Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park in the United States located in southwestern Utah. The main feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which is not actually a canyon but a group of large natural amphitheaters on the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The park is known for geological formations called hoodoos, which are created by frost weathering and erosion of sedimentary rock from ancient river and lake beds. The rocks have red, orange, and white colors, creating unique views for visitors. Bryce Canyon National Park is smaller and located at a higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The park's rim ranges in elevation from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (about 2,400 to 2,700 meters).

The park is located in parts of Garfield County and Kane County. It was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and named after Ebenezer Bryce, who lived in the area in 1874. The area was first protected as a national monument by President Warren G. Harding in 1923 and later became a national park in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres (about 56 square miles) and has fewer visitors than Zion National Park or Grand Canyon National Park, mainly because it is more remote. In 2024, the park had nearly 2.5 million visitors.

The park includes three life zones, with forests and meadows that support a variety of wildlife. It is home to 1,000 plant species, 59 mammal species, and at least 100 bird species.

Geography

Bryce Canyon National Park covers 35,835 acres (14,502 hectares) in southwestern Utah. It is located at an altitude of 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 meters). The park is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Zion National Park and 1,000 feet (300 meters) higher than it.

Bryce Canyon National Park is located within the Colorado Plateau geographic province in North America. It spans the southeastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, which is west of the Paunsaugunt Faults (Paunsaugunt means "home of the beaver" in Paiute). Visitors to the park stand on the plateau and look down toward a valley that contains the fault and the Paria River (Paria means "muddy or elk water" in Paiute). The Kaiparowits Plateau is on the opposite side of the valley, to the east.

Bryce Canyon was not formed by erosion from a central stream, so it is not technically a canyon. Instead, erosion from the edges of the Paunsaugunt Plateau created large, amphitheater-shaped features in ancient rocks. This process formed colorful rock formations called hoodoos, which can be up to 200 feet (60 meters) tall. A series of these amphitheaters stretches more than 20 miles (30 kilometers) north to south within the park. The largest is Bryce Amphitheater, which is 12 miles (19 kilometers) long, 3 miles (5 kilometers) wide, and 800 feet (240 meters) deep. A similar area with hoodoos and amphitheaters is found at Cedar Breaks National Monument, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) west on the Markagunt Plateau.

Rainbow Point, the highest spot in the park at 9,105 feet (2,775 meters), is at the end of an 18-mile (29-kilometer) scenic drive. From this point, visitors can see the Aquarius Plateau, Bryce Amphitheater, the Henry Mountains, the Vermilion Cliffs, and the White Cliffs. Yellow Creek, where it exits the park in the northeast, is the lowest part of the park at 6,620 feet (2,020 meters).

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, the park has a continental climate with warm, dry summers (Dsb). Dsb climates have their coldest month with an average temperature below 32 °F (0 °C), all months with an average temperature below 71.6 °F (22 °C), at least four months with an average temperature above 50 °F (10 °C), and three times more rainfall in the wettest winter month than in the driest summer month. The plant hardiness zone at the visitor center is 5b, with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −10.0 °F (−23.3 °C).

Bryce Canyon has cooler weather and receives more precipitation than Zion, with 15 to 18 inches (380 to 460 mm) of rain each year. Average yearly temperatures range from a minimum of 9 °F (−13 °C) in January to a maximum of 83 °F (28 °C) in July. However, extreme temperatures can reach as low as −30 °F (−34 °C) and as high as 97 °F (36 °C). The highest recorded temperature in the park was 98 °F (37 °C) in July 2002, and the lowest recorded temperature was −28 °F (−33 °C) in December 1972.

History

Little is known about early people living in the area. Studies by archaeologists on the Paunsaugunt Plateau show that people lived there for at least 10,000 years. Artifacts from the Basketmaker Anasazi culture, which are thousands of years old, were found south of the park. Other artifacts from the Pueblo-period Anasazi and the Fremont culture (up to the mid-12th century) were also found.

