Utah Vacation, Day 3 cont., Bryce

Bryce Cayon

Leaving Zion on Highway 9, we caught Highway 89 and then got onto Highway 12 to Bryce.  All the way the scenery was spectacular.  Bryce is famous for its unique geology of red rock spires (or hoodoos) and horseshoe-shaped amphi-theatres. 

Entrance to Bryce Canyon is $25 per car, same as Zion.  There is a voluntary shuttle that will take you only part of the way.  We chose to drive our car on the easily accessed paved road, a 37 mile round trip.  There were many turn-outs to get out and take photos.

If you look closely, you will see that there is a road on this ridge at the top of this mountain.  Just enough room for 2-way traffic and that is all.  Drop offs on both sides.

Isn't this breath-taking?

 "All of this is the music of waters."  John Wesley Powell, 1895

I would have loved to have hiked down here (see picture below), but we needed to get to our lodging outside of Escalante before dark (so we could find it!).  We realized that on this trip to Utah, we were just skimming the sites.  You could easily spend a week at each location and still not exhaust what is available to see. 

It would have been so fun to take in the night program they have.  "Bryce Canyon is the ultimate place to learn about and enjoy the splendor of the night sky. Far from the light pollution of civilization, and protected by a special force of park rangers and volunteer astronomers known as "The Dark Rangers," Bryce Canyon is the last grand sanctuary of natural darkness. The night sky at Bryce is so dark we can see 7500 stars on a moonless night! Here, Venus will cause you to cast a shadow! No visit to Bryce Canyon is complete without joining the Dark Rangers for one of their educational and entertaining celebrations of natural darkness."

As the sun was quickly making its' decent, we quickly drove on to our next destination - Slot Canyon Inn.