Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
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October 10, 2015

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Rainbow Point. Elevation: 9,105 Feet. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. October 10, 2015 Looking Northward You Can Clearly See The "Pink Cliffs" Out Of Which The "Hoodoos" Have Been Sculpted. Click On This Photo For A Video Of Rainbow Point. 79.4 MB. (MP4)

Thor's Hammer. Sunset Point. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. October 10, 2015.

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah: We wish to thank Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for some of the information on this page. We share information with Wikipedia. Bryce Canyon National Park is a National Park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m). The Bryce Canyon area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874. The area around Bryce Canyon became a National Monument in 1923 and was designated as a National Park in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres (55.992 sq mi; 14,502 ha; 145.02 km2) and receives relatively few visitors compared to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, largely due to its remote location. Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwestern Utah about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of and 1,000 feet (300 m) higher than Zion National Park. The national park lies within the Colorado Plateau geographic province of North America and straddles the southeastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau west of the Paunsaugunt Fault (Paunsaugunt is Paiute for "home of the beaver"). Park visitors arrive from the plateau part of the park and look over the plateau's edge toward a valley containing the fault and the Paria River just beyond it (Paria is Paiute for "muddy or elk water"). The edge of the Kaiparowits Plateau bounds the opposite side of the valley. Bryce Canyon was not formed from erosion initiated from a central stream, meaning it technically is not a canyon. Instead headward erosion has excavated large amphitheater-shaped features in the Cenozoic-aged rocks of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. This erosion exposed delicate and colorful pinnacles called hoodoos that are up to 200 feet (60 m) high. A series of amphitheaters extends more than 20 miles (30 km) north-to-south within the park. The largest is Bryce Amphitheater, which is 12 miles (19 km) long, 3 miles (5 km) wide and 800 feet (240 m) deep. A nearby example of amphitheaters with hoodoos in the same formation but at a higher elevation, is in Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is 25 miles (40 km) to the west on the Markagunt Plateau. Rainbow Point, the highest part of the park at 9,105 feet (2,775 m), is at the end of the 18-mile (29 km) scenic drive. From there, Aquarius Plateau, Bryce Amphitheater, the Henry Mountains, the Vermilion Cliffs and the White Cliffs can be seen. Yellow Creek, where it exits the park in the north-east section, is the lowest part of the park at 6,620 feet (2,020 m). Little is known about early human habitation in the Bryce Canyon area. Archaeological surveys of Bryce Canyon National Park and the Paunsaugunt Plateau show that people have been in the area for at least 10,000 years. Basketmaker Anasazi artifacts several thousand years old have been found south of the park. Other artifacts from the Pueblo-period Anasazi and the Fremont culture (up to the mid-12th century) have also been found. The Paiute Indians moved into the surrounding valleys and plateaus in the area around the same time that the other cultures left. These Native Americans hunted and gathered for most of their food, but also supplemented their diet with some cultivated products. The Paiute in the area developed a mythology surrounding the hoodoos (pinnacles) in Bryce Canyon. They believed that hoodoos were the Legend People whom the trickster Coyote turned to stone. At least one older Paiute said his culture called the hoodoos Anka-ku-was-a-wits, which is Paiute for "red painted faces". Mormon scouts visited the area in the 1850s to gauge its potential for agricultural development, use for grazing, and settlement. Small groups of Mormon pioneers followed and attempted to settle east of Bryce Canyon along the Paria River. In 1873, the Kanarra Cattle Company started to use the area for cattle grazing. