For miles and miles around the American southwest stretches a gigantic stretch of land where nature let loose its wild streak and in a mad fit of creative inspiration painted the landscape a riot of spectacular warm colors. The Grand Circle, it is called.
Run over quickly to your map of the American Southwest and draw a perfect circle through the heart of it. And there you have it - a bountiful spread of national parks, monuments, scenic byways and natural attractions spanning through the five different southwestern states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah forming a perfect circle (well, kind of, sort of, perfect anyway). Each state and each individual park within the Grand Circle has its own unique beauty to boast of, but collectively they form a grand circle of spectacular sceneries ranging from deep dark canyons to tall towering cliffs, mazes of spires, natural arches, and astounding landscapes. I consider it almost sinful to travel through any of these states and not make an attempt to view at least one or all of the scenic attractions that lay contained within the state's portion of the Grand Circle. And so when the opportunity to visit Utah presented itself, I decided a visit to Bryce Canyon National Park was in order.
We used the scenic byway 12 to drive into Bryce Canyon and were rewarded by beautiful sceneries along the way. The byway leading into the park passes through the Dixie National Forest and Red Canyon, beautiful enough to warrant a stop over. The enormous red rocks sitting delicately in a daredevil feat of gravity atop tall cliffs forms the Red Canyon, nestled amidst the surrounding vast Dixie Forest.
If you have more than a day available to travel around the area, be sure to stop by the Visitor’s Center in Red Canyon and enquire about camping and backcountry hiking options. A friendly ranger informs us that since Red Canyon is not considered a national park and is technically a part of Dixie forest (thus owned by the forestry department rather than national park services), there are no fees required to enjoy Red Canyon. You can obtain a backcountry hiking and camping permit for free at the Visitors Center and enjoy rock climbing, hiking, biking and camping around the area. The thought of spending a few days lost in the scenic wilderness that lies around us sounds really tempting but unfortunately we have only one day to spare at Bryce Canyon. We make a mental note to return someday to Red Canyon for backcountry hiking and camping and for the moment at hand keep driving on over to Bryce Canyon National Park.
Scenic byway 12 leading to Bryce Canyon National Park
Red Canyon in Dixie Forest on the way to Bryce Canyon National Park
A day as it turns out just isn’t sufficient enough to take in all of the beauty that Bryce Canyon has to offer. There is just so much to see and do that you’d need at least a week or more to cover it all. Nonetheless, we’re determined to make the most out of our time at Bryce and absorb it all. We start out by stopping at the Visitors Center to pick up a map and decide to give ourselves a self guided tour of the major attractions of the park.
The 18 mile scenic drive through the park offers spectacular sceneries along the way. For months before the trip, the mere mention of Bryce Canyon to friends would result in a lot of ooh-ing and aah-ing about how beautiful the hoodoos in the canyon were. “You’ll love the hoodoos”, is what they all kept saying but I never really got a chance to find out what a hoodoo was. The word sounded a lot like voodoo and conjured up dark images of candles, spell-casting and witchcraft in my head. What any of that had to do with Bryce I still hadn’t quite figured out. That is, until I saw a hoodoo for myself. And yes, it did cast a spell on me but it had nothing to do with black magic. Hoodoos as it turns out are what these tall spires of red rocks protruding from the ground around me, reaching up into the blue skies are called.
Close up of a hoodoo
There are numerous view points along the scenic drive where you can stop to gaze out at the views of the canyon. A universal favorite is the Bryce Amphitheater, appropriately called the amphitheater because it wraps around the rim of the canyon allowing viewers to look down into the majestic beauty of the canyon. Down in the canyon spire upon spire of red rock forms an intricate maze of hoodoos, each more spectacular than the other. The maze dips and twists and curves and stretches into the horizon. We walked along the rim trail, stopping to take photos at the various scenic viewpoints along the trail – inspiration point, sunrise point and sunset point, each offering a glimpse from a different angle into the maze ahead of us. The spires of rocks dipped into a radiant palette of reds and pinks and orange take on interesting shapes as my eyes sweep through the maze. My imagination runs wild as I search for pink palaces, golden cathedrals and fairy lands amidst the enchanted land of the hoodoos. I look down at the view from Sunset point and am spell bound. I could sit here and gaze at its beauty forever. Deep down in the canyon hidden amidst the elaborate web of spiraling red rocks, I find inspiration and creative liberation. It is no wonder that one of the scenic viewpoints in the park is actually called Inspiration Point.
View of the Bryce Amphitheater from Inspiration Point
View from Sunset Point
There are countless trails available for hiking through the canyon, ranging from the easy to the moderate to the strenuous. Although the Navajo trail is the most popular trail of all in the park, we decided to venture down the slightly more strenuous and a little less populated Peek-a-boo trail. If you do decide to hike down the trails, remember to bring sturdy hiking shoes with you that offer good traction. The number one cause of death at Bryce Canyon is attributed to bad choice of footwear. Wear something that provides you with good grip as you venture down the steep canyon. And remember to carry lots of water with you to keep you hydrated along the way.
The Navajo trail snaking through the Bryce Canyon
The spectacular view observed from Peek-a-boo trail
An hour into the hike, we were rudely interrupted by the sound of thunder in the rapidly graying sky above us. Lightning in the canyon is a year round danger, especially during summer monsoons and so we were forced to cut our hike short and head back up the canyon just in time before the skies opened up to let loose a rainstorm.
Storm clouds over Bryce Canyon
I am a little disappointed at not having more time to spend walking amidst the maze of red, pink and orange rocks. With its warm hue of colors and tall towering spires, it is obvious that this enchanted land of hoodoos has cast its spell upon me. I look back at the view behind me one last time, and promise to return again someday to wander amidst its alleys.
~vagabond~ © 2008
