| Bryce Canyon National Park | |
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| Location | Garfield County andKane County, Utah, United States |
| Nearest city | Tropic,Panguitch |
| Coordinates | 37°38′N112°10′W / 37.64°N 112.17°W /37.64; -112.17 |
| Area | 35,835 acres (145.02 km2)[1] |
| Established | February 25, 1928; 97 years ago (1928-02-25) |
| Visitors | 2,498,075 (in 2024)[2] |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | nps |
Bryce Canyon National Park (/braɪs/) is anational park of the United States located in southwesternUtah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not acanyon but a collection of giant naturalamphitheaters along the eastern side of thePaunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures calledhoodoos, formed byfrost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bedsedimentary rock. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide distinctive views for park visitors. Bryce Canyon National Park is much smaller and sits at a much higher elevation than nearbyZion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m).
The area is in portions ofGarfield County[3] andKane County.[4] It was settled byMormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named afterEbenezer Bryce, whohomesteaded in the area in 1874.[5] The area was originally designated as anational monument by PresidentWarren G. Harding in 1923 and was redesignated as a national park by Congress in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres (55.992 sq mi; 14,502 ha; 145.02 km2)[1] and receives substantially fewer visitors than Zion National Park (nearly 4.3 million in 2016) orGrand Canyon National Park (almost 6 million in 2016), largely due to Bryce's more remote location. In 2024, Bryce Canyon received almost 2.5 million visitors.[2]
The park covers 35,835 acres (14,502 ha)[1] in southwestern Utah, at an altitude of 8,000 to 9,000 ft (2,400 to 2,700 m).[6] The park is about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of and 1,000 feet (300 m) higher than Zion National Park.[7][8]
Bryce Canyon National Park lies within theColorado Plateaugeographic province of North America and straddles the southeastern edge of thePaunsaugunt Plateau west of Paunsaugunt Faults (Paunsaugunt isPaiute for "home of the beaver").[9] Park visitors arrive at the plateau and look over its edge toward a valley containing the fault and theParia River just beyond it (Paria is Paiute for "muddy or elk water"). TheKaiparowits Plateau is on the eastern opposite side of the valley.[10]
Bryce Canyon was not formed fromerosion initiated from a central stream, meaning it technically is not acanyon. Insteadheadward erosion excavated largeamphitheater-shaped features in theCenozoic-aged rocks of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.[9] This erosion resulted in colorful pinnacles called hoodoos that are up to 200 feet (60 m) high. A series of amphitheaters extends more than 20 miles (30 km) north-to-south within the park.[9] The largest is Bryce Amphitheater, which is 12 miles (19 km) long, 3 miles (5 km) wide and 800 feet (240 m) deep.[9] A nearby example of amphitheaters with hoodoos in the same formation but at a higher elevation is inCedar Breaks National Monument, which is 25 miles (40 km) to the west on theMarkagunt Plateau.[8]
Rainbow Point, the highest part of the park at 9,105 feet (2,775 m),[11] is at the end of the 18-mile (29 km) scenic drive.[9] From there,Aquarius Plateau, Bryce Amphitheater, theHenry Mountains, theVermilion Cliffs and theWhite Cliffs can be seen. Yellow Creek, where it exits the park in the northeast section, is the lowest part of the park at 6,620 feet (2,020 m).[12]
According to theKöppen climate classification system, the park has acontinental climate with warm, dry summers (Dsb). Dsb climates are defined by having their coldest month at a mean temperature below 32 °F (0 °C), all months with a mean temperature below 71.6 °F (22 °C), at least four months with a mean temperature above 50 °F (10 °C), and three times as much precipitation in the wettest winter month compared to the driest summer month. Theplant hardiness zone at the visitor center is 5b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −10.0 °F (−23.3 °C).[13]
