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Bryce Canyon National Park
Centuries of wind and water have turned the edge of a southern Utah plateau into one of the most colorful and unique rock spire displays in the world.
Tourists look out over Inspiration Point at Bryce Canyon.
Jason Olson, Deseret News |
In 1923 the orange, pinkish and white rock-spire natural amphitheaters of Bryce Canyon were designated as a national monument. Five years later the area of natural wonders was converted to a national park. Today, more than 1 million tourists visit Bryce Canyon National Park each year to view the park's brilliant shapes and hues from every angle.
Early visitors to Bryce Canyon named the rock pinnacles "hoodoos," or rock people who were able to cast spells. Nature's sculpturing has created thousands of them at Bryce Canyon.
The "hoodoos" are viewed two ways — from the park's dozen view points looking down and across the amphitheaters, or by hiking down into the rock cities.
The park is 18 miles long with a 37-mile round-trip road that carries passenger cars and shuttle buses to each view point and trailhead. The average stay in the park is less than a half day, and most people view the formations from the rim's overlooks.
The scenery admired from the rim, however, is even more striking from the canyon floor, and hiking to the canyon floor is the most popular activity at Bryce Canyon. Within the park there are 50 miles of hiking trails. Some are very short hikes and some long, but all are on marked trails; some along the rim overlooking the canyon and some that weave around and between the tall figures.
Plenty of otherwise unnamed shapes and formations along the way provide grist for the imagination. You're likely to see pagodas and temples, dinosaurs and dogs, chess figures and entire cityscapes. The "hoodoos" seem to take on different moods at various times of the day as the sun moves across the sky.
Some of the trails descend more than 1,500 feet. Like all below-the-rim hikes in Bryce Canyon, however, the return trip is always the most difficult because of the ascent back to the top.
Bryce Canyon offers a variety of hiking trails.
Don Grayston, Deseret News |
For those who want to see the views from the bottom up but don't want the hike, tours on horseback are available — from an hour to a full day.
There are two air tours of the park. A scenic flight by helicopter is the more traditional, but there is now a flight in the open cockpit of a biplane, helmet and goggles provided, over the park and surrounding areas.
Many say late winter and early spring is the best time to visit Bryce Canyon, mainly because of fewer hikers on the trails and fewer tourists to compete with for parking spots at the overlooks.
Some prefer the colors of Bryce Canyon during the cooler months. Even expert photographers say pictures of Bryce Canyon in the off-season are more colorful. The low angle of the sun reduces the harsh mid-day light, causing the rock spires to cast better tints and hues.
Winter also provides a different way to experience the park — on a set of cross country skis. A 25-kilometer groomed track at Ruby's Inn near the park entrance connects with the miles of ski trails within the park. Those with snowshoes or skins for their skis can also take one of the steep trails to the bottom of the park.
Most of the area's lodges and motels stay open during the winter — sporting off-season rates. Some motels have fireplaces and hot tubs.
More information is available at www.nps.gov/brca/.
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