Bryce Canyon For Budget Friendly Family Fun
Bryce Canyon National Park for Families
Bryce Canyon National Park, located in Southern Utah is home to everything a kid could find cool: rockchucks, hoodoos, and stars. And it’s paunsaugunt which sounds cool in Paiute, but means “the land of the Beavers.” Yeah, my kids didn’t think that was all that cool.
Bryce Canyon is still one of our favorite National Parks. It’s not really a canyon, it’s a natural amphitheater filled with “hoodoos,” rock formations created by water, ice, and gravity. These unique formations give this vast canyon an otherworldly feel that will draw your kids into the mystery and legends of the wild west.
How can we check out all these cool things?
If you’re planning on camping, there’s no better place to stay than Ruby’s Inn RV Park and Campground. It’s just ½ mile outside of the park with the National Parks Shuttle stop right out your front door. The RV pads are spacious—a plus for families travelling in larger motor homes, with full hookups.
If you’re travelling with a group, you can book a separate group camping site so you can all stay together. While they have large covered table areas, they are mostly designed for tent campers. If you’re a party of camp trailers and RV’s, you’ll probably be happier booking regular RV spaces next to each other.
Ruby’s also rents teepees if you want to experience the park through the eyes of the ancient natives. The teepee sites are more secluded, and closer to the small lake that has water in the spring.
Cool nights, campfires and stars
Bryce Canyon temperatures are cool, with average highs for summer in the low 70’s and lows in the 40’s. You should plan for windy days and pack jackets, hats and gloves to keep the kiddos from complaining.
Nights are perfect for campfires, but if you want to see the unprecedented expanse of 7500 stars visible on clear nights then you’ll need to plan an evening trip into the park for stargazing at Paria View.
What’s (almost) free to do with kids?
I fully believe that family RV camping should be incredibly budget friendly. While I appreciate the variety of activities offered near the park (horseback rides, ATV trips, helicopter rides, western rodeos and dinner shows), I’m not one to spend $250 for dinner and a show while camping. Here’s our favorite nearly free activities from our trip to Bryce Canyon.
Buy the park pass and use it. Rather than spending a marathon day at the park, we opted to take advantage of the shuttle bus to explore the park for a couple of hours, and then head back to the RV for meals and swimming. At night, you can take a sack dinner into the park for stargazing. The easy hikes are crowded during the summer, so plan to enjoy the throngs of people.
Swimming, Kids and water. Need I say more? We toured Bryce Canyon over Memorial Day weekend, so it was crowded, windy and chilly. The outdoor pool at Ruby’s Inn RV Park was warm enough for the kids to still enjoy while swimming, and the hot tub was large enough to warm us back up if we got cold.
If the outdoor pool isn’t for you, take a short hike up to Ruby’s Lodge and use the indoor pool. We especially loved trying to guess all the different languages that were being spoken, and enjoyed talking with visitors from all over the globe who were amazed that we lived just 160 miles away.
Ruby’s Shoppes. Across from the lodge you’ll find a row of old western shops. My kids loved digging through the polished rocks and playing in the jail. We usually give the kids a little spending money before a trip so they can purchase their own souvenirs. They spent a long time picking out a treasure from the shops to take home. Their big treat for the walk back to the RV was a scoop of creamy ice cream.
Campfire Games. Bypassing the all-day adventure rentals left us with more than just money. It left us with the energy to enjoy our quiet evenings around the campfire. We began the storytelling with the Paiute legend of the “Hoodoo Rock People.” The colorful, crazy shaped hoodoos were believed to be Legend People turned to stone by the trickster god Coyote. This led to a fun discussion as we guessed the name and profession of some of the hoodoo legend people we had seen on our hike.
Bryce Canyon National Park can be a budget friendly family vacation. Our National Parks are the envy of the world—all you need do is visit and you will hear every language imaginable. Family RV travel exposes our children to the natural world, and creates unforgettable experiences that bind us together.
Let us know what your family’s favorite National Park is and why in the comments below.
