a spectacular view of one of America's most iconic landscapes. Sunset Point lies in the heart of Bryce Amphitheater; to the north was a view of the hoodoos of Fairyland and the Table Cliff Plateau while to the south I could look directly down into the eerie spires of the Silent City. Although the spot is beautiful at any time, I found it especially remarkable when I returned the next morning for the sunrise: the dawn light accentuated the palette of the canyon's colors and the snow sparkled.

Sunrise at Sunset Point

Sunrise over the Silent City from Sunset Point

From Sunset Point, two trails descend into the canyon, either of which can be used to start the Figure 8; the Wall Street and the Two Bridges Trails join at the bottom of the canyon to themselves form the Navajo Loop. In winter, the Wall Street portion of the Navajo Loop is typically closed, as it was during my visit, so I started the hike by descending the Two Bridges leg of the Navajo Loop Trail into the canyon. Snow covered the trail almost as soon as I left the paved, shoveled walkway at Sunset Point so I donned microspikes for the descent.

A few quick switchbacks brought me down to eye-level with two of the most famous hoodoos in the Amphitheater: Thors Hammer and the Three Graces stood to the north of the trail. In the distance, snow coated the red rock ramparts of the Table Cliff Plateau.

Thor's Hammer

Just a few steps further down the trail brought me to a series of steep, tight switchbacks that descended into the amphitheater between two pink rock fins. The trail construction here was impressive, with good stonework supporting each switchback as the trail dropped to the bottom of the canyon. Many people who entered the canyon without traction devices were slipping during this descent, so be sure to bring Yaktrax or microspikes if you come when there's snow on the ground!

Switchbacks down the Two Bridges Trail

After the switchbacks ended, the trail continued through the narrow slot canyon, with a short spur leading to an unimpressive view of the Two Bridges- two fairly unnotable rock spans. I reached the base of the canyon about two thirds of a mile from the trailhead and came to a junction with the Queens Garden Trail; here, I made a right and stayed on the Navajo Loop Trail. Less than a hundred feet further on, I came to a second junction where the Wall Street leg of the Navajo Loop ascended to the right and the connector to the Peekaboo Trail led off to the left; I took the left fork and followed that trail a tenth of a mile to the start of the Peekaboo Loop.

The Peek-a-boo Loop branched off from the right of the connector trail in a small clearing that was at the time completely snow-covered. From here, I had a good view of the canyon from the bottom up.

View at the base of the canyon

I hiked the Peekaboo Loop clockwise, taking the left fork at the start of the loop; the Peekaboo Loop forms one of the two loops of the figure 8. This is the direction that I would recommend hiking, as it saves the best of the Peekaboo Loop for last and placed the Wall of Windows in my field of view as I hiked.

The loop started by the following the bottom of a small canyon dotted with junipers and pines; here, snow cover was complete, with over half a foot of snow on the ground, but the trail was discernable by prior footprints. As the trail climbed out of the canyon it passed some small sets of fantastic hoodoos. Views of the Silent City and the northern parts of Bryce Amphitheater reemerged as I ascended; soon afterwards, the trail approached Fairy Castle, a larger hoodoo that was a bit redder in an area of paler hoodoos.

Hoodoos on the Peekaboo Loop

High among the hoodoos, the trail was still dwarfed by weirdly eroded rock spires that rose to either side. Cutting through a gap in the hoodoos, the trail emerged on the other side of a fin and new views of the snowy terrain near Bryce Point emerged. Here, it was possible to tell that different layers of the canyon were composed of different colored limestones of the Claron Formation; these limestone layers together make up the Pink Cliffs, which form the highest tier of the Grand Staircase, an extraordinary progression of sedimentary cliffs that descend stepwise from Bryce Canyon through Zion to the Kaibab Formation at the Grand Canyon.

Bryce hoodoos

The trail meandered through elevated terrain and passed through the first of multuple tunnels blasted into fins before descending into another forested canyon bottom. As the trail began to climb out of the forest and up the other side of the canyon, it passed almost directly under Bryce Point, a lofty viewpoint perched atop a paler member of the Claron Formation. At 1.3 miles from the Peekaboo Loop junction, I came to a junction with a connector trail headed up towards Bryce Point; I stayed on the loop and almost immediately afterwards came to my first good view of the Wall of Windows, a soaring limestone fin with two eroded holes.

