Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef: Utah’s Scenic Highway 12
We recently went down to Utah to visit many of the Mighty 5 parks. The parks were incredible and colorful. What we didn’t realize what that just driving from Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef on Highway 12 was its own beautiful experience.
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Highway 12 in Utah is often called one of the most scenic drives in the US. It’s also given the name of “All-American Road,” which is given to few highways in the country for having features that no other road has.
Highway 12 begins in Panguitch, Utah. This is a just a short drive from Bryce Canyon National Park. It ends in Torrey, which is right outside Capitol Reef. So the road basically goes from Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef.
While it takes a few hours to drive, it will not leave you bored, wondering “are we there yet?”, but rather enjoying the ride through scenic red rock, slick white rock, waterfalls, landscapes, mountain views, and more.
Here are the best things to see and get out and explore as you drive from Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef on Highway 12 in Utah.
1. Begin in Panguitch
Panguitch is a town we stayed in when visiting Bryce Canyon. It’s just about 20 minutes from the National Park, and a cute, easy town to navigate.
This small town has a rock shop with an old theater inside, a few restaurants, a grocery store, and a few hotels. In this small, historic town, you’ll also find 3 quilting shops on the small row of stores. I realize you may not be looking for quilting materials on your trip, but when we noticed all the quilt shops we thought that made quite the ideal, charming town.
Panguitch is a great place to spend the night and make your base as you visit Bryce Canyon.
🏠 I recommend staying at Two Sunsets Hotel. They offered rooms with 3 actual beds to fit our family, clean rooms, friendly front desk, and covered parking. It is located right on the main street in Panguitch.
2. Red Canyon
As you leave Panguitch, you’ll quickly come to Red Canyon. This is a whole area along highway 12 filled with BRIGHT red rocks on both sides.
Your car will go through rock tunnels and past formations that are stunning.
Take a moment to get out and hike among the bright colors, whether it’s something you drive a little to get to like the 2 mile Keyhole Arch, or a shorter hike right off the road like Pink Ledges (pictured), you’ll find awesome sights in Red Canyon.
Make sure to stop at the Visitor Center as well to get more suggestions, conditions, or pick up a fun souvenir from your visit to Red Canyon.
3. Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon come shortly after Red Canyon. This park is a beautiful addition to your highway 12 drive and a must-stop attraction.
Bryce Canyon is 56 square miles and known for its hoodoos, spires, and bright colors. The main area of the park, the “amphitheater,” gets very crowded during peak times for good reason. It’s the ultimate view!
Make sure to hike Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop at the very least, a trail combo that clocks in at 3 miles.
If you have the whole day in Bryce, you can check out more viewpoints and hikes in the park.
4. Mossy Cave Waterfall
Mossy Cave is technically within Bryce Canyon (so make sure you have your pass), but you access it by going out of the park and continuing east on highway 12. After a short time, you’ll come to a sign pointing to Mossy Cave.
If the parking is full there, drive just a short ways farther for overflow parking. This adds a very short walk to get to the trailhead.
Mossy Cave is a really beautiful hike. The water you walk along is almost a light sage green, flowing among light colored rock. And the best part is the end where you’ll come to a beautiful waterfall.
This gets crowded, but turnover is speedy since it is a pretty quick hike.
5. Kodachrome Basin State Park
As you continue east on highway 12, you’ll go through the towns of Tropic and Cannonville. When you get to Cannonville, head south on Main St. and head to Kodachrome Basin State Park.
Kodachrome is another place to get a taste of hoodoos and spires, all within a smaller, colorful park. Visitors love hiking to the Shakespeare Arch and to Indian Cave where you can spot hand petroglyphs.
The park is only 12 minutes off-route, which makes it a great payoff for a small detour.
6. Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
The next great attraction comes right before you hit the town of Escalante. Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is a very short drive off of highway 12, making it a really easy stop.
Here you’ll find, of course, petrified forests from aeons ago. You might think “great, another dry, hot place to stop.”
