What a tour, what a cafe, what a view and what a vibe. It is a happy place with happy people. Must…read moresee if you are visiting zion, bryce np.

This place is amazing! A no kill shelter helping out all types of animals whether it be dogs, cats,…read morebirds, horses, pigs, etc. They are doing such wonderful things. Everyone we met who volunteer and work there really cares about animals. If you're in town definitely make a trip and book a tour.

Kane County visitor center is conveniently located near our hotel (and others) we had been staying…read morein Kanab. The staff was very friendly and willing to offer lots of information and suggestions to make our trip so much better. They have some educational displays and lots of brochures about the area, trails, and activities to enjoy while you're in the area. The gift shop was simple and selection was ok. I really wish they carried men's size S shirts! I will definitely be back in the area and when I do, I will be sure to stop by and check in!

We stayed in Kanab last night and stopped in on the way out of town. They were so friendly and…read morehelpful! So much to do around here that we had no idea about!! This visitors center was big and impressive. Now we are off on another adventure before heading back towards California.

I love the design of the visitor center and its surroundings. The spacious bathrooms are in a…read moreseparate building so when things get busy, the queues aren't blocking access to other amenities. There are more information panels outdoors than indoors, which takes advantage of the large plaza space so that there's not a crowd indoors. There's an abundance of information about the hikes, ecology, and history of the area. There's even information about the construction of the eco-friendly visitor center! Indoors, there's the park shop and the information counter. The gift shop has a lot of books, plushies/kids activities, stickers, and other sundries. The rangers at the information desk were quick and efficient. They have to be given the sheer volume of visitors they have to help out! They were quite polite as well.

This is a nice visitor center! It is CROWDED but there's a lot of turnover. Plenty of bathrooms,…read morereasonably clean (for a national park). They do have a sizable parking lot but that lot gets full FAST so if you want to park there you have to come early (recommended to come at or before 7am). The shuttle picks up here of course and I came around 6:20am; I was in the line by 6:45 and it was already wrapping around several times at the platform but the buses are big and particularly in the morning a bunch of shuttles come minutes apart so I actually didn't wait more than 15 mins or so to board one (I was on shuttle #3 of the morning). The organization is impressive, it's good they do it this way because the canyon would absolutely be loaded with cars otherwise!

This visitor center has all of the things that make a visitor center great: a large parking lot,…read morebathrooms, exhibits, helpful people, and a gift shop. It's also quite large, perfect for the hordes of guests during the busy season. The layout is literally perfect. As you enter, you see the washrooms marked to your left. It's perfectly out of the way if people have to queue, and doesn't disrupt the flow of the other parts of the building. Straight ahead is the NPS ranger desk, which has excellent sight lines from the entrance. You're not going to be confused where to ask for help! The rangers were super helpful with my night sky viewing questions. There is a large gift shop to the right, and then to the left are the exhibits. The gift shop has an extended selection of things to buy, probably due to its large size. It has the usual offerings of NPS items plus clothing, etc. The exhibits focus a lot on the geology of the area (which makes sense, people visit for the hoodoos!), but also on the ecosystem and the native Americans who live here. Great information.

Bryce Canyon national park is another great national park in Southern UT…read more The visitor center is large, has restrooms, and plenty of souvenirs. There was a food truck setting up in the parking lot, I think selling coffee and donuts. The rangers were friendly and helpful answering questions about road closures and offering suggestions. A great national park to check out if you are in the area. Check out my photos.

Very, very limited hours due to budget cuts by the current administration unfortunately. This…read morevisitor center focuses on the early geologic and paleontological discoveries in the region. I didn't know, but apparently there are fourteen new dinosaur species that were discovered in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Super impressive especially given how unwelcoming the weather can be. There are both indoor and outdoor exhibits about paleontology and geology. There are also bathrooms and picnic areas, although it was pretty hot when I visited and no one was using them. Very informative! It's worth a stop if you're in the area.

We stopped here on our way to Page, AZ from St. George, UT. We initially did not know that it was…read morethere and turned around to visit after we saw the signs as we passed by. We learned this visitor center is one of four visitor centers in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and is operated by the Bureau of Land Management. The visitor center has a lot of information about the monument especially regarding the dinosaurs who once lived in the area and the fossils that have been found in the area. They also have a small book store and gift shop. Overall, it is worth the stop. We didn't plan on doing any trails while in the area as it was a cold afternoon in January but the woman working seemed to be very knowledgeable and was giving another couple recommendations.

The Toadstool Hoodoos are cool rock formations formed by differential erosion. They look like…read moremushrooms, as the harder rock caps and protects the softer rock underneath. The hike is an easy 1.5 miles. The views at the end are worth it, and you can get close to the rock formations as you like (although don't topple the rocks!). It's suitable for families with small children. If you don't mind driving on an unpaved road (I did it in a 2WD sedan), check out House Rock Valley Road for unparalleled views of the landscape with swirling sandstone, painted hills, and other cool rock formations. Check out the Wire Pass Trail for amazing slot canyons, although check the weather. If there's any chance for rain, do not enter the slot canyons since the formations channel water and form deadly floods in the canyon. The visitor center in Kanab is huge, with lots of good pamphlets and displays about the geology and archaeology of the area.

This feels like a review in progress because the area is so large - but was pleasantly surprised by…read morehow much more I want to explore this region. We did Willis Creek Narrows and Lower Calf Creek Falls - both incredible. Now adding to the wish list for return trips. The drive along US 12 is just spectacular. Definitely recommend a high clearance vehicle with 4WD to access some of the more remote locations. Be prepared to adventure and bring what you need as this is not a manicured national park, but more a haven for those looking for an off-grid escape.