The Paiute Native Americans arrived in the area when other cultures left. These Native Americans mainly hunted and gathered food, while also growing some plants. The Paiute created stories about the hoodoos. They believed the hoodoos were the Legend People, who were turned to stone by the trickster Coyote because of their bad actions. An older Paiute person said his culture called the hoodoos Anka-ku-was-a-wits, which means "red painted faces" in Paiute.

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the first European Americans explored the area. Mormon scouts visited in the 1850s to check if the land was good for farming, raising animals, and living. The first major scientific study was led by U.S. Army Major John Wesley Powell in 1872. Powell and a team of mapmakers and geologists studied the Sevier and Virgin River area as part of a larger survey of the Colorado Plateaus. His mapmakers used many Paiute place names.

Small groups of Mormon pioneers followed explorers and tried to settle east of Bryce Canyon along the Paria River. The Kanarra Cattle Company began raising cattle there in 1873. 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 use his carpentry skills. The Bryce family settled near Bryce Amphitheater—the main area of hoodoos. Bryce raised his cattle inside what is now the park and is said to have called the amphitheaters a "helluva place to lose a cow." He built a road to the plateau to get firewood and timber and a canal to water his crops and animals. Other settlers later called the canyon at the end of the road "Bryce's Canyon," and the name remained.

A combination of drought, overgrazing, and flooding forced the remaining Paiutes to leave the area. Settlers tried to build a water channel from the Sevier River drainage, but the effort failed. Most settlers, including the Bryce family, left the area. Bryce moved his family to Arizona in 1880. The remaining settlers dug a 10-mile (16 km) ditch from the Sevier River’s east fork into Tropic Valley.

These scenic areas were first described in magazine articles by the Union Pacific and Santa Fe railroads in 1916. Forest Supervisor J. W. Humphrey and others promoted the beauty of Bryce Canyon’s amphitheaters. By 1918, more articles increased public interest. Ruby Syrett, Harold Bowman, and the Perry brothers later started lodging and "touring services." Syrett later became the first postmaster. By the early 1920s, the Union Pacific Railroad wanted to expand rail service into southwestern Utah for tourists.

Conservation groups worried about damage caused by overgrazing, logging, and too many visitors. A protection effort began, and National Park Service Director Stephen Mather suggested making Bryce Canyon a state park. However, Utah’s governor and legislature wanted national protection. Mather agreed and sent his recommendation to President Warren G. Harding, who established Bryce Canyon National Monument on June 8, 1923.

A road was built the same year on the plateau to provide views of the amphitheaters. From 1924 to 1925, Bryce Canyon Lodge was built using local timber and stone.

In 1924, members of the U.S. Congress worked to upgrade Bryce Canyon’s status from a national monument to a national park to create Utah National Park. A process started in 1923 by the Utah Parks Company to transfer private and state-owned land to the federal government completed in 1927. On February 25, 1928, Bryce Canyon National Park was officially established.

In 1931, President Herbert Hoover added land south of the park. In 1942, an additional 635 acres (257 ha) was added, bringing the total area to 35,835 acres (14,502 ha). Rim Road, a scenic drive from the northern entrance to Rainbow Point, was completed in 1935.

The USS Bryce Canyon, named after the park, served as a supply and repair ship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet from September 15, 1950, to June 30, 1981.

Park management was handled from Zion National Park until 1956, when Bryce Canyon’s first superintendent began work.

The Bryce Canyon Natural History Association (BCNHA), a nonprofit group started in 1961, runs the bookstore at the park visitor center and supports educational and scientific activities.

Bryce Canyon Lodge was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1987, preserved as an example of National Park Service architecture from the 1920s.

To manage more visitors and traffic, the National Park Service introduced a voluntary, summer-only shuttle system in June 2000. Rim Road was rebuilt between 2002 and 2004, with native grasses planted to help control invasive species.

In 2019, Bryce Canyon was given Dark Sky Park status by the International Dark-Sky Association.

Geology

The Bryce Canyon area has layers of soil and rock that were formed from the end of the Cretaceous period to the beginning of the Cenozoic era. The ancient environments where these rocks were deposited changed over time. The Dakota Sandstone and Tropic Shale were formed in warm, shallow seas that covered the area during the Cretaceous Seaway. These rock layers can be seen outside the park’s boundaries.

