Often overlooked by travelers are the treasures within their own country. The United States has as much natural beauty as any country on Earth and there is so much to see and do. It is a shame that so many people do not take the time to get to know this vast land. The western states of Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California hold a majority of our national parks. I intend to see each one and have seen 12 of them already. Perhaps my favorite thus far is Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.
Approximately a four-hour drive from Las Vegas and just an hour or so past Zion National Park is spectacular Bryce Canyon. Bryce is home to some of the most gorgeous rock formations, colors and contrasts that I have seen anywhere on Earth.
The hikes down at sunrise and sunset points are awesome. You feel as if you are getting lost in the pinkish sandstone monoliths that are more and more beautiful around every bend. The steep hike up and down is well worth the trouble. The views at the top and bottom are equally good but the best may be at sunset point for the hoodoos.
Bryce Canyon is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos formed by wind, water, and ice erosion of the river and lakebed sedimentary rocks. These hoodoos are nothing short of spectacular and create an amazing view anytime but especially at sunrise and sunset.
The day and night I was at Bryce was the night of the annular solar eclipse. They were handing out 3-D glasses as you enter the park and the park was mobbed with tourists and locals alike. They were armed with telescopes and powerful cameras. Bryce is apparently the best place in the country to watch the eclipse because of its location and elevation.
It was awesome. It was tough to take pictures of it with my point and shoot but taken thru the 3-D glasses it became possible to see the corona of the sun behind the moon. I wish I had a sped up motion video camera to show the 2 hours in entirety of the eclipse because it was that cool.
The surrounding town of Bryce Canyon City is pretty cool. It is very touristic but at the same time retains its old west old town charm in many ways.
Bryce Canyon is awesome and should not be missed. The US National Parks are very special and it seems there are more foreigners at the parks than there are Americans. That’s too bad, we should appreciate what we’ve got instead of focusing all our travels abroad.
See more of my Bryce Canyon National Park pictures on my Facebook Page
Great pictures Lee
Thanks!
I saw your pictures on Facebook the other day. Thanks for sharing a story along with it. It’s a beautiful place.
Thank you and yes it is an amazing place to see in person and hike around.
Cheers Lee!
Cheers!
I want to know this place. Very beautiful!
Gracias Juanita!
That eclipse looks amazing! I have never seen one before. Did it hurt your eyes? Could you look at it? Did the whole sky turn dark?
Hey Peter, I had never actually seen one before either but it was an amazing added bonus. To be honest, I had no idea there was an eclipse until I drove into the park and the ranger told me. It did hurt your eyes if you looked right at it-a lot! The sky did not turn dark. If you didn’t have the 3-D glasses, you could even tell it was an eclipse but with them it looked great.
The last picture here of the connecting rocks is fantastic. Cheers.
What did you think of Zion?
I loved Zion too and will do a post on Zion soon but if I had to choose I would pick Bryce for the scenery but Bryce had much more challenging hikes and more variety.
Bryce is a very beautiful place and the sun eclipse seems to be fantastic. Have you been to my country, Argentina, and visited Patagonia? I think it is the most beautiful place in the world.
I have been to Argentina many times but only in the north. I have never beent o Patagonia yet simply because I have been saving it until I go to Antarctica although that may change soon as I would really like to do a big trip around Argentina and Chile Patagonia thru the parks down there, etc.
very nice
Beautiful park, I would love to visit Bryce. I have been to Yosemite and Yellowstone and LOVED each of them.
I have been to Yellowstone but surprisingly not Yosemite. I liked Yellowstone a lot and have heard great things about Yosemite and will definitely go there soon. But you should definitely get to Bryce if you get a chance.
Looks cool Lee….enjoy your travels
Thanks Bianca!
Glad you enjoyed the park, and I knew you would. It really does have some of the best vistas in the world and has been ranked as a lot of people’s favorite park in the US, even up there with Denali and the Grand Canyon. It is really overlooked by a lot of people, though. I’m sure you noticed all the European tourists there so its definitely on their radar.
Tons of French, I mean a ton, and a lot of Russians too
Yeah, you should have stayed at the Ruby Inn (across the street from the Old Town) every single person there was Euro doing the whole Bryce, Zion, Moab and Grand Canyon circuit package tour.
i saw it was packed with tourists…quite happy where I stayed though outside Zion!