The weather in Bryce Canyon is cooler and receives moreprecipitation than Zion: a total of 15 to 18 inches (380 to 460 mm) per year.[14][12] Yearly temperatures vary from an average minimum of 9 °F (−13 °C) in January to an average maximum of 83 °F (28 °C) in July, but extreme temperatures can range from −30 to 97 °F (−34 to 36 °C).[12] The record high temperature in the park was 98 °F (37 °C) in July 2002, while the record low temperature was −28 °F (−33 °C) in December 1972.[15]
| Climate data for Bryce Canyon National Park Headquarters, Utah, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1959–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 59 (15) | 64 (18) | 67 (19) | 75 (24) | 85 (29) | 95 (35) | 98 (37) | 90 (32) | 89 (32) | 80 (27) | 68 (20) | 60 (16) | 98 (37) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 48.9 (9.4) | 50.7 (10.4) | 59.0 (15.0) | 67.6 (19.8) | 75.7 (24.3) | 84.1 (28.9) | 87.8 (31.0) | 84.6 (29.2) | 79.6 (26.4) | 70.8 (21.6) | 58.4 (14.7) | 49.3 (9.6) | 88.4 (31.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 36.9 (2.7) | 38.8 (3.8) | 45.8 (7.7) | 53.5 (11.9) | 63.1 (17.3) | 75.1 (23.9) | 80.0 (26.7) | 77.5 (25.3) | 70.1 (21.2) | 58.2 (14.6) | 45.8 (7.7) | 36.8 (2.7) | 56.8 (13.8) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 26.9 (−2.8) | 28.6 (−1.9) | 34.5 (1.4) | 41.2 (5.1) | 49.9 (9.9) | 59.8 (15.4) | 66.0 (18.9) | 63.7 (17.6) | 55.9 (13.3) | 45.0 (7.2) | 34.3 (1.3) | 26.9 (−2.8) | 44.4 (6.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 17.0 (−8.3) | 18.4 (−7.6) | 23.3 (−4.8) | 28.9 (−1.7) | 36.6 (2.6) | 44.6 (7.0) | 52.1 (11.2) | 50.0 (10.0) | 41.6 (5.3) | 31.9 (−0.1) | 22.8 (−5.1) | 17.0 (−8.3) | 32.0 (0.0) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −0.4 (−18.0) | 1.1 (−17.2) | 7.1 (−13.8) | 15.5 (−9.2) | 23.1 (−4.9) | 31.0 (−0.6) | 40.8 (4.9) | 39.7 (4.3) | 27.8 (−2.3) | 18.4 (−7.6) | 4.7 (−15.2) | −1.0 (−18.3) | −4.7 (−20.4) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −26 (−32) | −26 (−32) | −11 (−24) | −3 (−19) | 13 (−11) | 21 (−6) | 28 (−2) | 23 (−5) | 16 (−9) | 0 (−18) | −12 (−24) | −23 (−31) | −26 (−32) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 1.91 (49) | 1.70 (43) | 1.27 (32) | 0.77 (20) | 0.91 (23) | 0.47 (12) | 1.55 (39) | 1.94 (49) | 1.78 (45) | 1.73 (44) | 1.28 (33) | 1.34 (34) | 16.65 (423) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 19.8 (50) | 18.1 (46) | 13.2 (34) | 5.9 (15) | 1.5 (3.8) | 0.2 (0.51) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 3.0 (7.6) | 9.7 (25) | 15.3 (39) | 86.7 (220) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 6.3 | 7.6 | 6.2 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 3.2 | 8.8 | 10.2 | 7.0 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 6.2 | 76.7 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 6.3 | 7.2 | 5.5 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 5.7 | 34.0 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 217.0 | 226.0 | 248.0 | 300.0 | 341.0 | 360.0 | 341.0 | 310.0 | 300.0 | 279.0 | 210.0 | 186.0 | 3,318 |
| Mean dailysunshine hours | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| Mean dailydaylight hours | 9.9 | 10.8 | 12.0 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.6 | 12.2 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 71 | 74 | 67 | 76 | 77 | 82 | 76 | 74 | 81 | 80 | 69 | 63 | 74 |
| Averageultraviolet index | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Source 1: NOAA[16][17] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Weather Atlas (sun data)[18] | |||||||||||||
Little is known about early human habitation in the area. Archaeological surveys of the Paunsaugunt Plateau indicate that people have lived in the area for at least 10,000 years.BasketmakerAnasazi artifacts thousands of years old were found south of the park. Other artifacts from thePueblo-period Anasazi and theFremont culture (up to the mid-12th century) were found.[19]
ThePaiute Native Americans moved into the area around the time that the other cultures left.[19] These Native Americans hunted and gathered for most of their food, while supplementing their diet with cultivated plants. The Paiute developed amythology surrounding the hoodoos. They believed that they were the Legend People whom the tricksterCoyote turned to stone due to their bad deeds.[20] One older Paiute said his culture called the hoodoosAnka-ku-was-a-wits, which is Paiute for "red painted faces".[19]
