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Dallin Cordon

Went up in December. As you get up there the road is closed and gated off. We decided to hike the rest of the way to the trail head which was approximately a mile. Plenty of ice on the road under the snow so crampons are advised. When we got to the grotto, the water had all frozen leaving a beautiful ice column we could walk right up to. A really stunning secluded area. No one was around. I’d highly recommend in the winter.

We came out here just before we left from Bryce. It’s not past the park entrance so there’s no need to pay any admission fees if that’s a concern. The hike is more of a walk along the creek with a few bridges and hoodoos along the edges of the small wash. You’ll get to the final bridge fairly quickly where, looking right you can see the waterfall. For us, in the winter, the waterfall was frozen over and people were standing near the base taking pictures. Crossing the bridge the trail forks. To the left is Mossy Cave and to the right is access to the top of the waterfall and a trail that follows the creek bed further up. The cave was really cool to see with massive icicles hanging down like stalactites. It was more of an overhang than a cave but still very cool. Going right to the waterfall was neat as well but less so. The creek was frozen over at some points and we could easily walk around on top. Do be careful though, right next to the falls the ice was very thin. All in all an excellent little excursion that was very close to the park and had some excellent hoodoos and neat geological features. I would imagine this could be less exciting in the summer.

Every view was unique and different. Amazing hike. The Navajo Trail is steeper and we appreciated going down this side and then up Queen’s Garden which was a bit more gradual. I’d definitely want to do this hike again but would also want to try going backwards starting at Queen’s Garden and ending going up Navajo Trail. Winter was an amazing time to do this hike. The white snow provides spectacular contrast to make the orange hoodoos stand out! Best time to visit the park!

It’s a bit out of the way to anywhere in particular. We were heading up to Boise from Utah and decided to take a little detour to check it out. The rock itself is just off of the road (appropriately named “Balanced Rock Road”) and can be seen easily from there. There’s a pull off area and it’s a short little hike (hike may be an overstatement) up to the rock itself. Only up close do you really get a feel for the size of the boulder, it really is massive and very impressive. After the climb, to get right up to the base you need to scramble up some rock. We went in January so there was some snow and a bit of a drizzle which made the rock pretty slick. I would recommend some good shoes and a lot of caution to climb up right to the base. That may not be the best for kids in my opinion.