Wall of Windows

In the next quarter mile the trail approached ever closer to the Wall of Windows, passing by countless grotesque rock pillars until finally reaching an open, spectacular view at the foot of the Wall of Windows. Here, the Wall's rocky ramparts stretched overhead, fading into a maze of hoodoos. This is surely one of the most oddly beautiful and bizarrely memorable spots that I have ever visited.

Wall of Windows

The hoodoos here were sculpted into shapes that almost felt familiar: some rocks felt life-like, resembling the forms of gnomes or humans or wolves or even llamas. In the mythology of the Paiute people of the Colorado Plateau, the hoodoos are humans turned into stone by the trickster Coyote. The actual process for the formation of these hoodoos is physical and chemical weathering: fins of sandstone are gradually broken into individual spires by frost wedging, which occurs when water that seeps into cracks in the limestone freeze and enlargen the cracks. Mildly acidic rain then helps turn the rock pillars into bizarrely shaped hoodoos.

These hoodoos look oddly life-like

Llamas?

Past the Wall of Windows, the trail began descending into a canyon, but then very suddenly made a sharp turn up a side canyon and began a switchback ascent towards the top of the canyon. This route initially seemed mysterious as the head of that particular side canyon appeared to be a dead end, but upon reaching the fin at the head of the canyon I found a tunnel through the rock.

One of many tunnels along the hike

Emerging on the other side, the trail stayed high for the next half mile, delivering consistently stunning views of this wonderland of pink rock.

Bryce Amphitheater views along the Peek-a-boo Loop

After the trail passed through a narrow crack in a fin, views of the densely-packed hoodoos of the Silent City returned. Here was an incredible view of the multi-knobbed form of those pinnacles and the multi-colored rock layers from which they were eroded. The Cathedral, a massive block of pink limestone, rose above the other side of the trail.

Silent City

The Peekaboo Loop ended with a slow descent along the north side of a fin back to the trail junction; there were almost constant views of the Silent City on this stretch of trail. Returning to the Peekaboo Trail Junction meant I had hiked the full 3 miles of the Peekaboo Loop and that I was just over halfway through the full hike.

Silent City from the Peekaboo Loop

I followed the connector trail back to the Navajo Loop, then turned right at the Navajo Loop and came back to the junction of the Two Bridges leg of the Navajo Loop and the Queens Garden Trail. This time, I followed the Queens Garden Trail to the right.

The next mile consisted of fairly easy, flat hiking at the bottom of the amphitheater. A sparse forest of pines lined the trail and there were constant views of pink and orange hoodoos rising to the south and east.

Hoodoos along the Queens Garden Trail

About a mile from the Queens Garden and Navajo Loop junction, the trail began to climb steadily and soon reached a junction for a signed spur trail for the Queen Victoria hoodoo. I took the short spur trail, which led uphill to a view of a small fin where one of the naturally-sculpted pinnacles indeed resembled the stately figure of the British queen. I was a bit surprised that this portion of the amphitheater was named Queens Garden after such a small natural rock figurine.

Queen Victoria

Returning to the main trail, I followed the sign towards Sunrise Point and continued along the Queens Garden Trail. Oddly enough, the trail passed through another tunnel in a fin; while other tunnels were carved in locations where they seemed necessary, this one appeared to have blasted into a fin just for the heck of it.

As the trail climbed steadily up from the bottom of the amphitheater, views widened and soon it was possible to see across the amphitheater to Sunset and Bryce Points along the rim. Further up, the trail swung to the other side of a ridge and there were views to the north of Fairyland and the Table Cliff Plateau.

Queens Garden Trail

View towards Fairyland

The trail climbed steadily up the ridge via switchbacks; it's tiresome to continue to describe these views and I'm sure it's tiresome for you to read about it, too, so I won't. A snowstorm set in as I exited the amphitheater on the Queens Garden Trail. I was glad to have my microspikes, as many parts of the trail were slippery with snow and ice.

Snowstorm sets on Bryce Amphitheater

The Queens Garden Trail ended at Sunrise Point at the rim of the amphitheater. Perhaps due to the bad weather, I found Sunrise Point to be the least scenic of the four major rim viewpoints of the canyon (Sunrise, Sunset, Inspiration, and Bryce); I'll have to return sometime in nicer weather.

