The red rock Panguitch
Little Bryce, and a highway cut through the rock
Red Canyon, eleven miles out on Scenic Byway 12.
Red Canyon is the first red rock most people see on the drive to Bryce, and it is free, uncrowded and worth more than a glance through the windshield. The highway runs through two rock tunnels dating to 1925, short trails climb into the hoodoos, and a paved path lets you see the canyon on foot or by bike.
By Scott Buehler, Panguitch local
Updated September 2026
The short answer
Red Canyon is a stretch of bright red hoodoos on Scenic Byway 12, about eleven miles east of Panguitch, and yes, it is worth stopping for rather than driving straight through on the way to Bryce. It sits on national forest land with no entrance station and no fee, the highway itself threads through two rock tunnels dating to 1925, and a set of short trails and a paved path let you get out of the car and into the rock. Locals call it Little Bryce, because the formations are carved from the same pink Claron limestone that built the amphitheater a dozen miles east, so you get a real taste of that color and shape with none of the gate or the crowds. It sits high, roughly 7,000 feet and up, which means mild summers, real winters, and a trail season that runs late spring through fall.
Little Bryce
The highway goes through the rock.
What sets Red Canyon apart from ordinary roadside scenery is that the road itself is part of the attraction. Scenic Byway 12 runs straight through the red rock here, blasted through two openings for the original highway in the 1920s rather than routed around the formations. When the route opened in 1925, a caravan of cars came out from Panguitch to a banner that read Welcome to Utah's Fairyland, and the two tunnels have carried traffic ever since. They are narrow, they frame the rock on both sides as you pass, and they are the reason people slow down here even when Bryce is the day's real destination.
The rock is the same pink Claron limestone that Bryce Canyon is carved from, not sandstone, which is why the hoodoos and fins look so familiar and why locals have long called this Little Bryce. The color runs from deep rust to pale coral depending on the light, and it is set off by the dark green of the ponderosa pines that fill the Dixie National Forest around it. You get a real preview of the shape and color of the deeper park country a dozen miles east, without the entrance station.
All of it sits on national forest land, in the Powell Ranger District of the Dixie National Forest. There is no gate, no entrance station and no fee, which is the single biggest reason to build in a stop here rather than treat the canyon as something to photograph through the windshield. Pull off, park, and the rock is right there.
On foot
Trails, from a ten minute loop to a half day.
Red Canyon has more walking than most people passing through ever realize. The trails run from a flat interpretive loop you can finish in ten minutes to canyon routes that fill a morning, and every one of them is free with no permit required. They are dirt, and they are for feet, not tires, so bikes stay on the paved path and the singletrack up on the ridge. Four are worth knowing before you stop.
Pink Ledges Trail
The easy one, straight from the visitor center. Directions
Arches Trail
A short loop past a string of small natural arches. Directions
Cassidy Trail
A longer canyon route that carries the outlaw's name. Directions
The name comes from the outlaw Butch Cassidy, who local legend says used this back country as a hideout in the 1880s. That is the whole of the story here, a trail name and a piece of frontier folklore.
Losee Canyon
The quiet one, off on its own to the north. Directions
On two wheels
The paved path, and a ridgeline singletrack.
Two very different rides share the canyon. The paved path runs alongside Scenic Byway 12 for miles, from near the Thunder Mountain trailhead toward Bryce Canyon City, and it is smooth, mostly flat and safe for a road bike, a stroller or a wheelchair, which is unusual for anything with this kind of view. It stays close to the highway without ever putting you on it, and in winter, when there is enough snow, it is sometimes groomed for cross country skiing and snowshoeing, a genuine cold weather option close to Panguitch.
Up on the ridge above the canyon is the other kind of riding. The Thunder Mountain Trail is a well known singletrack that threads through the hoodoos with the canyon dropping away below, and it is one of the few places in this corner of Utah where you can mountain bike among formations like these. Bryce Canyon National Park does not allow it, so riders come here for it specifically.