But don’t dismiss it yet. This state park is home to Wide Hollow Reservoir, a great place to cool off on a paddle board or kayak.
If you want to explore a little, there’s a loop just over 2 miles to see more of the petrified wood that has gotten colorful over the many years.
7. The Town of Escalante
This is more of a great place to stop as it’s one of the bigger towns you’ll come from Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef.
We stopped at a local grocer called the Escalante Mercantile (it’s a historic building on the left that looks like a small home that’s been converted) to get some fresh, deli sandwiches and smoothies. It was a bit more expensive than I would have liked, but it was also really delicious. Plus, there are tables both inside and outside the grocer to relax and enjoy your food.
8. Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
This is where the drive gets really good again.
As you drive out from the town of Escalante, you’ll start to go into the Grand Staircase Escalante area. The drive alone is incredible, no need to get out of the car.
Grand Staircase Escalante is made of huge cliffs, plateaus, canyons, and all sorts of landscapes that seem to stretch forever.
The road will go up to the peak of the monument, giving you a view of the vastness of this landscape that seems unreal.
I don’t know how else to describe this area, as it is ever changing from pink rock to smooth white rock to canyons below. The picture above really doesn’t even do it justice. Just know that you’re in for a real treat as you drive through here.
9. Calf Creek Falls
This waterfall is featured often as one of the best places to stop along highway 12. There are two places to see Calf Creek Falls.
The first way is to park at Lower Calf Creek Falls and hike to the lower part of the falls. This gives you a full view of the 130-foot waterfall, but comes at a 6 mile round trip hike. Even at 6 miles, this is the more popular of the two hikes.
The second way to the falls is to do the Upper Calf Creek Falls hike. This takes you to another part of the falls that, even though only a 88 foot drop, is still enjoyable. This is only 2 miles, but still moderately difficult as it requires some scrambling and comes with some steep climbs.
10. Boulder, Utah
There’s not anything specific about Boulder to stop for, but it’s a rather stark contrast to what you’ve been driving through the last few hours.
As you come out of the smooth, desert landscape of the Grand Staircase, you’ll come through Boulder and start to climb the road as if you’ve now entered the forested mountains.
When we went through, the weather was different and it felt like we had just driven to a new part of the country.
You can stop at the Anasazi State Park Museum if you’d like, or just enjoy the drive with plenty of hiking pull outs.
Fun Fact: From the latest news in 2022, I saw that Boulder, UT is the last town in the USA to still deliver mail by mule!
11. Capitol Reef National Park
As you start to see red sandstone mountains appear again, you’ll know you’re getting close to the end of your Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef drive.
Capitol Reef is the last stop along the scenic highway 12. This national park is a lesser-visited one, making it better for crowd control. Don’t mistake that for me saying it doesn’t get crowded…it does.
This park is smaller but packs a punch. Take the scenic drive past the Visitor Center, hike to the Hickman Bridge, or discover mini slots in Cohab Canyon. There’s plenty to do to spend a day in Capitol Reef National Park, so I would definitely book a night nearby.
🏠 I recommend staying at the Capitol Reef Resort. This place was awesome. You can stay in a teepee, covered wagon, cabin, or a standard lodge room. They’ll light a fire pit at night to make s’mores and you can enjoy the pool with the red rock backdrop.
Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef via Utah’s Highway 12 Scenic Drive
While you thought you’d get 2 great national parks in one trip, did you realize you’d also get one of the prettiest drives in America? The highway 12 scenic drive packs so much beauty in just a couple hours of driving.
Make sure to at least make one or two stops along this route. My favorite stop was Mossy Cave since it was nice and easy, but SO beautiful. I also loved the incredibly bright colors of Red Canyon and found it very appropriately named. I also loved pulling over at the overlook at the top of the Grand Staircase and getting 360 views.
This highway makes a great segment on visiting all of Utah’s Mighty 5 national parks. These include Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches. If you’ve got time, I recommend trying to get them all in! Here’s a great 2-week roadtrip with planning ideas to see them all.
