We had an absolutely wonderful experience with Bryce Canyon Scenic Tours and Shuttle Service…read more The entire service was top-notch, and the tour was awesome. Our guide, Patrick, was outstanding--he shared rich history of the canyon and took us to incredible spots. Bruce Canyon Scenic Tours not only provides guided tours, but they also offer bike rentals, which is really cool. You have options for different electric bikes, so you can cruise around the area at your own pace. Oscar runs the bike rental area and the front desk person, Michelle, was really helpful--she made sure we had all the info we needed. Plus, it was so convenient not to have to drive or search for parking--the shuttle took us right to each location. I highly recommend this tour for anyone visiting Bryce Canyon!" Totally worth the price Note: Patrick's true Live of Bryce Canyon is reflected with everything he showed us. His knowledge is so deep it was such a wonderful day full of stories & being educated everything about the Canyon. He also is very funny and has a good sense of humor, such an enjoyable day!

Such an awesome tour seeing this beautiful park in a comfortable shuttle. Our guide was Drew and he…read morewas outstanding! He is so knowledgeable about the area, the landscape, plus trees and animals, too. He was really funny and kept us entertained.

The Escalante Interagency Visitor Center is one of four visitor centers in the Grand…read moreStaircase-Escalante National Monument. Yup, this national monument is so large, it needs multiple visitor centers! This national monument seems to be overlooked as its neighbors seem to get a lot more attention. This visitor center focuses on the geology, ecosystem, and fossils of the area. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask the rangers for some hiking recommendations. I heard there were some hikes that lead to exposed fossils, but wasn't able to get much information online. Oh well. I found that the exhibits were quite informative, and some of them were hands on-great for little ones. There are exhibits both indoors and outdoors. If you want to rest and enjoy a snack, there's a covered picnic area which sits directly across from the restrooms.

The Escalante Interagency Visitor Center is a terrific place to start your explorations of wondrous…read moreGrand Staircase - Escalante National Monument. Alright, well I'll start abbreviating, lol...GSENM. It covers a huge area of Southern Utah, specifically, 1.9 million acres of public land. If you don't come prepared ahead of time, it can be an intimidating adventure and you can stumble on how to efficiently navigate your way around this remote, yet beautiful part of the country. That's why I believe if you start at the Interagency VC...you can handcraft the places and stops you'd like to see and best of all, when I visited, there were multiple park rangers standing behind the counter patiently waiting to assist tourists with their questions. Inside the VC...it's relatively small in stature...and there's a tiny little gift shop for picking up GSENM souvenirs. Plus, they have various stamping options to put into your Parks Passport. Of course, for myself, the ritual is to punch every page (front and back) even including using the Junior Ranger stamp, lol. Speaking with the park rangers was necessary because...I arrived here on a whim without a set game-plan. What I never realized about GSENM is that about half of the territory can only be accessed by 4x4 - off road vehicles. And that I did not have with me. So...certain attractions, landmarks and hikes are off-limit to cars not accommodative for dirt/gravel roads. And...this was informative because I was able to better design my itinerary with the park ranger once I told him I only had a midsize car with me. Still, here were some fun highlights that the ranger recommended.... - Hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls. - Hike to Escalante Natural Bridge. - Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. - Anasazi State Park Museum. - Walk among the Toadstools. - Kodachrome Basin State Park. Another good aspect to this Interagency VC is that it's located in the quiet town of Escalante, Utah...good for convenience stores, filling up your gas tank, purchasing supplies/necessities and sitting down at restaurants. After stopping here midday and before venturing out on my journey, I drove down the road to the Escalante Outfitters Restaurant for homemade pizza and cold beer. Overall, I'm really happy I made the effort to stop in at this Escalante Interagency Visitor Center before attempting to explore GSENM on my own. It was worthwhile to speak with the park rangers and to narrow down the activity options appropriate for my participation level.

Red Rock Ranch Escalante is one of your best lodging choices in Escalante Utah…read more The Red Rock Ranch is a log home on 3-acres of land, located in the town of Escalante Utah. People come from all across the US, to experience the rugged beauty of the Grand Staircase - Escalante. Located in the heart of the Dixie National Forest, the RRR is nestled at the edge of town on historic Highway 12, between Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef National Parks. It's the perfect location for a high-impact, out-doors adventure, as well as relaxing vacation-time away with family and friends! This non-smoking, family cabin, is a 2,500 square foot log home with five bedrooms, sleeps 12; and has three and one-half bathrooms. It boasts a gourmet kitchen with a large dining area that seats 12. Three family rooms on 3 finished levels, and a bonus loft for the kids allow plenty of room to spread out. The Red Rock Ranch is completely furnished and ready for relaxation and serious hiking. For additional details please visit our website at: http://redrockranchescalante.com/ For more about hiking the Grand-Staircase Escalante area, visit my blog at: http://redrockranchescalante.blogspot.com/