Snowstorm at Sunrise Point

Hoodoo view from Sunrise Point

The final half mile of the hike followed the Rim Trail from Sunrise Point back to Sunset Point. From along the rim, I was able to spot Queen Victoria, Thor's Hammer, and some of the other hoodoos that I had gotten to see up-close earlier along the Figure 8. Intensifying snow drove me to quickly finish up the last portion of the Figure 8 loop and return to my car.

It was snowing pretty heavily.

View along the Rim Trail

I stuck around the park until after the snow ended, taking a drive down to Rainbow Point and enjoying many views of hoodoos along the way. After sunset, I headed over to Inspiration Point to appreciate the dark night skies of the Colorado Plateau.

Night sky at Inspiration Point

10 places you should hike that aren't Mount Si

If you were planning on hiking Mount Si (or Rattlesnake Ledge or Snow Lake) for the second or third or twenty-seventh time this weekend, you really shouldn't; instead, you should head to any of these 10 spots in the Washington State that see fewer hikers and are more interesting or have better views.

Looking for other hikes in the Pacific Northwest?

1. Railroad Grade

This is a hike about ice, up-close: the trail follows a moraine up to the toe of the massive Easton Glacier on Mount Baker. Hikers with route-finding skills and additional time can find even more spectacular glacier views by trekking over to a viewpoint over the tumbling Deming Glacier. Although over two hours from Seattle, the gravel road to this trailhead is pretty manageable, making it an excellent summer hike.

2. Goat Peak Lookout

Goat Peak sees only a moderate amount of traffic but delivers absolutely jaw-dropping views of the eastern North Cascades, including a front-row seat to the dramatic northeast face of Silver Star Mountain. The only drawback? The drive from Seattle is long- about four hours- and the last 12 miles are on an absurdly bad gravel road that will make you glad that your car can't hate you.

3. Mount Townsend

Mount Townsend defines the northeast corner of the Olympics and commands a view of both the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Puget Sound. Here's an awesome spot to look both deep into the rugged Olympics and out into the dreamy waterscape of the Salish Sea. The road to the trailhead is mostly paved with just some potholes and the ferry can shorten the drive, so this hike's not too bad to access.

4. Spray Park

Spray Park puts on perhaps the best wildflower show in the whole Pacific Northwest, so it's absolutely not to be missed when the paintbrush and avalanche lilies are blooming. Close-up views of the Willis Wall of Mount Rainier and the astounding cascade of Spray Falls are nice, too, I guess. The road to the Mowich Lake trailhead has recently been improved so go before the potholes return to the long gravel road approach!

5. Navaho Peak

When it's cloudy in Seattle, it's probably sunny in the Teanaway, making Navaho Peak a good getaway from overcast skies. From the peak, there are 360-degree views that encompass Mount Stuart, the Enchantments, Mount Adams, and Mount Rainier.

6. Mount Margaret

Mount Margaret offers a walk through some of the most beautiful terrain in Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, with views of not just the recently-erupted volcano but also Mounts Hood, Jefferson, Adams, and Rainier and the eerie blue Spirit Lake. Hike this trail now to see the landscape as it recovers from the 1980 eruption. The trailhead is a long haul from Seattle but the road is paved all the way to the trailhead.

7. Sauk Mountain

Your reward for putting up with a bumpy, steep gravel road is a view of limitless North Cascades peaks- at the trailhead! Follow this trail through the hanging gardens of Sauk Mountain to the rocky summit for epic views of Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, and the Pickets.

8. Silver Peak

If you don't want to drive too far and can't stand going to Si or Mailbox again, head a little further east on I-90 and summit Silver Peak for some of the best views of any hike along the Snoqualmie Pass corridor. The drive isn't too long but ends with a bumpy gravel road.

9. Monte Cristo Ghost Town

Here's a flat hike to a historic mining town with views of massive, snowy North Cascade peaks. A log crossing over the Sauk River makes this trail a little more interesting; otherwise, this is the easiest and most accessible hike on this list.

10. Lake Ann and Curtis Glacier

This hike off of the Mount Baker Highway leads to a glorious alpine lake and offers access to the brilliant blue ice of the Curtis Glacier in North Cascades National Park. Come in August for huckleberry-picking in the mountains. The paved road to the trailhead makes this a more manageable two and a half hour drive from Seattle.

Looking for other hikes in the Pacific Northwest?

