Mossy Cave
Fifteen spaces. That's the whole story. Mossy Cave sits on Highway 12, about four miles east of the Highway 12/63 junction — the northern corner of Bryce Canyon, reached without passing an entrance station. NPS confirms the lot at 15 spaces, 2 oversize, 2 ADA van-accessible and step-free, with accessible restrooms on site. The trail is 0.8 miles round trip and 150 feet of climbing, about an hour, and it's one of the lowest-elevation hikes in the park.
The common misconception: this is still inside the park and still a fee area. NPS says you can reach the trail "without entering through the park's fee booths" but that it "remains a fee area requiring proof of admission." No booth is not the same as no fee — keep your $35 vehicle pass or America the Beautiful pass with the car.
The facts
- Trail served
- Mossy Cave Trail — 0.8 mi round trip, 150 ft elevation gain, roughly 1 hour, easy. Leads to the mossy grotto and a side spur to the waterfall on the Tropic Ditch
- Cost / pass
- Parking free. No entrance station on this access, but the park entrance fee still applies — $35/vehicle for 7 days, or America the Beautiful. NPS asks visitors to keep proof of admission with the vehicle for ranger inspection. The park does not accept cash; buy a digital pass on Recreation.gov if you're arriving from the east on Highway 12
- Lot size
- 15 total spaces — 2 oversize, 2 ADA-designated, 2 ADA van-accessible, 2 step-free (NPS)
- When it fills
- NPS publishes no fill time. With 15 spaces on a busy state highway and a trail short enough for anyone, expect it to be full at some point on most summer days — but turnover is fast, because the average visit is about an hour rather than the four hours a Fairyland Loop hiker takes
- Overflow option
- There is no sanctioned overflow lot. Do not park along the SR-12 shoulder. Wait out the turnover, come early or late, or go elsewhere in the park
- Tow / citation risk
- Roadside parking on Highway 12 is not permitted — this is a 55+ mph state highway with a narrow shoulder and heavy RV traffic. Use the lot or come back later
- Restrooms
- Yes
- Road to the lot
- Paved. Highway 12, about 4 miles east of the Highway 12/63 junction, between the park turnoff and Tropic. No shuttle service — NPS notes private options may be available
- Busy season
- Open year-round. Waterfalls in summer, icicles in winter; the trail crosses the creek on bridges and can be icy in cold months
Getting there
Get directions →The outlier, described accurately
Mossy Cave gets called "outside the park" constantly, including by people selling tours. It isn't. Highway 12 clips the northern section of Bryce Canyon National Park, and the trailhead sits inside the boundary — it's just outside the fee-booth corridor, which is a different thing. NPS's own wording: you can hike it "without entering through the park's fee booths," and it "remains a fee area requiring proof of admission."
That distinction is the whole practical character of the place. There's no entrance queue, no shuttle, no viewpoint circuit, and no ranger waving you past a full lot. There is a 15-space asphalt rectangle beside a state highway, and either there's room or there isn't.
The lot's accessibility numbers are unusually strong for its size — of 15 spaces, 2 are ADA-designated, 2 van-accessible, and 2 step-free, with accessible restrooms on site. Proportionally that's the best-equipped small lot at Bryce.
The trail earns the stop: 0.8 miles round trip, 150 feet, about an hour, and NPS notes the pleasant oddity that it "begins with a climb and ends with a descent." You get a dripping, moss-hung alcove, and a short spur to a waterfall — fed by the Tropic Ditch, a 19th-century irrigation diversion, which is why there's running water here and nowhere else in the hoodoos. In winter the whole thing ices over into columns. Dogs are not allowed; service animals are.
Fifteen spaces and a highway
Here's the arithmetic that makes this page necessary. Bryce Canyon takes over two million visitors a year. Mossy Cave is on the main route between Bryce and Escalante, Capitol Reef, and the whole eastern Utah loop, so a large share of them drive past it. And it has fifteen spaces.
What saves it is dwell time. An hour is the typical visit — compare the three to five hours a Peekaboo or Fairyland Loop hiker leaves a car sitting. Turnover is genuinely fast, and waiting five or ten minutes in the lot entrance often works, which is almost never true at Sunset Point.
What doesn't save it: parking on the highway. SR-12 shoulder parking is not permitted here. This is a fast state route with heavy RV and trailer traffic and a narrow, soft shoulder, and the pedestrian crossing from a shoulder space to the trailhead is genuinely dangerous. Two of the fifteen spaces are sized for oversize vehicles — if both are taken and you're driving something long, this stop isn't happening today.
NPS publishes a predicted-occupancy tool on its parking page where you can select a date, which is the closest thing to a fill forecast the park offers. It does not give a clock time, and neither will we.
Plan B
Come at the edges of the day. The park is open 24 hours and the shuttle is irrelevant here, so nothing about your arrival is gated. Early morning and the last two hours of light are both quiet, and the alcove photographs better without midday glare anyway.
Wait it out. Genuinely viable at this trailhead and almost nowhere else at Bryce. An hour-long average visit in a 15-space lot means a space opens every few minutes on a busy day. Pull into the entrance, don't block it, and be patient.
Go into the park proper. The main entrance is four miles west, and Sunset Point (115 spaces), Sunrise Point (113), and the free shuttle are all right there. Or head south past Mile 3 on the Scenic Drive, where Rainbow Point has 56 spaces and no oversize restrictions.
If you're routing on to Zion, this is the natural last stop before turning west — and the parking situation there works on completely different rules. Read the Zion parking page before you arrive, because at Zion the shuttle is mandatory and the lot fills by mid-morning.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have to pay to visit Mossy Cave?
Yes, though there's no booth. NPS states that the Mossy Cave trailhead can be reached without entering through the park's fee booths but that it remains a fee area requiring proof of admission. Keep your $35 vehicle pass, America the Beautiful pass, or Recreation.gov digital pass with the vehicle — rangers inspect at unstaffed access points.
How big is the Mossy Cave parking lot?
15 spaces total, per the National Park Service — including 2 oversize spaces, 2 ADA-designated, 2 ADA van-accessible, and 2 step-free. Accessible restrooms are on site. There is no overflow lot, and parking on the Highway 12 shoulder is not permitted.
Where is the Mossy Cave trailhead?
On Highway 12 in the northern section of Bryce Canyon National Park, about four miles east of the Highway 12 and Highway 63 junction, on the way toward Tropic. It is inside the park boundary but outside the entrance-station corridor, so you reach it without queuing at a fee booth.
How long is the Mossy Cave trail?
0.8 miles round trip with 150 feet of elevation gain, taking most people about an hour. NPS rates it easy and notes it is one of the lowest-elevation hikes in the park, and unusual in that it begins with a climb and ends with a descent. Pets are not permitted; service animals are.
Is Mossy Cave open in winter?
Yes, it's open year-round and there is no seasonal road closure on Highway 12 comparable to the Fairyland Point spur. NPS lists waterfalls in summer and icicles in winter as seasonal features. The trail crosses the creek on bridges and can be icy in cold months, so bring traction.
Facts on this page last verified July 21, 2026. Fees, hours, and access rules change seasonally — confirm with the official source before a long drive.