Snowy Bryce?
 

Looks like we may have some snow in our upcoming Vegas/Zion/Bryce trip. Will there be penty for us to do in or around Bryce during our two day stay at the park lodge? When we booked this trip we were not anticipating snow. Ironically, we aborted our original spring break ski trip idea due to concerns about lack of snow! We'd love to do some hiking but don't mind making a day trip of cruising the surrounding area to take in the scenery if trails are closed. Any suggestion for this family of four about which direction to head off to and what sights to take in?

Hi Karen,

Why did you cancel your spring skiing trip? Where were you going to ski? Our UT skiing is awesome and we are having a spring snow storm right now, which is not at all unusual. There is still many, many feet of snow base at the resorts.

So, you may get your ski trip after all! You can rent x country skis and snowshoes to enjoy Bryce, but hiking down among the hoodoos will probably be out. Trails can get icy and dangerous.

You can spend 2 days at Bryce sightseeing and skiing/shoeing. You can also take a day to drive scenic hwy 12 and the road conditions should be OK as long as you don't go the whole way over Boulder Mtn, but just check before you go.

Thanks for the advice, Dayle. We never actually booked a ski trip. It was a serious consideration for spring break when we where still in the planning stages way back in October! We were thinking of going to Colorado (next time we're heading out to Utah). Some fellow fodorites said it may be a gamble with snow conditions the first week of April, and icy slopes didn't sound like fun. Funny how now we WILL be in Utah AND will have snow but won't be at the slopes. I'm really bummed at the possibility of missing out on the hoodoos (we'll keep our fingers crossed for a quick warm-up) but will make the best of it. Who knows, this may be our introduction to snowshoes - it would be an interesting change from flip-flops!

Take a look at Bryce's weather on their website:

http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisi...heroutlook.htm


Looks like March is historically their snowiest month. It's highly unlikely the first week of April will have a major warmup to the point that the trails will be clear.

Hi Karen,

Yes, people do tend to forget that Bryce is at 8,000 ft. and they get significant snow.

Bryce is not very far away from the most southern UT ski resort basically east of Cedar City, Brianhead (although Brianhead is higher altitude).

Try snowshoes, it's fun!

My wife and I snowshoed in Sequoia National Park a couple of months ago and we thought it was great. Our 14 year old daughter didn't see any benifit from them and didn't really like them. We just thought it was much easier to get around with them, and not near as much slipping on the icy part, and not near as much sinking in on the snowy part.

We were in Bryce in Feb. and they had just received a lot of snow. It was beautiful! We did the walk between Sunrise and Sunset points. They had groomed the trail so we could walk me in my snow boots and DH in his hiking boots but it was a slow walk! You could see a lot of snowshoe prints and cross country ski tracks. They do ranger lead snowshoe hikes on the Queens garden trail so you might check to see if you are there during that weekend. They let you have the snowshoes for free. They didn't have it the day we were there. As mentioned, you can rent snowshoes and crosscountry ski's at Ruby's Inn.

YOu can take the scenic drive and stop at the many points. Since we were doing this as a day trip from Zion, we didn't have enought time.

I'll second the scenic drive up Hwy 12 to Boulder, Utah. If open, I'd drive out the Burr Trail on the paved section. In Escalante is the Petrified Forest State Park. Not far from Bryce is Kodachrome State Park. Plenty to do!!!

Utahtea

Thanks, all, for coming to the rescue! Our family (kids 14 and 17) is always up for a new adventure so this sounds like an opportunity to broaden our horizons. Though we've been on ski trips we didn't plan for snow on this trip so packing "snow clothes" was not expected. Can someone clue me in on snowshoes? Ovbiously, we're going to need something more that tennis shoes on our feet (we have the knobby trail running shoes - not actual hiking boots). So do we need to pack our snow boots (ours are pretty basic) or can we rent them along with the snowshoes?

I'd probably call Ruby's Inn and ask them. Here's a link to their site where they show the snowshoes. http://www.rubysinn.com/winter.html

Utahtea

Pack your snow boots and then just rent the snowshoes. they attached to your shoes or boots that you have on. They are easier to get on and off than skis. you don't need any lessons, you just take off walking and it is slightly awkward. you just kinda lift your feet a little higher. Do make sure you get them on right, some instruction in that is a good idea.

Snowshoeing on Queens Garden trail, how cool that would be!! Take Utahtea suggestion and call them to check it out.