Bryce Canyon is a rare beauty in a region of gorgeous national parks. Often overlooked due to nearby Zion and Grand Canyon national parks, Bryce with its hoodoo collections at times can feel like your own private park in winter.
     When storms blanket this southern Utah park, rangers hand out snowshoes and lead visitors along the rim of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, interrupting their natural history lessons with expansive views into the stony maw of the Queen's Garden and Fairyland Canyon.
    More accomplished fans of winter take to cross-country skis and negotiate the dead-end road that runs 18 miles along the plateau rim’s to Rainbow Point, where they can gaze south across the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and, on clear days, on south into Arizona.
    Though the historic Bryce Canyon Lodge is shuttered through the winter, at Ruby's Inn, which stands right outside the park entrance, winter offers the best lodging deals around. For just $110 you can get a three-night stay at the inn.
    Only have time for two nights? Opt for the $103.50 Snowflake Special that includes two days of cross-country ski or snowshoe rentals.
    Plan your visit for President's Day Weekend in February and you can partake in cross-country ski tours and races, snowshoe races, archery clinics and even a snow sculpture contest.