Hi friends, welcome back to the final installment and last day of my hiking trip out west with my mom and sisters! If you missed any prior posts in the series, you can check out Valley of Fire, Angels Landing, Watchman Trail, our last day in Zion, and Fairyland Canyon here. After we finished our hike through Fairyland Canyon, our adventures for the day weren’t over. We headed to Sunset Point to start another hike called Wall Street and Queens Garden Loop Trail. This hike is a moderate 3.2 miles with 643 feet of elevation gain per the AllTrails app.
We started this hike going down the insane switchbacks at Wall Street. This looks nothing like the Wall Street in NYC 😉 I felt like an ant in an ant farm with all the sandy switchbacks. It was a bit slippery going down so I went slowly, but some people chose to go counterclockwise and end the hike climbing up this. I suppose one benefit is that you are looking up at Wall Street the whole time, but this seemed worse than the challenging switchbacks at Angels Landing.
I loved taking breaks to take in the beautiful switchbacks. This part of the trail was definitely crowded, but you can’t help but stop to marvel at the view.
There was a short walk through the canyon at the bottom of Wall Street that was so cool! I’d never seen anything like it before.
I loved that this random tree could grow in the middle of a canyon, pure resilience!
We even saw some wildlife 🙂 I’m glad I saw a Steller’s Jay bird and not a rattlesnake.
By the time we got to Queens Garden I was pretty tired from our day of hiking, so I put away my big camera and focused on finishing the hike. We did get a little confused on the trail in Queens Garden, so if you hike this trail, go under the arch to continue on. I saw people taking a picture in here so I originally thought it was just a lookout point.
The way up was pretty steep so we took our time and persevered. I’d highly recommend doing this hike if you’re in Bryce Canyon National Park! It doesn’t take too long and it’s a great way to see the hoodoos and canyon up close. I also think the switchbacks at Wall Street can’t be missed and would recommend our route going down them and coming up Queens Garden.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my out west series! We all had such a great time together celebrating my mom’s belated birthday and Mother’s Day. Maybe next hiking trip we will invite the guys 😉 Our trip was from Friday through Tuesday and we spent about a day and a half in Zion and Bryce National Park which seemed sufficient. Zion was my favorite park of the two, but they were both beautiful in very different ways. I also liked the city we stayed in better in Zion (Springdale), there was a lot more to do and places to eat. It was interesting to go out for dinner in Utah because their alcohol laws are wildly different from NYC and their neighboring state Nevada. Most restaurants only served beer or wine, and could only make cocktails out of wine. A margarita would’ve been nice to toast after Angels Landing, but we survived. Anyways, you should add both of these parks to your bucket list, they’re such special places and I had a blast exploring both! Lastly, I want to say thank you to everyone for reading and taking the time to comment/like my posts, it’s very encouraging and appreciated 🙂
A little blog housekeeping… my blog will feature NYC related articles the rest of June and I should have Paris and London ready in July. There’s a lot to share so stay tuned!
Great pictures Alyssa! One of my favorite trips.
This is the hike we did in Jan 2018, but Wall Street was closed at the time. Such a beautiful hike and a great temperature, even in January. Looking forward to your Paris and London posts Lyssy. Two of my favourite cities. Allan
I can’t imagine going through the Wall Street switchback with snow/ice. I was very glad it was cooler in Bryce, it would be miserable doing these hikes in the heat with the sun burning down. London and Paris seem like places you can never get tired of visiting.
Another beautiful hike! Good to know that both parks just need a few days to really “see” them.
Thank you! It was nice that the parks were smaller and didn’t require a lot of driving time to get to the hikes/viewpoints. In Yosemite it seemed everything was an hour away.
What a fantastic girls only trip! We have been to both Zion and Bryce, but did not do the Angel’s Landing hike in Zion. Your bravery is to be commended! Thank you for sharing your insight and great photography! Happy travels.
Thank you! It was the perfect trip! I only made it about 1/10th of the way on the chains, but I tried. I saw it was recently closed to fix the chain section… Happy travels to you too!
2 amazing hiking posts in quick succession – perfect 🙂 Also I love your bobble hat!
I always try to write my posts on the plane ride home when it’s fresh in my mind, gives me a good rough draft! I have that hat in three colors now 🙂 red, grey, and green.
The canyon looks so beautiful, and it looks like it really immerses you into that gorgeous landscape!
So beautiful! This trail really got us up close and personal to the canyon and hoodoos.
What a fantastic hike Lyssy coupled with some amazingly beautiful photos. Do you keep your camera around your neck whilst hiking or in your backpack for safety? I have to pack mine away for fear of damaging it.
Well done Lyssy on all of your posts from this trip! Your photos are amazing and do justice to the stunning scenery. Both parks are now on my list of places to visit.
Thank you!! Yay! You’ll enjoy both parks, they are so beautiful, but so different! It’s hard to take a picture in either park 🙂
The light, the colours, the landscape, everything is pretty in your photos and you obviously enjoyed the place and the moment. Thanks for sharing.
I had a great time in Bryce Canyon National Park! It’s a beautiful place unlike anything I’ve seen before.
This looks like such an amazing adventure! 😍
This looks like an amazing adventure! 😍
Such an incredible hike!
Goes to show trees can grow about anywhere.
Very true!
Such a great area to hike the canyon..beautiful images.
Anita
Thank you! It is an awesome area
I find it cool your mother was the first comment here, “Alyssa” 🙂 As for the Wall Street switchbacks and the walk at the bottom, I’ve decided you weren’t in Bryce Canyon at all. Instead, you were either in Egypt or on the set of an Indiana Jones movie. Awesome. Finally, the happy-looking tree in your second photo makes me nuts. We see similar trees growing out of the rocks up in the mountains, and wonder why we can’t keep our own trees alive despite regular attention. Mother Nature for the win!
It’s funny, my mom has known me way before the “Lyssy in the City” rebrand, and was my first subscriber, Jon being #2. It’s hard to believe the scenery was in the US, it really looks like another country or planet. I don’t have a green thumb either, I can hardly keep succulents alive and they are supposed to be easiest. Nobody can compete with Mother Nature!
Truly awesome, in the true sense of the word! Great photos. I love the tree – that’s wonderful.
Thank you! It is such a neat place!