Bryce Canyon National Park

July, 1992

A week is more than enough to see Bryce Canyon - if you do not look at anything else around the area. But there are plenty of things to do besides Bryce Canyon in the area. We did not explore anything on the Acquarius Plateau - it will serve for another complete trip someday (The average elevation of the plateau is 10,000 feet, making it the highest plateau in the 48 states). The north campground is pretty minimal - all of the amenities exist, but you are very close to the next campsite and there is no cover, no privacy. But it serves as a good base for travel. The campground was wild enough, however, for nighttime visitors such as skunk and raccoons.

The main attraction at Bryce is the hoodoos. They are multicolored, multilayered spires created by erosion from wind and water. Cedar Breaks National Monument, on the other side of the Pansagut plateau, is similar, but is smaller and younger by thousands of years. We took a horseback ride (I actually rode a mule) down into the hoodoos. They look like someone purposefully capped them with cement (it is natural calcuim carbonate). The contrast between the red/purple/mauve/pink.etc. hoodoos and the green pine trees is marvelous. Additionally, you can see younger bristlecone pines (only 1000 years) among the hoodoos. The scene changes constantly as the sun rises and sets, changing the colors and making the shadows grow and shrink.

There are other places to go around Bryce Canyon. Kodachrome State Park is 30 or so miles away, and, near it, is Utah's newest arch. The King's Creek campground is just west of Bryce. It sits on Tropic Reservoir, the main water supply for the town of Tropic. It is stocked regularly, and four people caught 16 trout in 48 hours of nonsteadty fishing. The dirt roads lead south to the end of the plateau. You can look off to the Vermillion Cliffs, and, southwestward, towards Zion National Park. The Grand Canyon looms in the distance. Pronghorn and deer abound. The plateau is wooded. In the autumn, the gold and yellow aspens contrast with the pines.

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