Navajo Loop & Queen's Garden Trail

Combining the Navajo Loop and the Queen's Garden trail is widely considered the absolute best, highly recognizable way to experience the surreal beauty of Bryce Canyon National Park. Unlike the Grand Canyon, Bryce is actually a series of giant natural amphitheaters filled with thousands of brilliant orange, pink, and white limestone spires called 'hoodoos.' Starting from Sunrise Point, hikers descend off the rim and weave directly through these towering, delicately balanced rock formations. After passing a rock formation that purportedly looks like Queen Victoria, the trail cuts across the canyon floor before aggressively zig-zagging back up to Sunset Point via the insanely tight switchbacks of the famously photographed 'Wall Street' slot canyon.

Route Typology: Developed Monolithic Staircase. El Peñón de Guatapé, frequently called 'La Piedra del Peñol', is a massive 200-meter granieten inselberg rising above the Guatapé Reservoir (Embalse Peñol-Guatapé). The ascent consists of ~700–740 concrete steps built into a giant natural fissure (step counts vary by source and whether the summit tower is included). Located 2,135m above sea level, the climb provides an extraordinary 360-degree perspective of the flooded Antioquian landscape and its many islands.