Tropic Trail

Best Time to Hike Tropic Trail

The description for Tropic Trail doesn't specify a best season or time of day for this hike. No trail-specific seasonal guidance is given, so plan around general Bryce Canyon conditions and your own preferences rather than timing advice unique to this route.

Trail Tips for Tropic Trail

• As a Bryce Canyon National Park interior trail, pets are not permitted anywhere on this route.
• If you plan to camp overnight elsewhere in the park beyond this day hike, a backcountry permit is required.
• At the top, Tropic Trail links directly to the Peekaboo Loop, Navajo Loop, and Queen's Garden Trail, so it can be combined into a longer loop rather than hiked as a simple out-and-back.
• Bryce Creek, which the trail follows part of the way, runs dry much of the year — don't count on it as a reliable water source.

Getting to the Tropic Trail Trailhead

The Tropic Trail trailhead is reached from the town of Tropic rather than from inside the park. From Tropic, head west on Bryce Way/W 100 N for about 3.2 miles. The road ends at a dead end marked by a cattle gate and a set of stairs, which is the start of the trail. Because the hike begins outside the park boundary and climbs upward, this is the lower, forested end of the route.

What to Expect on Tropic Trail

Tropic Trail is one of the least-traveled front-country routes in Bryce Canyon National Park, and it works in reverse of the park's usual pattern. Rather than starting on the rim and dropping into the amphitheater, it begins in lower-elevation forest near the town of Tropic and climbs steadily up into the park. The route covers about 1.7 miles one way with roughly 590 feet of elevation change, and most hikers spend 1 to 2 hours on it. Along the way it passes through juniper and pine forest as it climbs toward the rim.