Bryce Canyon National Park

Saturday was a much better day, weather wise, so we decided to continue exploring the area. We packed a nice picnic lunch and headed out for Bryce Canyon National Park, one of the more popular and scenic parks in this area. . The trip was about 80 miles north up Highway 89 and turn right onto Highway 12 which turns into the park. We had a pleasant surprise after turning on Highway 12 in that we passed through Red Canyon, a part of Dixie National Forest. Red Canyon is very scenic with beautiful red rock formations with two tunnels close to each other on Highway 12. We traveled on to Bryce which is best known for its' unusual formations called Hoodoo's. Rather than me try to explain what Hoodoo's are and how they are formed, I suggest you follow the link and read the well written explanation on the NPS website. The Hoodoo's are unlike anything I've seen and are very colorful and unique.There is a shuttle system in place in Bryce to move visitors throughout the park, but is discontinued for the season starting early October. The purpose of the shuttle system is to cut down on traffic, pollution and noise.

We decided to have a down day Sunday and catch up on some jobs around the rig and also catch up on our rest, as we've been going at a pretty fast pace (at least for us!). Today (Monday) we explored Zion National Park, which was awesome, and will include the details in the next blog.

Tomorrow, we're leaving Utah and heading to Arizona. We have reservations at Wahweap RV Park on Lake Powell for 3 days. It's less than 100 miles from here and should be an easy trip.

Entrance into Red Canyon.

Colorful and unusual formations.

Two tunnels through the red sandstone on Highway 12. The two tunnels are within sight of each other.

I tried to take a picture of the first tunnel while looking through the second, but the curve in the road prevented that.

Entrance to Bryce National Park. I had to wait to take a picture of the sign when no one was in front of it. Pretty big crowd at the park the day we were there. 

The visitor's center. I've got to get a flag shot in here somewhere!

Southernmost and highest observation point in the park. The following eight photos were taken here.

Almost looks like a postcard, huh!

Crickett is enjoying taking pictures.

I bet you're saying "now what's he doing putting a picture of a crow in the middle of his blog! Actually this is a raven and is about 1 1/2 times larger than a crow. This boy here was really after us to feed him. He was obviously being used to being fed by some of the park visitors. Beautiful bird though.

Black Birch Viewpoint. The next three photos taken here.

Ponderosa Point. Next three photos take here.

Looks like part of a face to me.

I thought this was pretty kool.

Bryce Point. This observation point probably has more Hoodoo's than the others.

I especially like the color transitions.

Observation area at Bryce Point.

How many can you count!

These formations are called Grotos.

Pathway to Bryce Point observation area. it 's a lot steeper than it looks in the photo.

This observation point is different from the others in that there is a trail from the observation area that leads into and amongst the Hoodoo's. It's about a 1 1/2 mile trail and is fairly difficult with steep transitions and sandy rocky footing. Boots are recommended.

Here you can see many visitors on the steep trail among the Hoodoo's.