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent Scottish immigrant Ebenezer Bryce and his wife Mary to settle land in the Paria Valley because they thought his carpentry skills would be useful in the area. The Bryce family chose to live right below Bryce Canyon Amphitheater. Bryce grazed his cattle inside what are now park borders, and reputedly thought that the amphitheaters were a "helluva place to lose a cow." He also built a road to the plateau to retrieve firewood and timber, and a canal to irrigate his crops and water his animals. Other settlers soon started to call the unusual place "Bryce's canyon", which was later formalized into Bryce Canyon. The beauty of Bryce Canyon National Park is caused by the erosion of it sedimentary rocks which has created its natural arches. A technical description from Wikipedia of this erosion is as follows. The Bryce Canyon area shows a record of deposition that spans from the last part of the Cretaceous period and the first half of the Cenozoic era. The ancient depositional environment of the region around what is now the park varied. The Dakota Sandstone and the Tropic Shale were deposited in the warm, shallow waters of the advancing and retreating Cretaceous Seaway (outcrops of these rocks are found just outside of the park borders). The colorful Claron Formation, from which the park's delicate hoodoos are carved, was laid down as sediments in a system of cool streams and lakes that existed from 63 to about 40 million years ago (from the Paleocene to the Eocene epochs). Different sediment types were laid down as the lakes deepened and became shallow and as the shoreline and river deltas migrated. Several other formations were also created but were mostly eroded away following two major periods of uplift. The Laramide orogeny affected the entire western part of what would become North America starting about 70 million to 50 million years ago. This event helped to build the Rocky Mountains and in the process closed the Cretaceous Seaway. The Straight Cliffs, Wahweap, and Kaiparowits formations were victims of this uplift. The Colorado Plateaus were uplifted 16 million years ago and were segmented into different plateaus, each separated from its neighbors by faults and each having its own uplift rate. The Boat Mesa Conglomerate and the Sevier River Formation were removed by erosion following this uplift. This uplift created vertical joints, which over time were preferentially eroded. The easily eroded Pink Cliffs of the Claron Formation responded by forming freestanding pinnacles in badlands called hoodoos, while the more resistant White Cliffs formed monoliths. The brown, pink and red colors are from hematite iron(III) oxide (Fe O ); the yellows from limonite consisting of a mixture of hydrated iron(III) oxide-hydroxides in varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO(OH); and the purples are from pyrolusite manganese dioxide (MnO2). Also created were arches, natural bridges, walls, and windows. Hoodoos are composed of soft sedimentary rock and are topped by a piece of harder, less easily eroded stone that protects the column from the elements. Bryce Canyon has one of the highest concentrations of hoodoos of any place on Earth. The formations exposed in the area of the park are part of a large geographic formation called "the Grand Staircase." The oldest members of this supersequence of rock units are exposed in the Grand Canyon, the intermediate ones in Zion National Park, and its youngest parts are laid bare in Bryce Canyon area. A small amount of overlap occurs in and around each park. There are more than 400 native plant species that live in the park. There are three life zones in the park based on elevation: The lowest areas of the park are dominated by dwarf forests of pinyon pine and juniper with manzanita, serviceberry, and antelope bitterbrush in between. aspen, cottonwood, water birch, and willow grow along streams. Ponderosa pine forests cover the mid-elevations with blue spruce and Douglas fir in water-rich areas and manzanita and bitterbrush as underbrush. Douglas fir and white fir, along with aspen and Engelmann spruce, make up the forests on the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The harshest areas have limber pine and ancient Great Basin bristlecone pine, some more than 1,600 years old. The forests and meadows of Bryce Canyon provide the habitat to support diverse animal life, from birds and small mammals to foxes and occasional bobcats, cougars, and black bears. Mule deer are the most common large mammals in the park. Elk and pronghorn, which have been reintroduced nearby, sometimes venture into the park. The park has two trails designated for overnight hiking: the 9-mile (14 km) Riggs Spring Loop Trail and the 23-mile (37 km) Under-the-Rim Trail. Both require a backcountry camping permit. In total there are 50 miles (80 km) of trails in the park. Snowshoes are required in the winter. Most park visitors sightsee by using the scenic drive, which provides access to 13 viewpoints over the amphitheaters. Bryce Canyon has eight marked and maintained hiking trails that can be hiked in less than a day (round trip time, trailhead): Mossy Cave (one hour, State Route 12 northwest of