In the late 18th and early 19th century the first European Americans explored the area.[19]Mormon scouts visited in the 1850s to gauge its potential for agriculture,grazing, and settlement.[19]
The first major scientific expedition was led byU.S. Army MajorJohn Wesley Powell in 1872.[19] Powell, along with a team of mapmakers and geologists, surveyed theSevier andVirgin River area as part of a larger survey of theColorado Plateaus. His mapmakers used many Paiute place names.[9]
Small groups of Mormon pioneers followed and attempted to settle east of Bryce Canyon along theParia River. The Kanarra Cattle Company began grazing cattle there in 1873.[19]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent Scottish immigrant Ebenezer Bryce and his wife Mary to settle land in the Paria Valley to apply his carpentry skills. The Bryce family settled right below Bryce Amphitheater—the main collection of hoodoos. Bryce grazed his cattle inside what are now park borders, and is reputed to have said that the amphitheaters were a "helluva place to lose a cow."[5] He built a road to the plateau to retrieve firewood and timber, and acanal to irrigate his crops and water his animals. Other settlers soon started to call the canyon at the end of road "Bryce's Canyon", and the name stuck.[21]
A combination of drought,overgrazing, and flooding eventually drove the remaining Paiutes from the area and prompted the settlers to attempt to build a water diversion channel from the Sevier River drainage. That effort failed, leading most settlers, including the Bryce family, to abandon the area.[9] Bryce moved his family toArizona in 1880.[12] The remaining settlers dug a 10-mile (16 km) ditch from the Sevier's east fork into Tropic Valley.[9]
These scenic areas were first described to the public in magazine articles published byUnion Pacific andSanta Fe railroads in 1916.[5] Forest Supervisor J. W. Humphrey among others promoted the scenic wonders of Bryce Canyon's amphitheaters, and by 1918 additional articles helped generate public interest.[19] Ruby Syrett, Harold Bowman, and the Perry brothers later established lodging and "touring services".[19] Syrett later served as the firstpostmaster. By the early 1920s, theUnion Pacific Railroad became interested in expandingrail service into southwestern Utah to accommodate tourists.[19]
Conservation advocates became alarmed by the damage overgrazing, logging, and unregulated visitation was inflicting on the canyon. A protection effort soon began, andNational Park Service DirectorStephen Mather responded by proposing that Bryce Canyon be made into a state park. However, the governor of Utah and theUtah State Legislature lobbied for national protection. Mather relented and sent his recommendation to PresidentWarren G. Harding, who on June 8, 1923, established Bryce Canyon National Monument.[19]
A road was built the same year on the plateau to provide access to outlooks over the amphitheaters. From 1924 to 1925,Bryce Canyon Lodge was built from local timber and stone.[22]
Members of the United States Congress started work in 1924 on upgrading Bryce Canyon's protection status from national monument to national park to establish Utah National Park.[22] A process led by theUtah Parks Company for transferring ownership of private and state-held land to the federal government started in 1923.[19] The last of the land was acquired four years later, and on February 25, 1928, Bryce Canyon National Park was established.[23]
In 1931, PresidentHerbert Hoover annexed an adjoining area south of the park, and in 1942 an additional 635 acres (257 ha) was added.[19] This brought the park's total area to the ultimate 35,835 acres (14,502 ha).[23] Rim Road, a scenic drive, was completed in 1934 by theCivilian Conservation Corps. Park administration was conducted from Zion National Park until 1956 when Bryce Canyon's first superintendent started work.[19]
TheUSSBryce Canyon, named for the park, served as a supply and repair ship in theU.S. Pacific Fleet from September 15, 1950, to June 30, 1981.[24]
