Queen’s Garden / Navajo Combination Loop

Queen’s Garden / Navajo Combination Loop is a 2.9-mile circuit from Sunrise Point: descend Queen’s Garden, cross the lower amphitheater to Navajo Loop, climb the Two Bridges side to Sunset Point, then take the half-mile Rim Trail back to Sunrise. Allow two to three hours. It’s the route to choose if you want to walk among the formations instead of only looking down at them from the rim. The climb is the work; the payoff is watching the view change as you move from open overlooks to close hoodoo passages.

Start at Sunrise and go clockwise. The big amphitheater view stays in front of you on the Queen’s Garden descent, and you climb Navajo’s steeper switchbacks rather than walking down them. The Rim Trail closes the circuit above the canyon; it’s the easy part, but it doesn’t cancel the climb you’ve already done.

The dirt path zigzags off the rim and threads among orange and pale hoodoos. The view opens across the amphitheater, then the spires crowd closer as you descend. A short side spur reaches the hoodoo called Queen Victoria. It’s a good place to frame the trail with the formations behind it; the path gives the spires a sense of scale. Retrace that spur and continue on the signed connector toward Navajo.

The connector carries you farther through the formations to the Navajo junction. This stretch makes the combination feel different from Queen’s Garden alone: you cross the bottom of the amphitheater instead of turning around at Queen Victoria. The lower canyon has some tree cover, but don’t count on it for the whole hike. There’s no water or restroom service down here, so use the facilities on the rim before you start.

Two Bridges climbs back through narrow, colorful rock walls on a series of steep switchbacks. Douglas-firs break up the orange stone, and Thor’s Hammer comes into view from the rim; a few turns down the trail give you a closer look. Save this section for the climb. The park recommends going up this steeper side because most injuries happen when hikers descend it. At 8,000 feet, even a moderate hike can feel more demanding than the mileage suggests.

The rocks began as layers of sediment in an ancient lake and floodplain about 50 million years ago. Uplift raised them into the plateau; since then, water freezing in cracks has split the rock into walls, windows, and separate spires. Slightly acidic rain also dissolves the mineral cement holding the layers together. Those two forces are why the trail moves through both narrow walls and isolated hoodoos, often within a few minutes of each other.

Parking is available at Sunrise and Sunset Points, but both lots fill quickly. The free park shuttle runs April through October; during shuttle hours, vehicles over 20 feet can’t park in the Bryce Amphitheater area. Rim facilities are your last stop for water and restrooms before descending. Pets aren’t allowed on the unpaved trail sections; they can use the paved Rim Trail between Sunset and Sunrise, but not this full loop.

If the Navajo climb sounds like too much, Queen’s Garden alone is a 1.8-mile round trip to Queen Victoria and back, with about 450 feet of climbing. You still get the hoodoo walk and the named formation, then return by the same route instead of crossing the canyon and climbing out at Sunset.