Tropic), Rim Trail (5�6 hours, anywhere on rim), Bristlecone Loop (one hour, Rainbow Point), and Queens Garden (1�2 hours, Sunrise Point) are easy to moderate hikes. Navajo Loop (1�2 hours, Sunset Point) and Tower Bridge (2�3 hours, north of Sunrise Point) are moderate hikes. Fairyland Loop (4�5 hours, Fairyland Point) and Peekaboo Loop (3�4 hours, Bryce Point) are strenuous hikes. Several of these trails intersect, allowing hikers to combine routes for more challenging hikes. These Are The Main View Points of The Scenic Loop, in the order of entering the park: however, We advise driving directly to Rainbow Point as the sun rises; and then to drive back toward the entrance, and to look at the different Scenic Views. That way you will have the best sun lighting for taking your photos. We noticed that many other visitors were using the same plan! Including two profesional photographers. Swamp Canyon Piracy Point Fairview Point Aqua Canyon Natural Bridge Ponderosa Canyon Black Birch Canyon Rainbow Point Yovimpa Point Seeing the Park by Car The park's 18-mile (one-way) scenic drive follows the rim of Bryce Canyon, offering easy access to a variety of views into the fanciful fairyland of stone sculptures below. Trailers are not permitted on the road but can be left at several parking lots. Also, because all overlooks are on your left as you begin your drive, it's best to avoid crossing traffic by driving all the way to the end of the road without stopping and then stopping at the overlooks on your return trip. Allow 1 to 2 hours for the main viewpoints, 3 to 4 hours if you plan to do a bit of walking. From the visitor center, drive 18 miles to Yovimpa and Rainbow Point overlooks, which offer expansive views of southern Utah, Arizona, and sometimes even New Mexico. From these pink cliffs, you can look down on a colorful platoon of stone soldiers, standing at eternal attention. The short Bristlecone Loop Trail, from Rainbow Point, leads to an 1,800-year-old bristlecone pine, believed to be one of the oldest living things at Bryce Canyon. Heading north, the Black Birch Canyon Overlook is a roadside pullout, where you get a good view of the southern part of the park, including Rainbow Point. From here, drive back north to Ponderosa Canyon Overlook, where you can gaze down at multicolored hoodoos from a dense forest of spruce and fir. Then continue to Agua Canyon Overlook, which has some of the best color contrasts you'll find in the park. Look almost straight down to see the Hunter, a hoodoo with a hat of evergreens. Continue on to Natural Bridge, actually an arch carved by rain and wind, which spans 85 feet. From here, continue to Farview Point, where there's a panoramic view to the distant horizon and the Kaibab Plateau, at the Grand Canyon's north rim. From Farview Point, a dirt path leads several hundred feet north to Piracy Point, which offers good views to the north. After passing the Swamp Canyon overlook, continue until you see a right turn off the main road, where you'll find three viewpoints. The first of these is Paria View, with views to the south of the White Cliffs, which have been carved in the light-colored sandstone by the Paria River. To the north of Paria View, you'll find Bryce Point, a splendid stop for viewing the awesome Bryce Amphitheater, the largest natural amphitheater in the park. This is also a terrific point to take in distant views of the Black Mountains, to the northeast, and Navajo Mountain, to the south. From here, it's just a short drive back toward the main road and Inspiration Point, a must-see stop offering views similar to those at Bryce Point, plus the best view in the park of the Silent City, a collection of hoodoos that looks like a sleeping city cast in stone. Now return to the main road and head north to Sunset Point, where you can see practically all of Bryce Amphitheater, including the aptly named Thor's Hammer and the 200-foot-tall cliffs of Wall Street. Continue north to a turnoff for your final stop, at Sunrise Point, where there's an inspiring view into Bryce Amphitheater. This is the beginning of the Queen's Garden Trail, an excellent choice for a quick walk below the canyon's rim. Our Photos Shown Below Are Following Our Suggested Plan Of The Driving Viewing Order. Horse riding is available in the park from April through October. More than 10 miles (16 km) of marked but ungroomed skiing trails are available off of Fairyland, Paria, and Rim trails in the park. Twenty miles (32 km) of connecting groomed ski trails are in nearby Dixie National Forest and Ruby's Inn. There are two campgrounds in the park, North Campground and Sunset Campground. Loop A in North Campground is open year-round. Additional loops and Sunset Campground are open from late spring to early autumn. The 114-room Bryce Canyon Lodge is another way to stay overnight in the park.