The paved path
Flat, smooth, and free of highway traffic. Directions
Thunder Mountain Trail
Ridgetop singletrack through the hoodoos. Directions
The drive
Eleven miles, then the rock starts.
From downtown Panguitch, take US-89 south to the junction with Scenic Byway 12, then turn east. The visitor center and the main trailheads appear within a few minutes of that turn, well before the canyon narrows into the section with the tunnels. The whole drive is paved and runs about 15 minutes. Because it is also the route to Bryce, Red Canyon works cleanly as a stop on the way rather than a separate trip, adding perhaps 20 to 30 minutes for a short walk. Coming back from Bryce in the late afternoon, with the light lower and warmer on the rock, is arguably the better time to pull off.
Plan for the elevation. The canyon sits high, roughly 7,000 feet at the visitor center and higher on the trails and the ridge, so it stays cooler than St. George or the low desert even in July, winter brings real snow, and summer afternoons can build fast thunderstorms up on the plateau. Water, layers and shoes with grip go a long way here.
The visitor center keeps a shorter season than the road. The canyon, the highway and the trails are open year round, but the visitor center is staffed only through a shorter season, generally spring through fall, and can close for the day earlier than a late afternoon visitor expects. Do not count on restrooms, water or staff outside that window, and check current hours before planning a stop built around the visitor center.
Scott Buehler
Moving Utah About Scott
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Read the pageQuick answers
Red Canyon, answered.
About 11 miles. From downtown Panguitch you take US-89 south to the junction with Scenic Byway 12, then turn east, and the visitor center and the trailheads appear within a few minutes. It sits on the direct route to Bryce Canyon National Park, so it works best as a stop on the way rather than a separate trip.
Two openings blasted through the red rock for the original highway in the 1920s, carrying two way traffic on Scenic Byway 12 to this day. When the route opened in 1925 a banner at the site read Welcome to Utah's Fairyland. They are commonly called the Red Canyon tunnels, and a short trail nearby climbs to a viewpoint above them.
No. Red Canyon is part of the Dixie National Forest, in the Powell Ranger District, with no entrance station and no fee, unlike Bryce Canyon National Park a short drive further east. There is parking at the Red Canyon Visitor Center and at the trailheads, all off Scenic Byway 12.
Several, from a ten minute loop to a half day out. The Pink Ledges Trail is a short interpretive walk from the visitor center, the Arches Trail is a roughly 0.7 mile loop past a string of small arches, and longer routes like the Cassidy Trail and Losee Canyon reach deeper into the formations. All of them are free and none need a permit.
Yes. A paved path runs alongside Scenic Byway 12 from near the Thunder Mountain trailhead toward Bryce Canyon City, smooth and mostly flat and open to riders and walkers of most fitness levels. For mountain bikers, the Thunder Mountain Trail is a well known singletrack ride through the hoodoos, something Bryce Canyon National Park itself does not allow.
Because the red and orange hoodoos are carved from the same Claron limestone as the famous amphitheater at Bryce Canyon National Park, about a dozen miles further east, so they look like a smaller version of it. It gives you a real preview of the color and shape of the deeper park country with no entrance fee.
The canyon sits high, roughly 7,000 to 8,000 feet, so summer days stay mild and winter brings real snow. Late spring through fall is the reliable window for the trails and the paved path. In winter the path is sometimes groomed for cross country skiing and snowshoeing when there is enough snow.
The canyon, the road and the trails are open year round, but the visitor center itself keeps a shorter staffed season, generally spring through fall, and can close for the day earlier than a late afternoon visitor expects. Check current hours before planning a stop built around the visitor center.
Thirty minutes covers a quick look and a short walk near the tunnels. An hour to ninety minutes is comfortable for the Arches Trail plus a stretch of the paved path. Riding a real portion of the paved path, or the Thunder Mountain singletrack, is more like a half day.
The rock that tells you what the rest of the drive holds.
Red Canyon is a fair preview of why people move to this corner of Garfield County: real scenery a short drive from a real town, with none of it gated or ticketed. If that combination is what you are chasing, let's talk about what living inside it actually looks like.
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