I have decided that Bryce Canyon deserves a dedicated post. It was our favorite of the trip. So incredibly spectacular that it’s hard to describe.  Mark, our guide, said we had to get in the Park really early. Eating breakfast at 6:30 AM, we were questioning that decision, but it was spot-on.

As we left the hotel, we could still see some smoke in the air from a nearby wildfire the day before. It created a slight haze in one direction. Very few other visitors were around when we entered the Park. It was cool enough for a sweater as we walked along a pretty forested path. And then – wow, we faced one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen. It was breathtaking. And the play of the morning light made the tops of some hoodoos look magically translucent.

Hoodoo Basics

Cliffs erode, creating narrow rock walls called fins, and eventually the fins crack enough to create windows like those at Arches National Park. After a few million more years, the tops of the arches collapse, creating hoodoos.

The Park is just over 9,000’ at its highest, and its snow/ice, freezing/warm temperatures have created its tens of thousands of hoodoos—the world’s biggest collection. The plateau cliffs recede about a foot every 50-60 years, and you can see evidence of Park fencing moved back and trees hanging over the edge.  

Best Story of the Mighty 5

Ebenezer Bryce converted to Mormonism and moved to Utah in 1850. At just 18 years of age, he began a church-directed life as a serial homesteader helping settle new communities throughout Utah and Arizona.  He is credited with discovering the canyon while searching for a lost cow. He is famously known to have said it was “A hell of a place to lose a cow.” For four years, he lived in the area and built a road into the canyon to harvest timber. Locals called it Bryce’s Canyon, and the name was immortalized in 1928 when the National Park was established.

This is one place I wish I had been able to hike. I would love to have the experience of being at the bottom of the towering formations. There are numerous trails in Bryce Canyon, and we spotted distant hikers moving around way below us. Climbing back up would be quite a challenge.

BTW, for those interested, Bryce Canyon had the best gift shop of any of the Mighty 5 Gift Shops we visited.

If you’d like to see more posts about our visit to the Mighty 5, check these out: Capitol Reef, Arches & Canyonlands