Bryce Canyon is heaven for photographers

In a recent travel column , Sid Kaplan of Troy Media said that Bryce Canyon National Park makes anyone a good photographer because its colorful rock hoodoos of every shape and size are so photogenic. He has a point. Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos are photogenic, especially early in the morning and just before dusk because the way the sunlight hits them. If you would like to hone your photography skills in Bryce Canyon’s picturesque landscape, book your accommodations at Ruby’s Inn today. In addition to exploring Bryce Canyon, you can also explore other fantastic southern Utah scenic destinations during your stay at Ruby’s Inn, including Kodachrome Basin State Park, Red Canyon and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We look forward to see you soon!

Ruby’s Inn Opens Best Western Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel!

Ruby’s Inn now has a partner across Utah Highway 63. Last Thursday, Ruby’s Inn held the grand opening of the Best Western Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel, a 164-room hotel that includes the eatery Ebenezer’s Barn and Grill. The two four-story towers also include a large lobby, exercise facilities, a guest laundry and an enclosed courtyard with a pool, whirlpool and patio. For more information about the hotel or to make reservations, visit its website .

Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival begins Wednesday

Bryce Canyon National Park will hold its 9th Annual Astronomy Festival this week, from Wednesday, June 17, to Saturday, June 20. The event kicks off Wednesday evening at Panguitch’s Triple-C Arena (50 East 900 North) with a keynote address from John Stoke, a former member of NASA’a Hubble mission. His presentation, “Hubble and Beyond, Far Beyond,” focuses on the best of the Hubble and provides a look at the next generation of telescopes. After the presentation, there will be a free stargazing session with provided telescopes outside the arena.

In addition to Stoke’s address, the festival will include daily rocket building and launching workshops, guided walks along a scale model of the solar system, and various ranger programs by Bryce Canyon’s “Dark Rangers” and other expert guest speakers.

Utah residents will enjoy free admission to the park during the event.

For more information on the Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, visit its website by clicking here .

Bryce Canyon Winter Festival this weekend, Feb. 14-16

As it has every Presidents Day weekend for more than two decades, Ruby’s Inn will host the Bryce Canyon Winter Festival this Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Feb. 14-16. The festival gives its participants a different perspective on the park’s colorful hoodoos – with a light dusting of snow. The event boasts a variety of activities, including guided snowshoe tours, photography clinics, children's activities, a snow sculpture contest, and more. All activities except for the archery biathlon and cross-country ski races are free. Reece Stein, host of “At Your Leisure,” will do a presentation on a recent trip to Antarctica and a Bryce Canyon ranger will host a multimedia astronomy program at the visitor center. For more information about the festival, visit the Ruby’s Inn winter festival page or read this recent Deseret News article .

Bryce Canyon National Park in winter offers different perspective

Most tourists might not put Bryce Canyon National Park on their list of top winter destinations, but they should. Bryce Canyon in winter offers a much less-crowded experience, crisp, cool air and views of the park’s colorful hoodoos in an entirely different perspective – with a light dusting of snow on them. Favorite activities for winter visitors are cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Bryce Canyon should not be the only place on your winter national park vacation itinerary. The main highway that provides access to the park, Scenic Byway 12, is worth driving as well. Forbes.com recently named Highway 12 as one of North America’s best winter drives . Along highway 12, you will find other scenic treasures such as Red Canyon and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. For more information about winter activities in the Bryce Canyon area, read this recent article .

Bryce Canyon inspires awe

Julie McKinnon, a staff writer for the Toledo Blade in Toledo, Ohio, recently visited Bryce Canyon National Park and was amazed, especially by “Wall Street” along the Navajo Trail, which she said, “inspires more awe than anything I’ve ever seen in the Big Apple’s financial district, even in the best of economic times.” She said she enjoyed the feeling of being dwarfed by hoodoos instead of by skyscrapers. Her trip was the first time she had seen Bryce Canyon. She cancelled a trip to Bryce Canyon 12 years ago and said she would not go that long before returning. She also talked about the incredible vistas of hoodoos mixed with mountains at Rainbow Point and Yovimpa Point at the south end of the park, which many visitors miss. Click here for the full text of her article.

If you would like to experience the same spectacular views McKinnon did, plan a trip to Bryce Canyon and plan to stay at Ruby’s Inn, the closest accommodations to the entrance of the park. Any time of the year is a good time to enjoy the park’s stunning beauty.

A few hours is not enough time to spend in Bryce Canyon

In a recent blog entry , Jeanne Leblanc of the Hartford Courant lamented that she didn’t have enough time to spend in Bryce Canyon on her last trip and that she plans to return. She also talked about meeting a relentless chipmunk that wanted a snack from her. She heeded park rangers’ advice and did not feed the chipmunk.

