Frommer’s EasyGuide to Bryce Canyon National Park. Mary Brown Malouf
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AN IMPORTANT NOTE
The world is a dynamic place. Hotels change ownership, restaurants hike their prices, museums alter their opening hours, and buses and trains change their routings. And all of this can occur in the several months after our authors have visited, inspected, and written about these hotels, restaurants, museums, and transportation services. Though we have made valiant efforts to keep all our information fresh and up-to-date, some few changes can inevitably occur in the periods before a revised edition of this guidebook is published. So please bear with us if a tiny number of the details in this book have changed. Please also note that we have no responsibility or liability for any inaccuracy or errors or omissions, or for inconvenience, loss, damage, or expenses suffered by anyone as a result of assertions in this guide.
Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City.
CONTENTS
Kodachrome Basin
Grand Staircase-Escalante
Slot canyon in Grand Staircase- Escalante National Park.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A degree in Latin and a teenage summer in Greece and Turkey gave Mary Brown Malouf a love of language and a taste for culinary travel—she’s been to India, Nepal, Britain, Botswana, Mexico, and all over the United States. Currently Executive Editor of Salt Lake magazine, she is excited to be writing about the culture and incredible scenery of Utah.
Dedication
Dedicated to the memory of Glen Warchol, who showed me everything.
ABOUT THE FROMMER TRAVEL GUIDES
For most of the past 50 years, Frommer’s has been the leading series of travel guides in North America, accounting for as many as 24% of all guidebooks sold. I think I know why.
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Arthur Frommer
1
Bryce Canyon National Park
‘Hoodoo’ means voodoo unless you’re in Bryce Canyon—‘fairy chimney’ or ‘earth pyramid’ are other names for the otherworldly rock spires rising from the canyon floor. And the names don’t lie. There is something bewitching about these geological wonders. Bryce Canyon
Geologically speaking, hoodoos are simply pinnacles of rock, often oddly shaped, left standing after millions of years of water and wind have eroded the surrounding rock. But how much more fun to believe the Paiute legend. These American Indians, who lived in the area for several hundred years before being forced out by Anglo pioneers, told of “Legend People” who once lived here; because of their evil ways, they were turned to stone by the powerful Coyote and even today remain frozen in time.
Whatever the cause, mythical or scientific, Bryce Canyon is certainly unique. Its intricate and often whimsical formations are on a more human scale than the impressive rocks seen at Zion, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands national parks. Bryce is inviting in its beauty; by gazing over the rim, or spending even just one morning on the trail, you will feel you’re on intimate terms with the park.
Besides the attention-grabbing hoodoos, you’ll notice deep amphitheaters, with cliffs, windows, and arches, all colored in Utah’s signature shades of red. Bryce holds three separate life zones at the various elevations in the park, each with its own unique vegetation, and a kingdom of animals, from the busy chipmunks and ground squirrels to the stately mule deer and its archenemy, the mountain lion.
Human exploration of the Bryce area likely began with the Paiute. It’s possible that trappers, prospectors, and early Mormon scouts visited here in the early to mid-1800s before Major John Wesley Powell conducted the first thorough survey of the region in the early 1870s. Shortly after Powell’s exploration, Mormon pioneer Ebenezer Bryce and his wife, Mary, moved to the area and tried raising cattle. Although they stayed only a few years before moving on to Arizona, Bryce left behind his name and his oft-quoted description of the canyon as “a helluva place to lose a cow.”
Essentials
Getting There
By Plane Bryce Canyon Airport (Airport Code BCE; www.brycecanyonairport.com;