Utah has some of the most astounding natural beauty of any state we have visited. And we have been to all 50 of them! Bryce Canyon National Park is a perfect example of America’s splendor.
Welcome to Bryce Canyon National Park in gorgeous Utah!
The joy of being The Traveling Locavores!
Bryce Canyon National Park
Hmmm…not quite sure if Ladybug would fit through there. Good thing we came by Jeep!
Excitement was building as we drove toward Bryce Canyon. Steve and I and been to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah on our very first round trip from our staring point of West Palm Beach, Florida. But each and every time we mentioned have been to Arches NP, we were told we absolutely HAD TO go to Bryce and Zion.
Hard to imagine that this was not carved by human hands, but by Mother Nature’s!!!
We’d been given a surprise teaser to Zion a couple of days prior, when we visited Kolob Canyons. Now we were finally approaching Bryce with our friends Sandee and Mack, and we couldn’t wait!
Canyons and mountains as far as the eye can see!
Standing above on of the amphitheaters we finally understood was all of the fuss was about. It’s beyond words!!! The vastness and the intricate details carved into the spectrum of colorful rock by ice and wind is truly incredible.
Not truly a canyon
Lakes visible from up high at Bryce NP
Oddly enough, Bryce Canyon is not really a canyon. In actuality it’s a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is known for its geological structures called hoodoos that were formed by frost weathering along with stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rock. Those red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide dazzling views for visitors like us.
The Colors of Nature
Why is Bryce Canyon not really a canyon? Because it was not formed from erosion that was initiated from a central stream. Headward erosion excavated large amphitheater shaped features. This erosion resulted in stunning, delicate and colorful pinnacles that are called hoodoos. The hoodoos are up to 200 feet high. The series of amphitheaters is more than 20 miles long.
Named for a homesteader
Gorgeous Stellar Jay, native to Utah
This southwestern area of Utah was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s. It was named for Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874. Originally designated as a national monument by President Warren G. Harding in 1923, Bryce Canyon was redesignated as a national park in 1928.
Native American habitation
Hoodoos Galore
Not much is known about early human habitation in the area. But archaeological surveys show that people have lived in the area for at least 10,000 years. Ancient Pueblo artifacts thousands of years old were found just south of the park.
Audience at the Amphitheater
The Paiute Native Americans moved into the area around the time that the other cultures vacated. The Paiute developed a mythology around the hoodoos. They believed that they were the “Legend People whom the trickster Coyote turned to stone.
European American exploration and settlement
Standing Guard
Exploration of the area, by the first European Americans, began in the late 18th and early 19th century. Prior to that, Mormon scouts had visited the Bryce Canyon area in the 1850s in order to estimate its potential for agriculture, grazing, and settlement.
Storming the Castle
Small groups of Mormon pioneers ensued and tried to settle east of Bryce Canyon along the Paria River. Then in 1873, the Kanarra Cattle Company began to graze cattle there.
Ebenezer Bryce settles in the area
How do trees grow right out of the rocks?
Scottish immigrant Ebenezer Bryce and his wife Mary were sent by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Their goal was to settle land in the Paria Valley and to apply his carpentry skills.
See how small those people look in the bottom left? That’s how enormous Bryce Canyon is!!!
They settled right below Bryce Amphitheater – the main collection of hoodoos. According to the park’s website: !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 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”, and the name stuck.”
A closer look at some of the many hoodoos at Bryce Canyon
Sadly, a mix of drought, overgrazing, and flooding eventually drove, what was left of the Paiutes, from the area. This motivated the settlers to attempt to build a water diversion channel from the Sevier River drainage. However, that effort failed, which lead to most of the settlers, including the Bryce family, abandoning the area.
Stunning art created by Mother Nature
An Amphitheater at Bryce Canyon National Park
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