Queens Garden & Navajo Combination

Click for a Larger Map of this Area
Trailhead Location: Sunset Point or Sunrise Point
Difficulty: Moderate
Total Distance: 2.9 miles (4.6 km)
Elevation change: 600 feet (183 m)
Average time: 2-3 hours

By far the most popular hike in the park and for good reason! The Queen's / Navajo Combination provides the most diversity of scenery of any moderate hike in the park. The trail combines the more open views and unique hoodoos of the Queen's Garden Trail with narrower sections of tall redrock limestone walls and switchbacks along the Navajo Loop Trail and a half mile of easy walking along the Rim Trail between Sunset and Sunrise Points with grand overviews of the Bryce Amphitheater area below.

How to Hike It

The loop is created by combining the Queen's Garden Trail (which descends from Sunrise Point) with the Navajo Loop Trail (which descends from Sunset Point). Whether you begin at Sunset or Sunrise Point, we recommend hiking this loop in a clockwise direction: going down the Queen's Garden Trail and up the Navajo Loop Trail. The reason for this is threefold: first, the Queen's Garden Trail provides much wider views of the Bryce Amphitheater, and by choosing to descend it you can enjoy these views out in front of you (rather than losing them over your shoulder as you trudge upwards). Second, the Queen's Garden is less steep than the Navajo Loop, making descents safer (most injuries happen on the way down a trail). Finally, it's nice to have everyone hiking in the same direction, which can help the trail to feel less busy.

For a sense of both sides of the Navajo Loop (if the Wall Street side is open), you might consider heading up the Wall Street side and then descending the Two Bridges side just far enough to see Thor's Hammer.

Wall Street Winter Closures

The Two Bridges side of the Navajo Loop is open year-round, however the Wall Street side is closed in months when precipitation combines with freezing overnight temperatures. This combination is possible year-round, but visitors should use the Two Bridges side in winter.

 

Elevation Profile for the Queen's / Navajo Combination Loop depicting a clockwise hike (down the Queen's Garden Trail and up the Navajo Loop's Two Bridges side).