Mossy Cave

Mossy Cave is in the northern section of the park, located on Highway 12.

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Mossy Cave Details

If you're already in Bryce Canyon National Park, you'll actually have to exit the park to visit Mossy Cave, but it's worth the drive via UT-63 to UT-12, where you'll turn east for four miles before reaching the Mossy Cave parking area. From here, it's just a short walk to the cave, although you can continue to hike to the top of a waterfall for more views of the area's hoodoos and windows. The easy, mostly flat trail here makes Mossy Cave a nice option for children and seniors who want to see hoodoos up close without having to hike down into Bryce Canyon. The cave is located in Water Canyon, where early Mormon settlers built an irrigation ditch to carry water from the east fork of the Sevier River to the towns of Tropic and Cannonville. Mossy Cave itself is a sheltered grotto formed by an underground spring; the name comes from an overhang covered in moss for much of the year (in winter, giant icicles form here). The water flowing through this area for the last century has changed the Water Canyon environment, with plants like Mountain Death Camas and Watson Bog Orchid and more diversity of wildlife than you generally find in other parts of the park.

Difficulty

Low

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