Her experience, however, was much like many other Bryce Canyon visitors who come to southern Utah to visit Zion and decide to make the trip up to Bryce Canyon as well. Unfortunately, most visitors come, spend a few hours or so checking out the visitor center and walking the rim, but never take one of the many trails down into the main amphitheater or venture any further along the park’s 18-mile scenic drive, which features approximately 14 scenic viewpoints along its route. The next time you come to Bryce Canyon, plan to stay more than a couple of hours – stay a couple days. Allow Ruby’s Inn to be your home away from home and your headquarters for exploring one of the nation’s scenic crown jewels!

Travel writer calls Bryce Canyon a sampling of “nature’s eerie architecture”

Gary White of The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida recently made a trip to Bryce Canyon National Park, describing its hoodoo-filled amphitheaters as “ragged columns rising like massive stalagmites.” He said the hoodoos are the most picturesque at sunrise and sunset, when “the light strikes them at low angles and their tangerines and coppers take on an ethereal glow.” Awed not only by the park’s scenery, the park’s wildlife also amazed White. He described his experience viewing Steller’s jays, prairie dogs and pronghorns, most often referred to as antelopes. For the complete text of White’s article, click here . If you would like to see what White is talking about, we would love to host you at Ruby’s Inn, the hotel closest to Bryce Canyon’s entrance.

Exploring Bryce Canyon and southern Utah’s canyon country is like vacationing on another planet!

Cathy and Craig Copeland of The Calgary Herald recently wrote about exploring southern Utah, calling it “otherworldly as it gets without requiring a spacesuit to step out of your vehicle.” They also describe the region’s rock formations as remnants of a child sculpting with Play-Doh, since they display a variety of shapes that resemble flying saucers, hamburgers and mushrooms. According to the couple, the formations look so improbable, they could be right out of a Dr. Seuss book. To view the entire article, click here .

If you want to enjoy such an “otherworldly” experience, make Ruby’s Inn your base camp. Fall is an excellent time to visit Bryce Canyon and its surrounding attractions, including Red Canyon, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Zion National Park.

See Bryce Canyon before stepping foot in the park!

Did you know you could see pictures and learn about Bryce Canyon National Park’s scenery before your visit? The park website features a virtual tour that includes descriptions and photos of the park’s major scenic areas. It includes stops along the park’s 18-mile scenic drive, including Swamp Canyon, Farview, Agua Canyon, Ponderosa Canyon and Rainbow and Yovimpa points, the southernmost stops on the drive. The virtual tour also highlights Paria View and Natural Bridge. Paria View features hoodoos that face the setting sun, a rarity within the park. Carved from some of the reddest sandstone of the Claron Formation, Natural Bridge’s hues provide a stark contrast to the evergreen forests surrounding it.

Participate in “Fee Free Day” at Bryce Canyon National Park

If you want to visit Bryce Canyon National Park without paying the entrance fee, then visit on Saturday, September 27, when the park will waive its usual entrance fee, even to commercial tours, in observance of National Public Lands Day. Besides free admission to national parks and public lands around the country, the day is also a time of service to enhance the parks, including cleaning up trash, improving trails, and planting trees and plants. The day started three years ago with only 700 volunteers. Last year, approximately 110,000 volunteers served at 1,300 locations administered by eight federal agencies in every state. To find out more about national public lands day, visit its website .

September is the time to catch fall foliage in Bryce Canyon

With elevations ranging from 6,800 to 9,000 feet, September is the month of the year to enjoy Bryce Canyon National Park’s changing leaves. The park’s most prevalent deciduous trees, quaking aspens, turn striking shades of gold and yellow. Connected by intertwined, underground root systems, vast stands of the park’s aspens change color in exactly the same shade. The brilliant colored leaves compliment the red, pink and orange shades of the park’s seemingly innumerable hoodoos, rock pinnacles formed by millions of years of wind and water. Call today to make your reservations with us to enjoy cooler temperatures, fewer crowds and a new perspective on incredible scenery!

Fall is a great time to visit Bryce Canyon

If you want to avoid the crowds and do not mind cooler temperatures, fall is an ideal time of year to visit Bryce Canyon National Park. You can still hike park trails and enjoy guided horseback rides or ATV rides from Ruby’s Inn outfitters. While on the trail, changing red and orange leaves will compliment the red and orange hues of Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos.

Before booking your room, check out our money-saving value packages to see if there is one that includes your desired activities and fits within your budget. Packages include extras such as meals at our adjacent restaurants and guided tours through our outfitters. We look forward to seeing you during this beautiful time of year!