Rainy Lake

Rainy Lake

2 miles round trip, 50 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, Northwest Forest Pass required; trail can be wheelchair accessible

Nowhere else in Washington State's North Cascades is there such easy access to a beautiful alpine lake. Rainy Lake sits in a bowl surrounded by the massive cliffs of Frisco Mountain, fed by waterfalls tumbling off the benches high up the mountain and ringed by forests of hemlock and spruce. Reaching this lake requires no strenuous exertion up thousands of feet of elevation gain: instead, hikers of any fitness and skill level can access Rainy Lake's emerald waters via a flat, paved trail through the forest from Rainy Pass on the North Cascades Highway. This trail is understandably popular as it delivers an alpine lake experience usually limited to hikers to all visitors passing through the North Cascades. Although the trail is designed to be wheelchair accessible, obstacles such as snow patches and fallen tree branches likely limited accessibility of the trail at the time of my visit.

I hiked this trail with two friends on our way back from an overnight atop Goat Peak in Mazama; although the trail to Rainy Lake was short, I had somehow never managed to make my way out to the lake on my multiple previous visits to the area. To reach the trailhead from Seattle, take I-5 north to Burlington and then follow Highway 20 east through North Cascades National Park to Rainy Pass; the trailhead is at the Rainy Lake Picnic Area on the western side of the road at Rainy Pass.

The paved trail headed off into a forest of spruce and hemlock, roughly paralleling Highway 20, which was within earshot through the trees. Signage described some elements of the vegetation along the trail. About a third of a mile in, the trail crossed the cascading creek draining Lake Ann (of the Maple Pass Loop) on a well-built bridge and a hundred feet later, passed the a trail junction for the trail up to Maple Pass.

Cascading creek

We stayed on the flat, paved trail, running into a few small snow patches before coming to a wooden platform on the north shore of Rainy Lake a mile from the trailhead. Frisco Mountain formed a wall behind the lake and a beautiful two-tiered waterfall thundered down into the cirque, draining snowmelt from a smaller pond higher up. There were plenty of other hikers and fishermen at this platform enjoying the sun and the views.

Rainy Lake from the viewing platform

We escaped the crowds by following a social trail on the western shore of the lake from the far end of the viewing platform. The path dove into the forest and around some massive blowdown and quickly came to a pleasant lakeside viewpoint that we had to ourselves. The path continued but we called it a day here, first soaking in the views of the lake and then cooling off in the lake's cold snowmelt waters.

Rainy Lake

Goat Peak Lookout (North Cascades)

North Cascades view from Goat Peak Lookout

5 miles round trip, 1500 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate
Access: Rough gravel road to trailhead, not recommended for low clearance vehicles; Northwest Forest Pass required

Goat Peak's high perch at the eastern front of Washington State's North Cascades delivers outstanding views of a sea of wild and rugged peaks. Towering almost a mile above the community of Mazama in the Methow Valley, the summit is crowned with a fire lookout that is one of the few active fire lookouts remaining in the country. Despite the long drive, steep trail, and rough road to this hike, plenty of day hikers make their way up to the lookout in the summer. However, stay on the mountain overnight and you'll likely have these sweeping views and some very dark night skies all to yourself.

I hiked to Goat Peak Lookout as an overnight on a beautiful early July weekend with two friends. Leaving from Seattle, we took I-5 north and then Highway 20 east across Washington Pass to Mazama. At Mazama, we turned left to follow Lost River Road across the Methow River, then turned right and followed Goat Creek Road east briefly. After crossing a bridge over Goat Creek, we turned onto Forest Service Road 52, a gravel road marked with minimal signage, which we followed uphill for three miles to a signed junction where NF 5225 headed to the left towards Goat Peak Lookout. We followed NF 5225 past a viewpoint of Mount Gardner and Silver Star atop the Goat Wall to a junction with NF 200, where we took the right fork and followed NF 200 the remaining couple of miles to the trailhead. The last 12 miles of the drive were on very rough gravel roads with large rocks in the road, rutting, potholes, washboarding, and vegetation encroaching on the road. While I made it up to the trailhead in a sedan, this is about as rough a road as I'd be willing to put a low clearance vehicle through; high clearance would definitely be helpful. The trailhead parking lot can hold about 10 cars.

