Bryce Canyon National Park – “Mossy Cave” – Mystery Waterfall!

September 2016 – Just as headlines sell news stories, the same thing is true with hiking trails at the National Parks.

At Bryce Canyon National Park there are lots of great hiking trails and overlooks with fabulously inviting names like: Fairyland Trail, Inspiration Point, Sunrise and Sunset Points and Peek-a-boo Trail to name a few.

But up in the northeast corner of Bryce Canyon National Park, well off the beaten path, and not even on the main drive through the Park, there’s a hiking trail called Mossy Cave. This is an interesting name, perhaps, but it sure didn’t jump out at us and beg us to come check it out!

I wonder if because of this rather drab sounding name, other visitors respond like we do and don’t bother to drive outside the Park and around to its far northeastern edge to find out what Mossy Cave is all about.

Whatever the cause, this hiking trail is very lightly used compared to the other more popular trails at Bryce Canyon National Park.

My suspicion is that if this trail bore the name “Waterfall Cascades” or “Glittering Pools,” both of which is has, the trail would be overrun with visitors!

How fortunate that the feature this trail is named after is the other thing you’ll see on the hike — a shallow overhang that seeps water and is covered with various types of moss — instead of the beautiful waterfall!

To a naturalist or biology expert, the mossy cave is probably the more fascinating feature on this trail. And photos we’ve seen of icicles in the cave during the winter are beautiful.

However, to everyday hikers and tourists, it is the waterfall and cascades upstream from it that are the real draw!

The branch canyon that Mossy Cave is in is called Water Canyon, and rightfully so. In the early 1890’s, mormon pioneers diverted some of the East Fork of the Sevier River to flow through here so they could use the water for irrigation purposes. With picks and shovels they carved a ditch and let the water flow.

So, it is not a natural water course. But the waterfall itself is totally natural, and the water drops down over a red rock overhang as if this year-round stream were meant to be here and had been here all along!

The overhang is fairly large, so Mark slipped in behind it to get some very cool images.

We walked upstream from the main waterfall and found that the stream is a babbling brook for quite a distance, tripping over stones and rocks along the way.

There are other smaller waterfalls too.

We wandered back down the trail to a fork and took the path leading to the Mossy Cave. A short distance down the trail we came to the cave. The water was seeping through the rocks in such quantities that it was dripping from the roof of the cave onto the gravel floor below. Patches of moss covered the rocks, and the air was cool. The trail didn’t go inside the cave, but we could stand on one side and peer in.

We ended up doing the Mossy Cave hike several times during our stay in Bryce Canyon. It is a short and easy trail that is lovely in both morning and afternoon light. And there are some wonderful hoodoos high up on the ridges.

One morning, as the sun was rising, Mark caught a fantastic starburst in one of the red rock windows.

If you have already enjoyed some of the major hikes and overlooks at Bryce Canyon National Park, the Mossy Cave trail makes for a very pleasant trek. And on a hot day, what could be better than hanging around a waterfall!

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Here are some more links for planning a visit to Bryce Canyon National Park and doing the Mossy Cave hike:

• Mossy Cave Hike – NPS Official Website
• Bryce Canyon National Park General Info – National Park Service Website
• RV/Tent Campgrounds in Bryce Canyon – Dry camping for small / medium RVs inside the National Park
• Ruby’s Inn RV Park – Full hookups and Big Rig Friendly in nearby Bryce Canyon City
• Red Canyon Campground – Beautiful dry camping with 6-8 campsites big enough for our 36′ fifth wheel trailer.
• Location of Mossy Cave in Bryce Canyon National Park

More blog posts from our RV trips to Bryce Canyon

• Bryce Canyon in Winter – Snow and Lace on the Red Rock Spires! 01/25/19
• Spring in Sarasota FL + Bryce Canyon’s Night Skies – in Trailer Life 04/04/17
• Bryce Canyon – Rainbow Point – Bristlecone Pines and Sweeping Vistas 11/01/16
• Red Canyon Utah and the Bryce Canyon Bike Trail! 10/13/16
• Bryce Canyon Gone Wild – Tempests, Rainbows & Wildlife 10/09/16
• Bryce Canyon National Park – Fairyland Trail – A Beautiful Hike! 10/02/16
• Bryce Canyon – Hiking The Rim & Navajo Loop + A Tourist Time-lapse! 09/29/16
• Bryce Canyon National Park – Inspiration Point – OMG! 09/27/16
• Bryce Canyon, UT – Fairyland of Pink Turrets 08/25/08

Related posts from our RV travels:

• Our RV travels in Southwestern Utah – Bryce, Zion and Capitol Reef area
• Our RV travels in Southeastern Utah – Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands area
• Our RV travels to Sedona Arizona – Red Rock Country in AZ
• Our travels to North America’s National Parks – National Parks and World Heritage Sites in the US, Canada and Mexico

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