This post is a continuation of my look at national parks in the United States.

Bryce Canyon National Park is located in the southwestern portion of the state of Utah.  The park is just 56 square miles (150 km2) in size, which is quite small for a national park in the western United States  It also receives fewer visitors compared to other national parks in the area. Bryce Canyon is a beautiful park though and well worth the trip.

Bryce Canyon National Park is primarily known for its tall, thin, chimney-like* rock formations, which are called “hoodoos.”  (“Hoodoo” is a technical geological term and not a common word in English.)  These hoodoos are formed by erosion** over many hundreds and thousands of years. The average rate of erosion for the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park is 2-4 feet (.6-1.3 m) every 100 years.  What that means is that these marvels*** of nature won’t be around forever!  In fact this national park looks different now than compared to when it was first discovered and described by white men moving west across America in the 1700s and 1800s.  The first western settlers in the area of Bryce Canyon were Mormon pioneers in the 1850s.  These pioneers farmed in the valleys around where the hoodoos rise up.  There are still people living and farming in this area today.  They are not living and farming in the national park of course, but just outside it.  Before American pioneers lived in this area there were Native Americans (also called ‘American Indians’) who have lived in this area for at least 10,000 years. The Paiute people (the Native American tribe in the area) developed stories about the impressive hoodoos. They believed that the hoodoos were a group of people whom a tricky**** Coyote turned to stone.

One of the reasons the hoodoos in this national park are so impressive is because of the beautiful color of the rocks.  This color is revealed over time by erosion.  The weather in this area helps a great deal in this erosion process.  There can be as much as 15 to 18 inches (38 to 46 cm) of rain and snowfall in this area of Utah every year.  The temperature also ranges from very cold (9 °F / −13 °C) to reasonably hot (83 °F / 28 °C).  You can visit this park year round and see its beauty in both the snow and sun.  There are many walking trails, a driving route with many view points, and a number of campgrounds.  If you don’t have a lot of time, this is an American national park that you can see in just one day. As many people can’t make it to the park at all I’ve included some pictures here of the hoodoos in the park so you have an idea of what they look like.

Here is a link to the National Parks Service website for Bryce Canyon National Park: http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm

* chimney = the part of a fireplace structure that extends above the roof to let smoke out, typically built of stone or brick
** erosion = the gradual wearing away of sand, dirt, and rock by elements like water, ice, and wind
*** marvels = things that fills a person with wonder or astonishment
**** tricky = deceitful, crafty, or skillful