Random Rambler: Bryce Canyon: Tower Bridge Trail

Tower Bridge in Bryce Canyon National Park is a great trail within the park. The formation for the name is, like the park name, a misnomer as it is not actually a bridge. However, it resembles Tower Bridge in London so the name has stuck. You can reach this on the Fairyland Trail, or if you want a shorter option, you can reach this from Sunrise Point and do a shorter 3 mile loop. It is MUCH less crowded than The Queens Garden and I found it to be even prettier. This is my new favorite trail in the park (note I have yet to do all of them).

Quick Details:

Length: 3 miles out and back, plus a short segment on the Rim Trail from Sunset Point. My pedometer put it at about 3.8 miles (this includes a little exploring at the end).
Difficulty: DR5. There is some UP and it is on the return trip.
Elevation Gain: 802 feet.
Restroom: No. The closest one is the general store, or the visitor center.
Dogs? No. Dogs are not allowed on any of the park trails.
Other Info: Fee area. Plus this is still the desert so be sure to dress appropriately, and carry enough water. Lastly, like most trails in Bryce Canyon it starts at the top and the return trip is uphill.

To Get Here:

The trailhead starts at Sunrise Point and then is about .20 miles to the north on the Rim Trail. Or, can be accessed from Fairyland Point, but that will be a longer trail.

The Trail:

Walking out to Sunset Point again.

Just follow the signs for Fairyland, and then Tower Bridge.

The only part of the trail I really didn’t like was the Rim Trail. It is not paved through here and is right on the rim. Oi. However it is wide and generally flat so it’s not too bad.

Before I knew it, we were at the trailhead.

The 2nd ‘Hike The Hoodoos’ badge I hit today. The challenge is to find 3 of these USGS markers, and/or hike 3 miles. We met the requirements, twice over, and then some, but I didn’t go claim my prize. I was just happy to be out on the trails.

View into the canyon.

The trail doesn’t seem too bad honestly.

Colorful hoodoos.

The ridge you will be following down for a while.

Forest and hoodoos.

I particularly liked this set of hoodoos. Just really pretty colors.

The ones at the top of the hill.

Rounding a corner we are able to see more of the amphitheater.

Getting close to some hoodoos.

A little closer. There’s a small window and I like that hoodoo it makes me think of Alien.

Colorful hills.

My favorite colorful hoodoos again.

With some taller hoodoos below.

Once more.

I’m not 100% sure, but I think this is the mesa you see at Sunrise Point. Come to think of it, and looking at the map I am pretty sure that is Boat Mesa.

The further down we go, the more mellow the trail is.

Panoramic.

Orange sand.

White sand.

That was kind of neat to walk through the different colors.

Orange dripping down white like syrup.

Chinese Wall. I’m not sure why it is called that, but it has quite a few windows. Also, this is a good landmark for about halfway-ish.

Panoramic.

Through a little window.

More hoodoos.

Pretty desert.

I love seeing the different colors spilling into each other.

Looking up against some hoodoos.

Chinese Wall again.

Panoramic.

I am really enjoying this trail.

Colorful hills and Chinese Wall.

More hoodoos.

The wall again. I swear every time I look back over at it I see more windows. I probably am imagining that though.

Another panoramic.

Cool formations.

Neat bristlecone pine.

Looking back at the fin we just hiked next to.

This middle section of the trail is pretty mellow.

Neat little spire.

Weird formation.

Boat Mesa again.

Looking down the canyon again.

Panoramic.

Iddy biddy lone hoodoo.

More colorful hoodoos.

Eventually you enter a more forested area.

I thought I caught a glimpse of Tower Bridge here, but no. Just a similar formation. We still have a little ways to go.

More fun hoodoos.

A pretty wash.

Burned out tree, seems to be isolated so my guess is it was a lightning strike.

You cross the wash 3 times or so.

Hoodoos above.

What I thought was Tower Bridge before, but is not.

Just a lovely stroll through the woods though here.

Last wash crossing.

With some pretty hoodoos.

1.7 miles later we have reached the junction.

Only 200 yards to go. Phew!

If after viewing Tower Bridge, you have more energy you can continue along the Fairyland Loop for another 4 miles to Fairyland View, and then just an additional 2.5 miles along the Rim Trail back to Sunrise Point. That seems like a bit much for me.

Little windows above.

First glimpse.

We made it! Wow, this is really neat.

A little closer. Tower Bridge is technically not a bridge, as it does not span water. However, it was named after London’s Tower bridge, which it resembles, so the name has stuck.

I found this image on Wikipedia so you can see what the formation was named after.

A better view of the whole formation.

A little closer.

Oh, there is just a little bit of water in the wash.

Back to Tower Bridge. This is a really neat formation and I am happy we made it.

Pretty flowering tree.

So neat.

And closer to the bridge section again.

Well we had a great time enjoying Tower Bridge, and we actually had it to ourselves, which I honestly did not expect, so that was a nice bonus. However, we decided it was probably best to head back now. We still had more park to explore today.

I am still trying to figure out what is going on in that alcove there. I am leaning towards it possibly being a peregrine falcon nest, as I discovered they tend to nest in alcoves here in the park.

Now we just have the 1.7 miles back and this time, up.

Hello little chipmunk friend.

Pretty hoodoos.

Hoodoos galore.

Boat Mesa.

Broken window.

There is a good climb from the bottom to the middle section. The middle section is pretty mellow, then the last leg is a good climb again. We just took it easy and didn’t push ourselves and did just fine.

Neat hoodoos.

Already back to the middle section.

Chinese Wall again.

Pretty landscape.

Pretty hoodoos.

Chinese Wall.

The trail.

Loving the hoodoos.

Looking down canyon again.

A last look at Chinese Wall.

Now we start to really climb again.

It is so pretty down here.

Up and up we go.

Little double window.

Looks like a hoodoo collapsed and took out this tree.

Hoodoos through the trees.

Hoodoos above.

My favorite colorful formation again.

The trail again.

Colorful hoodoos again.

Forest.

The climb up.

Another lone hoodoo.

The last leg.

Boat Mesa from above..

Panoramic.

We made it back to the trail head! yay! Now we just have another .02 miles back to Sunrise Point.

Looking back out across the amphitheater.

As I mentioned on the way in, I didn’t particularly like the rim trail here. But, I made it back without freaking out too much.

View down again.

Well nice, we caught a Stallers Jay.

Wow! That was probably one of the most incredible hikes we have done! So many incredible sights! The end prize was really neat, and we had it to ourselves for quite a good while, and only came across one or two groups on the way up. This is definitely the hidden gem of moderate trails within the park. Definitely 10 out of 10 squirrels.