Bryce Canyon National Park is 145 km2 of undisturbed nature whose stunning beauty truly defies description. Magnificent, breath-taking, awesome….the list of superlatives goes on and on, but they all somehow become trivial when used to describe the view into the Bryce Canyon amphitheatre. We won’t bother trying to describe the indescribable; we’ll let some of our photographs say what we cannot and they still won’t do it justice. But we would love to tell you a little bit about Bryce Canyon.
Located in southwest Utah, Bryce Canyon is one of the most unique and visually stunning sites on the planet. Beautiful pine forests surround Bryce Canyon’s main feature: the Amphitheatre which has within it hundreds of “hoodoos”. Hoodoos are naturally formed spires of sedimentary rock that have been under-going the effects of erosion for the past 70 million years. Their unique shape is formed by a combination of wind, rain and frost. Originally this amphitheatre, now full of hundreds of spires, was a solid plateau. Millions of years of erosion created the hoodoos that exist today. ”Frost wedging” is the main form of erosion at Bryce. They experience over 200 freeze/thaw cycles each year. Each winter melting snow seeps into the cracks in the rocks and freezes at night. Ice expands to about 10% more volume than the original water and this expansion gradually pries open the cracks, making them slightly larger with each freeze/thaw cycle.
(Diagram from National Park Service)
The cracks and windows started by the frost begin the formation of the hoodoos. They are further sculpted by the eroding effects of wind and rain. The rainwater, which is slightly acidic, creates some further chemical erosion. The original plateau is made of sedimentary rock, a geological term describing layers or strata of different rock types. Limestone, siltstone, dolomite and mudstone make up most of these layers. These strata have varying degrees of hardness, causing some strata to erode more quickly than others. This is what creates the unique shape of the hoodoos.
We arrived in Bryce in the evening, just before sunset, a perfect time to see the vivid red and orange colours of these amazing feats of nature. (Sunrise, we are told, is just as stunning.) Rising the height of a 10 story building, they line up in rows that make them look like towers of sky scrapers in a large city. The elevation at Fairyland Point where we took in the view is 8100 feet. The amphitheatre’s floor was some 200 feet below. As the sun set, the expanse of hundreds of hoodoos gradually changed colour from brilliant orange to deep red. The silence was occasionally pierced by wind stirring the pines or the call of an eagle. The setting was utterly magic.
Bryce Canyon National Park is open year round and receives 1.5 million visitors each year. It has a high desert climate with only 10 inches of annual rainfall in the valley and 19 inches on the plateau. Located at the edge of the Park is Ruby’s Inn, the perfect place to stay while you explore the nearby natural wonders. It has a wonderfully rustic feel with its huge timbers and log cabin-like construction.
The park is approximately a 4 hour drive from Salt Lake City and this August (2016) marks the US National Parks Centennial. As a result, it will be a big draw this summer so plan ahead and treat your senses to some true magic by visiting and experiencing the wonders of Bryce Canyon.
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