Do not miss the chance to see Bryce Canyon from the air

If you want a breathtaking, unique view of Bryce Canyon National Park, ditch the roads and the trails and board a helicopter or an airplane for a birds-eye view of its colorful hoodoos, fins and arches. In addition to aerial tours of Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon Airlines offers scenic flights that also include Grand Canyon National Park, Lake Powell, Monument Valley and Zion National Park. Flying since 1977, Bryce Canyon Airlines can also provide you a flight to your next destination, including Page, Arizona, Cedar City, Utah, St. George, Utah and more. Visit the Bryce Canyon Airlines Page on the Rubys Inn website for more information about how you can see some of the southwest’s most spectacular scenic places from the air.

Join us for the Bryce Canyon Rim Run and Walk this weekend

This Saturday, August 23, starting at 9 a.m. one of Utah’s most scenic races, the 5-mile Bryce Canyon Rim Run and Walk, will take place. Traversing ponderosa pine forests and scenic views of Bryce Canyon, the course’s average elevation is 7,600 feet. The registration fee is only $25 per runner and includes a T-shirt, a western lunch, and a ticket to the Bryce Canyon Country Rodeo. For more information, visit our Rim Run page . We look forward to seeing you this weekend!

Couple from India calls Bryce Canyon a “poetic stone amphitheater”

In a recent travel column in the Deccan Herald, a couple from India talks about their recent explorations of Utah’s national parks, including Bryce Canyon. They described Bryce Canyon as “a poetic stone amphitheater with its myriad canyons, ‘fins’, and hoodoos — the magical pillars of rock in a hundred fantastic shapes and shades of red, ocher, brown and orange, with pine, spruce and fir embellishing the landscape.” Visiting in mid-May, the couple experienced a light dusting of snow – the first for their two children – and admired deer grazing from the road.

If you want an experience similar to this couple’s Ruby’s Inn, the closest accommodations to the entrance of Bryce Canyon, always has the red carpet rolled out with fine accommodations and desirable amenities.

Man runs 60 miles in the Bryce Canyon area to celebrate his 60th Birthday

Salt Lake Valley Resident and Panguitch native Dorrell Henderson decided to celebrate his 60th birthday in an unconventional way – by running 60 miles. Starting in Panguitch, Henderson ran down U.S. 89 to Scenic Byway 12, through Red Canyon, past Ruby’s Inn and then onto some of Bryce Canyon National Park’s trails to the town of Tropic. Henderson said if it wasn’t for his family and friends from the Locomotion Running Club, who ran alongside him for portions of the journey, he would not have made it. For a more detailed account of his journey, click here .

Feel like a “midget in fantasyland” hiking through Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos

Betsy Husband, a columnist for The Eureka (CA) Reporter, just wrote about her recent experience visiting Bryce Canyon National Park, saying she felt like a “midget in fantasyland” with the park’s colorful hoodoos towering above her. She talked about her experience watching the sunrise at Sunrise Point, taking pictures of wildlife such as deer antelope and wild turkeys and hiking the Navajo/Queen’s Garden trails, which make for a perfect round trip through striking formations such as Wall Street, Thor’s Hammer, Twin Bridges, and Queen Victoria herself. To read Husband’s full column, click here .

Hiking the many trails of Bryce Canyon National Park is a breathtaking experience you will remember for the rest of your life. Book your accommodations at Ruby’s Inn and join us for one of the most scenic experiences in the Western United States.

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon and 5K this weekend

One of the most scenic running events in Utah, the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon and 5K Run/Walk is this Saturday, July 19. The half marathon begins at 6 a.m. right here at Ruby’s Inn and follows UT 63 and Scenic Byway 12 through Bryce Canyon National Park and Tropic on its way to Cannonville City Park. The entire half marathon course is on paved roads. The 5K starts at 6:30 a.m. It begins and ends at Cannonville City Park, following the road to Kodachrome Basin State Park along its path. For more information about the two races and to register, visit the half marathon’s website . A recent Daily Spectrum article also provides more detailed information.

When not enjoying Bryce Canyon National Park, visit the Bryce Canyon Elk and Wildlife Park

When you stay at Ruby’s Inn to explore the Bryce Canyon area, the national park is not the only attraction you will want to visit. Only 2.5 miles north of Ruby’s Inn (one mile north of UT 12 on Bryce Canyon Airport Road) is the Bryce Canyon Elk and Wildlife Park. Rocky Mountain Elk, American Bison, Fallow Deer, African Oryx, Indian Black Bluck Antelope, and other North American wildlife roam the park. To view the animals up close, visitors board an antique tractor drawn western hay wagon for guided tour, which lasts approximately an hour. After the wagon ride, visitors have the chance to feed some of the preserve’s most domesticated animals. For more information, visit the Wildlife Park’s website or the Ruby’s Inn lobby, where you can also purchase tickets to tour the preserve!