Other rock layers were created but were mostly worn away after two major events called uplifts. The Laramide orogeny, a mountain-building event, began about 70 to 50 million years ago and shaped the western part of what is now North America. This event helped form the Rocky Mountains and closed the Cretaceous Seaway. The Straight Cliffs, Wahweap, and Kaiparowits formations were affected by this uplift. Later, the Colorado Plateaus rose about 16 million years ago and split into separate sections, each rising at different rates due to faults.

This uplift created vertical cracks in the rock. Over time, these cracks eroded more easily. The softer Pink Cliffs of the Claron Formation eroded to create hoodoo pinnacles in the badlands, while the harder White Cliffs formed tall, solid rock structures. The bright orange color comes from hematite (iron oxide; Fe₂O₃). The yellow color is from limonite (FeO(OH)·nH₂O), and the purple color is from pyrolusite (MnO₂).

Ecology

Over 1,000 plant species live in the park.

The park divides into three life zones based on elevation.

• The highest areas have Douglas fir, Blue spruce, and quaking aspen. Mule deer, elk, and grouse eat young fir shoots here. Squirrels and chipmunks are also found in this area.
• The mid-elevations are dominated by Ponderosa pine forests, along with greenleaf manzanita and Rocky Mountain juniper.
• The lowest elevations are arid and have Colorado pinyon and Utah juniper trees. The seeds of the pinyon are eaten by pinyon jays and Clark's nutcrackers, which help the pinyons reproduce.

The park has 59 mammal species, over 45 species of butterflies and moths, more than 100 species of birds, and many insect species. Forests and meadows support diverse animal life, including ringtails. Larger mammals include deer, antelope, elk, and mountain lions. Birds in the park include peregrine falcons, ospreys, jays, and hummingbirds. Eleven species of reptiles and four species of amphibians have been found. Reptiles include the Great Basin rattlesnake, short-horned lizard, side-blotched lizard, and striped whipsnake. Amphibians include the tiger salamander.

The park is home to three wildlife species protected under the Endangered Species Act: the Utah prairie dog, the California condor, and the southwestern willow flycatcher. The Utah prairie dog is a threatened species that was reintroduced to the park. The largest protected population of this species is found in the park.

Also in the park are dark, bumpy, and very slow-growing patches of cryptobiotic soil, which are a mix of lichens, algae, fungi, and cyanobacteria. Together, these organisms help slow erosion, add nitrogen to the soil, and help it retain moisture.

Activities

Bryce Canyon has eight clearly marked and well-kept day hikes:

Easy to moderate hikes
• Mossy Cave (one hour, located on State Route 12 northwest of Tropic)
• Rim Trail (5–6 hours, accessible anywhere along the rim)
• Bristlecone Loop (one hour, located at Rainbow Point), and Queens Garden (1–2 hours, located at Sunrise Point)
• Navajo Loop (1–2 hours, located at Sunset Point)
• Tower Bridge (2–3 hours, located north of Sunrise Point)
• Fairyland Loop (4–5 hours, located at Fairyland Point)
• Peekaboo Loop (3–4 hours, located at Bryce Point)

Several trails cross paths, allowing hikers to combine routes for longer or more challenging hikes.

The park has two trails used for overnight trips: the 9-mile (14 km) Riggs Spring Loop Trail and the 23-mile (37 km) Under-the-Rim Trail.

On clear days, Navajo Mountain and the Kaibab Plateau in Arizona can be seen 90 miles (140 km) away from Yovimpa and Rainbow points. The Black Mesas of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico can be seen 160 miles (260 km) away.

The park has a night sky with a brightness level of 7.4, one of the darkest in North America. Visitors can see about 7,500 stars. Park rangers offer public stargazing events and evening programs about astronomy, nocturnal animals, and night sky protection. The Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, usually held in June, draws thousands of visitors. In recognition of this festival, Asteroid 49272 was named after the national park.

The two campgrounds are North Campground and Sunset Campground. Loop A at North Campground is available all year. Additional loops at North Campground and Sunset Campground are open from late spring to early autumn.