Mossy Cave

The stream that carves the little canyon and feeds the Mossy Cave waterfall is not entirely natural. In the 1890s Mormon pioneer settlers in the valley below dug a long irrigation ditch, the Tropic Ditch, to divert water over the rim from the East Fork of the Sevier River and carry it down to their fields. That diverted water is what now tumbles through the canyon and over the falls.

In a bit over a century that flow has done real work, cutting the small gorge and steepening the drop where the waterfall now spills. It is a rare place where you can see erosion happening on a human timescale, the land visibly reshaped by a channel people dug for their farms. Long before the settlers, this high plateau was Paiute homeland, and the Southern Paiute remain connected to the Bryce Canyon country today.

A short way up the canyon the trail splits. One branch leads to a small waterfall where the ditch water drops over a ledge into a pool, a welcome and unexpected sight in this dry country and a favorite spot to sit on a warm afternoon. The other branch climbs a little to the mossy cave itself.

The cave is really a shallow alcove undercut into the rock, kept cool and shaded, where seeping groundwater keeps a hanging garden of moss and ferns alive on the walls and drips steadily from the ceiling. In summer it is a cool refuge, and in the cold of winter the seeps freeze into curtains and columns of ice that draw photographers to the frozen grotto.

The pink and orange spires along the trail are hoodoos, the signature landform of Bryce Canyon. They are carved from a soft, iron-tinted limestone laid down in ancient lakes, then lifted high onto the plateau. The color comes from iron and manganese staining the rock in bands of pink, orange, and cream.

The hoodoos themselves are made largely by frost. Water seeps into cracks in the rock, freezes and expands on cold nights, and slowly pries the stone apart, a process that happens here on hundreds of nights a year. Combined with occasional rain washing away the loosened debris, this frost-wedging sculpts the fins of rock into rows of delicate, ever-changing spires.

Spring and fall are ideal at Mossy Cave, with mild temperatures, running water, and comfortable walking. Summer is warm and busier, though the low trailhead and the shade of the grotto make it more bearable than the exposed plateau rim, and the waterfall is a cool draw on a hot day.

Winter transforms the trail. Snow dusts the hoodoos, and the seeps in the grotto freeze into ice, turning the alcove into a glittering wall of icicles. The footing grows slick and the little bridges can ice over, so traction and care matter, but a snowy Mossy Cave is one of the quieter, more magical corners of Bryce Canyon.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

Mossy Cave is a short, easy, family-friendly trail in a lesser-known corner of Bryce Canyon National Park, near the town of Tropic just off Scenic Byway 12. Rather than the park's famous rim viewpoints, it leads to a shady grotto draped in moss and a small waterfall, all set beneath the park's colorful hoodoos. It offers a quick, rewarding taste of Bryce's scenery with almost no effort, making it a great stop for families or a leg-stretch on a road trip.

The short walk, under a mile round trip, leads to two highlights: the mossy overhang or cave, which is green and dripping with moss in the warm months and hung with dramatic icicles in winter, and a small waterfall tumbling over the rocks. Colorful hoodoos rise overhead throughout. The waterfall actually flows from a historic irrigation channel called the Tropic Ditch, an interesting bit of local history behind the scenery.

Yes, it is one of the easiest trails in the Bryce area, a gentle walk of under a mile round trip suitable for most ages, though you should watch your footing on the rocky, sometimes muddy path and near the water, and keep children close. Because the trailhead sits outside the main park entrance station, this corner of Bryce is easy to access. Do not climb on the fragile hoodoos, which are easily damaged.

Spring through summer is lovely for the flowing waterfall and the lush green moss in the grotto, while winter offers a completely different scene, with the cave hung with striking icicles. The waterfall depends on water running in the ditch, generally in the warmer months. It makes a quick, scenic stop any time you are in the Bryce area, offering a different experience from the grand rim overlooks nearby.

Mossy Cave sits just outside Bryce Canyon National Park near Tropic, so it pairs naturally with the park's spectacular rim viewpoints and hoodoo-filled amphitheater a short drive away. The broader Bryce Canyon Country along Scenic Byway 12, including Kodachrome Basin and Grand Staircase-Escalante, is also close. That makes Mossy Cave an easy, gentle add-on to a day exploring the region's more famous red-rock wonders.