Where to hike with a dog near Bryce Canyon NP: Red Rock Canyon

We stumbled upon this trail while looking for another one, and it was so cool it quickly became the happiest accident of our visit to southern Utah.

Located just outside the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park, Red Rock Canyon offers plenty of those super cool rock formations called hoodoos, but here we didn't have to share them with the packs of selfie-takers swarming the national parks. In fact, the only other people we saw while hiking here were a group of horseback riders and a few mountain bikers. 

The trail will take you up to the top pf Thunder Mountain, but we only did a few meandering miles, mostly enjoying a break from the hordes of other tourists before we braved another national park. This hike was also great for getting some exercise with the dog outside the park, because while Bryce Canyon does have one dog-friendly trail, it looked nowhere near as lush and scenic as the Pa'rus Trail in Zion NP.

Words to the wise: This is definitely not a hike to do in hot weather. There is no water for you or the dog, and even in the cool of the fall the sun was relentless with very little shade. There were bathrooms, though, and plenty of parking along Highway 12, about six miles from the entrance to Bryce Canyon NP.