Pros: Major: Don't have to worry about parking spots in the small lots and eco-friendly…read more Personable, informative guides. Minor: Everyone can relax and enjoy the view. Cost-effective (someone else's gas and a/c). Cons: Major: The shuttle does not go beyond Mile 4 of Bryce Canyon (which is fine), and it does not go to Mossy Cave (which is NOT to be missed). Minor: You can't keep your cooler or control the music. No dogs. Potentially more alien farts, speaking of someone's else's gas. The shuttle starts at Stop 1 outside the park. Stop 2 is Old Bryce Town, a rustic touristy outdoor mall with horses, photo ops, and a cool rock shop. Stop 3 and Stop 4 are two separate Best Westerns, which begs the question: Which one is the better Western? They can't both be Best. Stop 5 is Ruby's Campground. Going further takes you officially into the park. Or, take the crosswalk to Stop 15 to get back to the shuttle station (stop 1). Stop 6 is Visitor Center. (Shortcut to exit via crosswalk to Stop 14 leading out the park) Stop 7: Sunset Camp. (Optional shortcut to surpass Bryce & Inspiration via crosswalk to cross to Stop 10, leading to Sunset Point) Stop 8: Bryce Point. The money shot. Stop 9: Inspiration Point. Stop 10: Optional shortcut to Sunset Camp (#7) via crosswalk Stop 11: Sunset Point Stop 12: Bryce Lodge Stop 13: Sunrise Point Stop 14: The last stop before exiting. (Optional shortcut to Visitor Center via crosswalk) Stop 15: (Optional shortcut to Ruby's campground via crosswalk)

This is a huge bonus when visiting Bryce Canyon National a park and makes maneuvering to the…read moredifferent hikes and viewing points very easy. The drivers are very nice and give you a history of the park and each stop. Don't forget to tip!

Took a 3-hour private tour of Bryce Canyon through this company and it was excellent! Our tour…read moreguide was Tyler and we could not have asked for a better guide. He was extremely knowledgeable of the geology of the area, told us about the various hiking trails, and was just a great guide. Highly recommend a tour with this company and be sure to ask for Tyler.

We were lucky enough to be there at the time where there weren't too many visitors and the owner…read morewas very nice to share a lot of info about the animals, he made it really fun. Was definitely worth the $. And would do it again if ever in the area. The collection of taxidermies is incredible and the amount of time and effort that went in it is impressive.

We stayed at Bear Valley twice while traveling between Idaho and Arizona. The first stay was great…read more The facilities are clean and area is quiet. Our second stay was a disaster. Our dog, while on leash per the rules, was attacked by another camper's dog which was off leash and suffered bites. I reported the incident to the front desk. They gave us info on vets, but all were closed and none of the emergency numbers returned our calls. What was disappointing is that the front desk folks didn't seem the least bit concerned this happened and there were apparently no consequences for the camper whose dog attacked ours. I went out later that evening to take trash out and the camper had music going, was grilling, and his dog was outside off leash barking, like nothing even happened. Many campgrounds have zero tolerance pet policies. At Point of Rocks in Prescott, he would have been asked to pack up and leave. But not at Bear Valley. No accountability. No ownership. No consequences. So while we traveled over two hours out of our way, incurred as hefty pet bill and then traveled five plus hours home, this camper enjoyed his time at Bear Valley. So no thanks. I'll take my chances camping on the side of the road.

Pulled up and the RV lot was practically empty. Went inside to inquire about a weekly rate; no one…read moreat the campground counter so we asked the young girl at the convenience side of the building. She was pleasant enough; but couldn't answer our question about weekly rates (as reflected on their website). Brochure only listed monthly rates and she thought that information was old and incorrect. The convenience clerk went out back to get a male coworker to deal with us. This guy was clearly perturbed that he was being bothered by the question. He did say we could have the weekly rate listed on the website; but his demeanor was a complete turnoff. So, we went elsewhere...

We had a great time here a few weeks ago. Were able to participate in movie night too…read more Here's a photo I took where smoke from the Brian Head Wildfire was rolling in.

After our first stay here, we loved it so much that we decided to rent all nine Airstreams for a…read morefamily reunion. Troy and Michelle have been amazing hosts, showing us around each trailer, answering questions phone call after phone call, even going as far as helping me find a local photographer for the occasion. The Airstreams are beautifully decorated, well-equipped with amenities, super clean and comfortable. They've put a lot of thought and creativity into everything; the trailers, the drive-in theater, even the snack bar... And, every time we stay there, they seem to be making some new improvement, like adding more Airstreams, remodeling, or expanding. If you want a fun place to stay in the Escalante, Bryce Canyon, Petrified Forest area... I can't recommend Shooting Star enough. These people care about their guests and, in my experience with them, it shows.

We stayed in a cabin here for a break in our van-cation and to do laundry. The location was good,…read moreclose to town with views of the surrounding countryside. The young woman at the office was super friendly and helpful in getting us settled. Although they don't have a dedicated RV dump station, she said it was fine to use the water and sewer hookups from any of the unoccupied RV sites. An added bonus was having not one, but two food trucks on site, as well as a coffeehouse in the lobby. Our cabin was very comfortable too. Highly recommend!

Found this on Google randomly when we got stuck in the area during extremely high winds. We didn't…read morewant a second night of our tent almost collapsing on us, so we booked a last minute cabin. We would have been so grateful for just bare bones accommodations, but what we found was so much more awesome! Lynn was so welcoming and extremely helpful with places to eat, etc. The cabin had everything you could need and was clean and secure and also just a darling experience. The whole place is so gosh dang cute. Bed was comfy and clean. Fire pit outside is an awesome addition even though we couldn't use it due to fire restrictions. Free drip coffee in the morning was so good that I didn't even want a latte - though they do have a full service espresso bar available on site! You'll also find cute postcards, tumbled rocks, maps of the area, local geological facts and stuff. You can hang out in the reception/coffee area, which had seating and outlets. They have laundry downstairs (we didn't check it out though). And the whole property has free wifi! There are SO many amenities here for dogs as well!! I wish we had ours, but they hate going on the road, so we didn't get to take advantage of the dog park, wash station, or in-room pet blankets. On top of their cabins/casita, they also have tent sites and RV and van sites. One of the absolute best stops we've ever made on the road! Don't forget to hang out with Debbie (meow).