Bryce Canyon National Park sits in southwestern Utah. Despite its name, it isn’t a single canyon, but a collection of natural amphitheaters carved into the side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Thousands of rock spires, known as hoodoos, fill these amphitheaters.
Native American tribes, including the Paiute, Ute, and Navajo, were early inhabitants of the area and left petroglyphs and pictographs throughout the park. European settlers began exploring the region in the late 1700s, and in the 1860s Mormon settlers moved into land that had been home to the Paiute.
Ebenezer Bryce built a road through the canyon, but travel through the area was dangerous, and the canyon remained largely unknown for decades.
That changed in 1915, when J.W. Humphrey, a Forest Service Supervisor, first visited. He later wrote: “You can perhaps imagine my surprise at the indescribable beauty that greeted us, and it was sundown before I could be dragged from the canyon view. You may be sure that I went back the next morning to see the canyon once more, and to plan in my mind how this attraction could be made accessible to the public.”
Humphrey sent photographs and film to the federal Forest Service and the Union Pacific Railroad, and the canyon soon began to gain national attention. In 1920, Ruby and Minnie Syrett bought land along the rim and opened a lodge for tourists. Ruby’s Inn still stands today.
President Warren G. Harding declared Bryce Canyon a national monument in 1923, and on February 25, 1928, an act of Congress made it a national park. In 1931, President Hoover expanded the park to 35,835 acres. Today, more than 2 million people visit each year.
What to Do
Bryce Canyon has more than 50 miles of trails. Two of the most popular are the Queen’s Garden and Peek-a-boo Loop trails. The Southern Scenic Drive offers spectacular views of the park and its one-of-a-kind rock formations. Be sure to catch the sunrise and stay after dark for exceptional stargazing. If you enjoy winter sports, snowshoeing is permitted on all trails.
“I never knew silence could be so beautiful until I stood on the edge of Bryce Canyon.”
— Unknown visitor
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