This place is so amazing. I drove to Rainbow Point (great views on the way and at the end for those…read morewho don't want to hike) as well as the Figure-8 Combination hike, which combines three amphitheater hikes, Queen's Garden, Navajo Loop, and the Peekaboo Loop. Wall Street was closed when I visited due to trail conditions, boo. It was a clear and perfect two days during my visit though. Most people visit for the hoodoos, but Bryce Canyon National Park also has International Dark Sky status. Its high elevation, clean air, and remote location equals some of the darkest skies in the country. Coincidentally, I went during a new Moon with clear skies and wow, I had never seen so many stars before. I brought binoculars and it was enough to see what felt like like thousands upon thousands of stars. I saw the Milky Way Galaxy too! It was amazing, and I felt like such a small speck of dust in comparison to the skies above. Definitely check out Bryce Canyon at night, although it was also kind of...different... to be driving in the middle of the dark. If you have bad night vision you might want to pass on this. It made me realize how much light pollution there is where I live.

How lucky are we to live in a country with natural wonders like this? This Earthen landscape…read morebrought me to tears with it's magic. We did a cool 3.7 mile loop down into the canyon & then back up again. I would rate it a moderate hike, doable even in sneakers. Although I would recommend hiking boots. Be sure to layer up - traversing down will heat you up a lil, hiking up will heat you up a lot, & the windy overlooks will cool you down immediately. The folks at the visitor center are incredibly helpful & the bathrooms are extraordinarily clean. Overall a wonderful park. I can't wait to return.

First off, I love how large the parking lot is. It's rare that I comment on the parking situation,…read morebut given how many visitors this place sees (with a bunch of tour busses too!) I like how they split up the lots with overflow parking. The visitor center is pretty big. As you enter you can see a big area of exhibits that talk about the geology of the dam as well as how Glen Canyon Dam compares to other dams in the world. Quite ominously, there was a exhibit about the water levels and it hadn't been updated in years...the overall trend was that there isn't a lot of water now. You can also watch a movie in back, shop at the gift shop, and get more information about the dam and surrounding areas at the information desk. Don't forget to walk on the bridge nearby, although it can be a bit unnerving to have traffic whizz by with not a lot of distance between you and them.

Stopped by Carl Hayden Visitor Center and Glen Canyon Dam during my recent trip to Page, Arizona…read more I had the opportunity to visit here before, and it never bored me to see the Glen Canyon Dam again and again. The Visitor Center has a huge parking lot for added convenience, and it's free of charge. Inside the Visitor Center, you'll find the exhibit with lots of great information and photos about the Dam. There's also a small movie theater, which features a short (30 minutes) movie about the story of building the Glen Canyon Dam. It's very interesting! There is a small gift shop with plenty of stuff to purchase if you are interested. The view of the Glen Canyon Dam is also so much better from the Visitor Center. I highly recommend it stopping by.

After years of trying to apply for a permit, our group finally got picked! Highly recommend hiking…read moreat least once. I wouldn't do it again though, mainly because of how hard it was to get a permit. We visited in April and the weather was fantastic. It was actually freezing in the morning but as the sun rose, it warmed up to the point where we would sweat a little when hiking. I can't even imagine doing this in the summer but if you win the lottery then, make sure everyone brings plenty of water. To get to the trailhead, I'd recommend having a high-clearance vehicle, especially if it just recently rained. The road off of the freeway becomes unpaved and there are some ditches that can be flooded. Download an offline map of the trail and area for when you lose service. It gets spotty but you'll find reception every now and then. At the beginning, there are a couple of vault toilets. The trail itself is difficult to follow without an offline map. There's only a handful of signs pointing in a general direction. And until the Wave, we were pretty much the only people around. Considering only about 60 people are approved each day, it wasn't surprising, and honestly, kind of nice to be alone in nature. The Wave was everything we hoped for. We had clear, blue skies and that contrast with the red and orange rocks was beautiful. It looked exactly like the Windows background! There was even a pond further up with a ton of tadpoles. Besides the Wave, there's other neat waypoints to stop by but because we were tired, we didn't try for many of them. The only one we went out of our way for was the dinosaur tracks but it was anti-climatic. They just looked like larger chicken feet prints. Despite this hike being only about 6 miles round trip, it took pretty much the entire day. We stopped a lot to take pictures but also the landscape was difficult to hike. Lots of sand to walk through and lots of weird inclines to walk across, which kept our feet, knees, and legs at weird angles. There might have been easier pathways but as I said earlier, there's no clear indications of a trail. There was also a BLM worker at the Wave asking for the permit holders. If you hike without one and get caught, you'll get slapped with some steep fines. Drones are also not allowed!

My friend won the online lottery for the permit 4 months in advance but after talking to the…read moreranger, it seems that there's a good chance you can win the daily lottery since a lot of people cancel every day. It's easier if you have less people (like two people). Anyways, the orientation the day before was useful for weather and road conditions. The hike wasn't too bad, can be a bit steep in some parts but for the most part, not too much incline. It's moderate for the novice hiker but easy for an experienced hiker. For experienced hikers, probably can get to the Wave in 1 to 1.5 hours. For the inexperienced, it might take 2.5 to 3 hours. Either way, if you're planning to spend a lot of time at the Wave (some people take 2-3 hours for their extensive Instagram photoshoots haha), definitely go there early and spend all day there. I would definitely come back if I win the lottery!