Lodging in Bryce or outside ?
 

We are going to spend a few days in Bryce next week and have the option of staying in the park (motel room) or a cottage at Bryce Canyon Pines Motel. We have never visited this area and realize the hotel is very close to the park but wonder if we will be making a mistake if we don't stay in the park ? Any ideas/suggestions ? We will be hiking while there and not sure how the crowds/traffic will be this time of year. I spoke with a park ranger who said it was busier than usual this year but not sure what 'the usual' is. Thanks in advance for any insight.

p.s. The comment on the traffic was whether there would be delays in getting in/out of the park each day if we don't stay in the park - wasn't intended to reference the hiking trails. Sorry !

I don't think you will not have any issue with crowds or travel time in or out of Bryce next week it's not high season. I've only stayed inside the park at Bryce, not outside. If you are early birds, then you will beat any crowds anyway.

The advantage of staying in the park is that you can easily come back to your room for a mid day rest, then go out and walk again. I like that, but it also depends on your group.

But if you are staying outside the park, you can (nearly) just as easily go back, rest, then come back later to drive to different overlooks in your car. Plus, you have a lot more food options outside the park vs in.

To me, it's a wash.

The biggest difference is peace and quiet inside the park after the day visitors have left. The travel time/traffic is not really a factor. As J62 says, you have more food options outside the park but there's nothing stopping you from driving 5-10 minutes to a restaurant if you decide to stay inside the park.

It's really not a big deal either way for Bryce, unlike some other parks.

We just spent two nights in a lodge hotel room last week. Loved being able to roll out of bed first thing and walk out to sunrise point then again after dinner to sunset point. Motel rooms are newly renovated, not sure about the cabins. It was pitch black around the lodge at night, great for star viewing. I’m guessing it is a bit brighter near the hotels. We have stayed in a number of park lodges and felt the restaurant here was among the better we’ve experienced. Lots of choices, well prepared, and great service. There is no TV or Wi-Fi in the room. TV for me no big deal, but having to go to the lodge for Wi-Fi was a bit inconvenient for me.

That being said the hotels at the park entrance looked fine and are not far away. If having no TV or Wi-Fi doesn’t matter I would pick the lodge.

As a side note each time I typed in Wi-Fi on my phone it auto corrected to Wife. Plug that in to above and it’s pretty funny.

I also don't think that there would be any significant delay getting into the park, but I loved being able to stroll out to the canyon, take a walk, and then go back to the room for a bit if I got hot or wanted to rest.

The in park accommodations are definitely not luxury, but I enjoy being there.

We've stayed in the park and it isn't fancy but as has been mentioned it's nice to be able to walk out of your room for sunrise and back from sunset.

If you stay after dark, be very careful driving as there have been tons of animals about, both deer and antelope when we were there. Hitting one would spoil my day and theirs too.

There's nothing like staying in the park.

Whether you want to see sunrise at Sunrise Point or the spectacular sunrise at Bryce Point driving in the park in the dark requires a lot of care.

As written above, hitting an animal will ruin there day.

I always try to stay in park if that park has lodging.

We love Bryce Canyon Pines and therestaurant there is very good...great pies. Make sure you get a reservation...it gets crowded. The restaurant will call you in your room when you table is ready so that's nice. Great breakfasts...great folks,

Thank you all for your input. We decided to go with the lodging at the park - the motel room was available. Great feedback on the sunrise (we are early birds) and also the crowds being gone later in the day/evening. Antelope ? I had no idea. We are so excited and more excited now after reading all your replies. Thank you so very much again. My apology for the delay in responding - too many late nights at work before vacation !!

We're back and I wanted to say thanks again for the replies and to also say we are SO glad we decided to stay in the parks (Zion, Bryce and North RIM GC). I wouldn't do anything differently. We were very pleasantly surprised at the quality and prices of the food at the restaurants there also. I cannot say enough great things about the rooms at Bryce and Zion - they have been renovated recently and are spectacular. We had a second floor forest view room at Bryce and it was perfect. The lodging at GC is a bit dated and the rooms are very small (no frig, microwave) but we were only there two nights so it wasn't a big deal - just quite different from Bryce and Zion. I would highly suggest the lodges inside the park - cannot be beat for convenience either, especially Zion. Thanks again.