Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA
Before I started planning my trip to the U.S.A. I hadn’t heard of Bryce Canyon. We had planned to ‘do’ the Big Sur (route 101), Las Vegas and to take in a few national parks. When I started to investigate the region and what we could reasonably do in the 3 weeks we had available I happened across Bryce, and am very glad I did.
The small national park is a wonder of almost surreal rock formations called ‘hoodoo’s’ that are quite unlike anything I have seen anywhere else. They look a little like church organs as they are sort of joined up pillars of rock in varying colours – mainly from white to a vivid salmony pink formed when ice and rainwater wear away the softer limestone.
The visitors centre plays a 22 minute film (every hour of opening time on the hour) that will give a good introduction. We skipped this and headed straight into the park with our map. There is a road across the top of the park with various stop-off / view points along the way, and of course there are places where you can venture down trails in amongst the rock formations at various points. We decided to drive to the furthest point in the park (Rainbow Point) and work our way back toward the entrance which didn’t seem to be a bad plan and I think saved the best till last.
Near the furthest stop we came across a single pillar of rock, top-heavy with graduated colours and a what appeared to be a craggy face ‘carved’ into the rock. The park also has a ‘natural bridge (arch) and a series of natural amphitheatres ringed with the hoodoos, and as I stated previously I think probably the best views are to be gained at Inspiration Point, Sunset Point and Sunrise Point.
The park is home to condors (we saw a few), Utah Prarie Dogs and a small bird called the South Western Willow Flycatcher, all of which are endangered so of course protected. If you have a decent amount of time to spend in the park there are quite a few organised ranger programmes and horseback and mule rides and the 23mile ‘Under-The Rim’ trail which has eight campsites (permits are required for over-night stays).
During the winter months you can rent cross country skiing equipment and snow-shoes - we went in October which was sunny and something like 70F so no specialist gear was required – just a camera and heaps of film.
There isn’t really much else to say about the park – I’ll just let some of my stops speak for themselves!
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