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The Navajo Trail starts at Sunset Point, descends a steep series of switchbacks into
Wall Street Canyon, then travels along the South end of the Queen’s Garden to the edge
of Bryce Amphitheater, where it loops back to Sunset Point through the Silent City hoodoos.
The Navajo Trail is often combined with the Queen’s Garden Trail, which meets the Navajo
Trail at the apex of the loop. The trail below Wall Street travels through a more heavily
forested area with individual hoodoo formations sprinkled below the canyon walls.
Click an image to open a larger version.
Use your back button to return to this page.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Link to the Navajo Trail Gallery:
Navajo Trail
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Vignette 6736
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Hoodoos in the canyon wall, vignetted by Pine and Fir trees near the
junction with the Queen’s Garden Trail, taken in the late morning in August.
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Castle 1881
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The Castle formation on the Navajo Trail, vignetted by the Pine and Fir forest at mid-morning in late September.
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Castle 5653
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Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine below the Castle formation on the Navajo Trail at mid-morning in late August.
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Castle Vignette 1880
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The Castle formation on the Navajo Trail vignetted by Douglas Fir at mid-morning in late September.
The Queen’s Garden and Navajo Trails were used as a location for training in photographic technique.
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Castle 5659
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The Castle is the most prominent large hoodoo formation
on the Navajo Trail, and was a popular subject for students.
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Castle X1998
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A more oblique angle of the Castle formation from a position nearer to the slope, taken early in the morning in late June.
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Castle 6739
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One final vignette of the Castle formation, taken during a different session in late August.
The Navajo Trail was first created in 1917 when the National Park Service took over
from the US Forest Service. The current trail incorporates some of the original USFS paths.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 1878
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A hoodoo formation framed by Douglas Fir near the Navajo and Queen’s Garden trail junction in September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoo Navajo Trail 1879
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A solitary hoodoo at the end of the wall near the Navajo and Queen’s Garden trail junction, mid-morning in September.
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Vignette 1886
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Bryce Canyon Rim, vignetted by Douglas Fir on the Navajo Trail at mid-morning in September.
Hoodoos at the base of the rim are part of the Pink Member of the Claron Formation and are rich
in iron oxides. The lighter limestone of the cliff is a part of the Upper Member, with less impurities.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Link to the Navajo Trail Gallery:
Navajo Trail
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Vignette 1887
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Hoodoos in the canyon wall, vignetted by Douglas Fir at mid-morning in September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoo Navajo Trail 1891
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A detail portrait of the limestone-capped hoodoo at Junction Rock, where the trail turns towards Wall Street.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 1892
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The limestone-capped hoodoo and Junction Rock, taken at mid-morning in late September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 1893
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A wide-angle shot directly up the face of Junction Rock.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 1895
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Hoodoo formations on a slope above the Navajo Trail, outlined against a beautiful September sky.
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Bryce Canyon Navajo Trail Vignette 1890
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A hoodoo formation on the Navajo Trail, vignetted
by Douglas Fir at mid-morning in late September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 1896
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A detail portrait of a fluorescing hoodoo formation
against a blue September sky on the Navajo Trail.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 6749
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Hoodoos along the Navajo Trail at noon in Late August.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 5673
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The same group of hoodoos from a frontal angle, in the late morning five days earlier.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Link to the Navajo Trail Gallery:
Navajo Trail
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 6760
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Brilliant red-orange hoodoos on the Navajo Trail, taken at noon in late August.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 1902
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Blue Spruce and Douglas Fir stand in front of a wall of
hoodoos on the Navajo Trail, mid-morning in September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 1908
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A wall of hoodoos on the Navajo Trail, taken during
a training session at mid-morning in late September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 1904
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A Douglas Fir stands beside a wall of hoodoos on the Navajo Trail, mid-morning in September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail 1905
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Detail of a wall of hoodoos on the Navajo Trail.
Hoodoos are formed when a relatively soft sedimentary rock is capped
with a thin layer of harder rock that protects softer rock below from the elements.
Bryce Canyon hoodoos are formed by a combination of frost wedging and rain erosion.
Water enters cracks in the rock, then expands when it freezes, gradually wedging open the
crack. Eventually, fins form which are further weathered by frost wedging and rain erosion
until windows or arches form, which weather further and collapse forming the hoodoos.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Navajo Trail X2056
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The path ascends through a narrow crack between hoodoos below Wall Street Canyon on the Navajo Trail.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoo Navajo Trail X2063
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A solitary hoodoo overlooks stunted Junipers below Wall Street Canyon on the Navajo Trail at mid-morning in June.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoo Navajo Trail X2060
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An anthropomorphic hoodoo below Wall Street Canyon at
mid-morning in June (use your imagination to see a face).
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoo Navajo Trail X2062
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While these images are laid out in order from the trail junction up to Wall Street Canyon, the X-series images were taken in the opposite order as I started from Sunset Point in June to avoid climbing the steep switchbacks on a 90 degree day.