Bryce Canyon Natural History Association (BCNHA) is a non-profit organization, established in 1961.[25] It runs the bookstore inside the park visitor center and support interpretive, educational, and scientific activities.[26]
Responding to increased visitation andtraffic congestion, NPS implemented a voluntary, summer-only, in-park shuttle system in June 2000.[27]
The Bryce Canyon area experienced soil deposition that spans from the last part of theCretaceous period and the first half of theCenozoic era. The ancientdepositional environment varied.Dakota Sandstone and Tropic Shale were deposited in the warm, shallow waters of the advancing and retreatingCretaceous Seaway (outcrops of these rocks are found just outside park borders).[28]
Other formations were created, but mostlyeroded away following two major periods of uplift. TheLaramide orogeny affected the entire western part of what would become North America starting about 70 million to 50 MYA.[23] This event helped to build theRocky Mountains and in the process closed the Cretaceous Seaway. TheStraight Cliffs,Wahweap, andKaiparowits formations were victims of this uplift. TheColorado Plateaus rose 16 MYA and were segmented intoplateaus, separated byfaults and each having its own uplift rate.[11]
This uplift created vertical joints, which over time preferentially eroded. The soft Pink Cliffs of theClaron Formation eroded to form freestanding hoodoo pinnacles inbadlands, while the more resistant White Cliffs formed monoliths.[9] The dominant bright orange colors are fromhematite (iron oxide;Fe2O3); the yellows fromlimonite (FeO(OH)·nH2O); and the purples are frompyrolusite (MnO2).[29][30]
More than 1000 plant species live in the park.[31]
The park spans three life zones, depending on elevation.[32]
The park has 59mammal species, more than 45 species ofbutterflies andmoths, over 100 species of birds, and a large number of insect species. The forests and meadows support diverse animal life, includingringtails. Larger mammals includedeer,antelope,elk, andmountain lions. Birds of the park includeperegrine falcons,ospreys,jays, andhummingbirds.[32] Eleven species of reptiles and four species ofamphibians have been found.[33] Reptiles include theGreat Basin rattlesnake,short-horned lizard,side-blotched lizard,striped whipsnake, and amphibians include thetiger salamander.[33]
The park forms part of the habitat of three wildlife species listed under theEndangered Species Act: theUtah prairie dog, theCalifornia condor, and thesouthwestern willow flycatcher.[34] The Utah prairie dog is a threatened species that was reintroduced to the park. The largest protected population is found in the park.[35]
Also in the park are the black, lumpy, very slow-growing colonies ofcryptobiotic soil, which are a mix oflichens,algae,fungi, andcyanobacteria.[36] Together theseorganisms slow erosion, addnitrogen to the soil, and help it to retain moisture.[37]
Bryce Canyon has eight marked and maintained day hikes:[38]
Easy to moderate hikes
Moderate hikes
Strenuous hikes
Several of the trails intersect, allowing hikers to arrange routes for more challenging hikes.
The park has two trails designated for overnight trips: the 9-mile (14 km)Riggs Spring Loop Trail and the 23-mile (37 km)Under-the-Rim Trail.[38]
On clear days theNavajo Mountain and the Kaibab Plateau can be seen 90 miles (140 km) away inArizona from Yovimpa and Rainbow points and the Black Mesas of eastern Arizona and westernNew Mexico can be seen 160 miles (260 km) away.[39]
The park has a 7.4 magnitude night sky, one of the darkest in North America[12] and patrons can see approximately 7,500 stars. Park rangers host public stargazing events and evening programs on astronomy, nocturnal animals, and night sky protection. The Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, typically held in June, attracts thousands of visitors. In honor of this festival,Asteroid 49272 was named after the national park.[40]
The two campgrounds are North Campground and Sunset Campground.[41] Loop A in North Campground is open year-round. Additional loops and Sunset Campground are open from late spring to early autumn.[42]
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Travel information from Wikivoyage
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