Conditions Right Now
Use sunset as your turnaround alarm.
Why Hike This
The reason to do this one is elevation, not distance. You climb a short ravine and pop out on a flat mesa top with fingers of rock running out to promontories, so you get to look down on Kodachrome's sedimentary pipes rather than up at them. The park counts 67 of those spires, and the layered rock below you covers roughly 180 million years. Gates are posted 8am to 6pm, so morning is the better light window.
The Trail
Fins and hoodoo balconies above the basin in 45 minutes.
Heat note: desert country - in summer start at dawn and carry more water than feels reasonable.
Pack Loadout (Easy)
Water bottle, sunscreen, hat, snacks, comfortable shoes.
Getting There
Make it a weekend: Sunset Campground (Bryce) (Camping, 13 mi) · North Campground (Bryce) (Camping, 13 mi) · Wide Hollow Reservoir (Fishing, 27 mi) · Sevier River (Upper) (Fishing, 28 mi)
More hikes nearby: Peekaboo Loop (Hike, 12 mi) · Mossy Cave & Waterfall (Hike, 12 mi) · Queen's Garden + Navajo Loop (Hike, 12 mi) · Fairyland Loop (Hike, 13 mi)
Quick Answers
- How long is the Angel's Palace hike?
- 1.5 miles round trip with 236 feet of elevation gain.
- How hard is Angel's Palace?
- Easy. Kid rating: 4 out of 5.
- When should I hike Angel's Palace?
- Best season: All year.
- Why hike Angel's Palace?
- Kodachrome got its name from a 1948 National Geographic expedition that thought the rock looked like the color film. Angel's Palace is the short trail that gets you above it: a quick climb up a ravine to a mesa top, then a walk out along fins with the basin and its spires spread underneath.