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Wall Street Entrance Navajo Trail 6756
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The hoodoo formation above the Sentinel Boulder guards the entrance to Wall Street Canyon, shot at noon in late August.
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Wall Street Entrance Navajo Trail 5674
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The hoodoo guarding the entrance to Wall Street Canyon, shot an hour before noon during a session five days earlier.
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Bryce Canyon Sentinel Navajo Trail 6757
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The Sentinel Boulder at the entrance to Wall Street Canyon, looking down the Navajo Trail towards the Castle at noon.
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Bryce Canyon Sentinel Navajo Trail X2022
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Sentinel Boulder guarding the entrance to Wall Street Canyon, shot in the early morning in late June.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Link to the Navajo Trail Gallery:
Navajo Trail
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Wall Street 1911
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Hoodoos and fins at the bottom of Wall Street Canyon, shot at late morning in September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Wall Street 1912
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The Navajo Trail through Wall Street follows a progressively
narrowing canyon past tall hoodoos and Douglas Fir trees.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Wall Street 1915
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Hoodoos in Wall Street Canyon surrounded by towering
Douglas Fir trees, taken in the late morning in September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Wall Street 1914
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Intensely colorful hoodoos in the Wall Street section of the Navajo Trail at late morning.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Wall Street 1917
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Reflected light causes a wall to glow in a narrow section.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Wall Street X2027
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The Navajo Trail climbs into the narrowest part of Wall Street. Note the flake on the right side about to break off of the wall.
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Bryce Canyon Douglas Fir Wall Street 1920
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A 500 year old Douglas Fir reaching for the sun deep in an
alcove at the base of the slot canyon section of Wall Street.
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Bryce Canyon Douglas Fir Wall Street 6762
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The ancient Douglas Fir in the Wall Street alcove at noon in
August (the previous image was taken in the late morning).
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Bryce Canyon Wall Street Canyon 1923
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The trail through the narrow slot canyon section of Wall Street shot at late morning in September, using a wide aperture for a shallower depth of field.
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Bryce Canyon Wall Street Canyon 1926
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The exit from the slot canyon section of Wall Street, taken from an angle to capture the glowing rock wall. This was also shot with a wide aperture for shallower depth of field.
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Bryce Canyon Wall Street Canyon 6768
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The approach to the slot canyon exit in Wall Street, shot just after noon in late August. This was a long exposure shot taken at a narrow aperture for maximum depth of field.
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Bryce Canyon Wall Street Canyon 6771
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The exit from the slot canyon section of Wall Street, taken from an angle to capture the glowing rock wall. Another long exposure, narrow aperture shot for maximum depth of field.
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Bryce Canyon Wall Street Canyon X2032
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The exit from the slot canyon in Wall Street, shot in the early morning in June. This is a long exposure shot at f/8 which had to be pushed in processing (low light in the early morning).
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Bryce Canyon Wall Street Canyon X2036
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A telephoto detail shot of the Wall Street slot canyon exit, taken in the early morning in June, also a long exposure which had to be pushed in processing due to the low light levels.
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As you have noticed from the images above, the light in the slot canyon section of Wall Street is quite low in the early morning. Since the light on the hoodoos in the Queen’s Garden is most attractive for photography in the early morning just after sunrise, it is often desirable to start the combination of the Queen’s Garden Trail and Navajo Trail from Sunrise Point and exit at Sunset Point, shooting the sunrise from Sunrise Point and entering the Queen’s Garden just after sunrise. Unfortunately, the exit from Wall Street Canyon at Sunset Point is via a steep set of switchbacks that can be quite strenuous. The hike is easier starting from Sunset Point, descending into the canyon via the steep switchbacks and exiting via the easier ascent to Sunrise Point, but this will get you into the slot canyon when there is not much light and you will miss the best light in the Queen’s Garden.
You have to decide if it is worth taking the more difficult direction to get the best lighting conditions for photographs.
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Bryce Canyon Wall Street Canyon 1927
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The view up through the exit from the slot canyon section of Wall Street, taken at late morning in September.
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Bryce Canyon Hoodoos Wall Street 1928
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Hoodoos and fins at the exit from the slot canyon section of Wall Street, with the sun nearly directly overhead.
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Bryce Canyon Wall Street Canyon 1930
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A narrow section of upper Wall Street Canyon, just before the steep set of switchbacks that lead up to Sunset Point.
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Bryce Canyon Thor’s Hammer 1948
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Thor’s Hammer hoodoo from the rim at Sunset Point, with Wall Street fins and hoodoos in the background.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Link to the Navajo Trail Gallery:
Navajo Trail
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Click the display composite above to visit the Queen’s Garden Trail page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Fairyland Canyon page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Bryce Canyon Landscapes page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Sunrise Point and Sunset Point page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Bryce Canyon Rim Views page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Bryce Canyon Flora and Fauna page
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