The trail followed the north ridge of the mountain from the trailhead to the summit. It started with a steady but gentle ascent along the ridge with occasional open views to the west of jagged Silver Star and pointed Black Peak. Wildflowers decorated the open areas near the trail.

Soon, the trail began to climb in earnest up the mountain's forested slopes. At just under a mile from the trailhead, we entered a large, sloped open meadow with views to the east of Tiffany Mountain and the Okanogan Range. The forested summit of Goat Peak rose ahead of us and the meadows around us were dotted with paintbrush, lupine, and other summer wildflowers.

Wildflowers on the hike up

At the end of the meadow, the trail embarked on an aggressive set of switchbacks up the mountain. The trail here was steep and rocky, making this the most difficult section of the hike. As we ascended, we noticed that we had entered a forest of alpine larches; while beautiful in the summer, Goat Peak would undoubtedly be superb in the fall when the larches turn golden.

After crossing a small section of steep snow, we came out on top of a knoll along the summit ridgeline of Goat Peak. In front of us was a breathtaking view of the serrated and snowy spires of the North Cascades that included many of Washington's highest peaks. Gardner, North Gardner, Gilbert, Silver Star, Corteo, Goode, Black, Fisher, Logan, the Needles, Azurite, Ballard, Crater, Jack, Robinson, and the peaks of the Pasayten crowded the skyline.

The North Cascades

The next half mile of the hike was consistently stunning. The trail followed the top of the ridge with constant views of either the North Cascades or the Okanogan Range and Methow Valley, or both. Larches dotted the meadowed slopes and spotty patches of paintbrush and glacier lilies bloomed along the ridge. The lookout itself rose ahead of the trail, crowning the peak's steep forested slopes.

Goat Peak Lookout and Mount Gardner

The trail dropped to a grassy saddle before making a final ascent to the summit through groves of larches. There was still some snow on the trail at points here, but all of the snow patches were easily negotiable. We set up camp at a flat spot a little over 150 yards short of the summit with pretty views off both sides of the ridge.

Dawn over the Okanogan Range

Just short of the summit, we found a large pile of rocks decorated with Tibetan prayer flags that commemorated former lookouts who staffed the Goat Peak Lookout.

Monument on Goat Peak

The lookout itself was locked; not even the top deck of the lookout was open when we arrived. This was not at all disappointing, though, as the views from the bottom deck of the lookout were nothing short of stupendous. The North Cascades dominated the western horizon, with sharp peaks piercing every inch of sky. To the south, Hoodoo, Oval, and the other peaks of the Sawtooth Range near Lake Chelan rose just to the left of Mount Gardner. Forested Lookout Mountain near Twisp, where I had been just a day before, was visible although not prominent. The brown, desert hills to the east near Winthrop were a striking contrast to the forested slopes of the Cascades to the west. Early Winters Creek and the Methow River snaked out from the deep recesses of the mountains. The rugged peaks of the Pasayten populated the expansive terrain to the north. The silhouette of the elevated lookout on the flat, blasted summit of Slate Peak was clear against the light of the setting sun.

Azurite, Ballard, Crater, Tatie, and Jack Mountains; Methow River flows below

Goat Peak Lookout

Due to our late start (we didn't hit the trail until almost 6 PM), we didn't see anyone on the trail or at the lookout; we spent the night in solitude with just the setting moon and a light but insistent breeze.

We made multiple trips to the summit from our camp that night to see the sunset, the sunrise, and the night sky. After the moon set and before the start of astronomical twilight of the coming dawn, we could see the Milky Way spilled across the dark night sky, stretching from Mount Gardner in the south to the Pasayten peaks. However, we discovered that light pollution can affect even such a remote location: Silver Star was backlit by the glow of the Puget Sound metropolis and we spotted light on the horizon in the directions of Wenatchee and Vancouver as well.

Milky Way above Mount Gardner

At 5 AM, the rising sun painted pink alpenglow on Gardner and Silver Star. We watched the triangular shadow cast by Goat Peak retreat down the slopes of Silver Star as the sun gradually rose and warmed the chilly mountaintop. We returned to camp and slept until the first hikers of the day arrived and ended over 12 hours of solitude atop Goat Peak.

The shadow of Goat Peak retreats down Silver Star

This is a dry hike: bring all the water you need. If you choose to camp on the mountain, be sure to bring sufficient water, as the climate on the eastern side of the Cascades tends to be drier and hotter than that on the western slopes.