After the uncomprehensible scale of everything at the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon offers a nice change. Hoodoos are the tall, skinny rock formations that make the park famous. They stand below the edge of the canyon from end to end. Unlike the Grand Canyon formations, you can view a hoodoo from a distance and wrap your head around how big it is. There’s a more human scale to things. The colors of the hoodoos are amazing, and they change with the amount and angle of sunlight throughout the day. Apparently sunrise is spectacular, but we don’t do mornings that early. The park roads stay open at night, so you can even drive in and catch a glimpse under the moonlight. We were lucky enough to be there three days before the full moon. Around 10:30p.m. we headed into the park to check it out under the moon. It was beautiful, silent and quite eerie. The next morning, we hiked a 6-mile figure 8 route that took us below from the rim, twisting through the forest of hoodoos, to the bottom of the canyon and back up. We then drove the full length of the park stopping at many more viewpoints along the way. There’s not an unattractive view to be found in Bryce Canyon.
The park is in a fairly remote area, meaning there were far fewer visitors than at other parks. It was great to not have crowds of people to deal with, but it also means there are not many options for dining or other services. Although we stayed just outside the park in a small cluster of hotels, there is a great lodge and cabins within the park boundary where I would strongly consider staying on a future visit. High kick to come.