A Head Start on Our Son's Geography Homework

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Bryce Canyon National Park is on the way from Lake Powell to Zion so we thought we would stop there to break the journey. Yet another canyon to add to the ever increasing collection of ones that we had visited.

This is not a large canyon, certainly when compared to the Grand Canyon, however it is one of the most dramatic. It consists of a lot of spikes of rock known as Hoodoos. These are apparently formed by water in cracks in the rocks expanding and peeling off layers of rock to leave some very dramatic rock formations. I was in my element with the camera, helped by the fact that it was a perfect day.

There was a really nice two and a half mile circular walk through the canyon called the Queens Garden Trail, which we did, stopping for lunch at the bottom. Lunch that we had taken with us that is - there was certainly no restaurants or shops down there. That was probably a mistake as the climb back up was extremely steep and all of us were suffering slightly. On the way up, we then noticed that most people, including the inevitable Japanese tour groups, were walking in the other direction. That made good sense as our downward walk was nowhere near as steep. Take my advice, if you want to walk through Bryce Canyon on the Queens Garden Trail, then do the circuit anti-clockwise.

The walk did finish with a gentle walk along the rim of the canyon back to the car park. There were still some very dramatic views, including the huge Thor’s Hammer. As the canyon is not as massive as the Grand Canyon, it means that the view changes continuously as you walk along the rim. The Grand Canyon is so large that any walk results in only a miniscule change to the angle on what you are viewing.

Just outside Bryce Canyon was a very similar canyon called, I think Red Rock Canyon. We saw it on the way in, but decided to carry on but stop there on the way out again as we would be going back in the same direction for a small part of the drive. However after being to Bryce Canyon, Red Rock didn’t seem so impressive anymore so we gave it a miss.

Coincidentally, when our son went back to school in September, what came up in geography? You guessed it, Bryce Canyon. Hopefully it will have helped with his homework.

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Photos

Dead Tree
A withered tree by the Queens Garden Trail.

Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon from the Queens Garden Trail.

Bryce Canyon View
Looking down over the canyon.

Thors Hammer
Thor's Hammer viewed from the canyon rim.