Bryce Canyon: A Few of the Reasons I Love It

There are places in the Southwest that I never seem to tire of visiting. Bryce Canyon is one of them.

I've spent a good part of my adult life exploring the Colorado Plateau, and I've developed a deep appreciation for the remarkable variety of landscapes tucked into this corner of the world. But Bryce Canyon occupies a special place in my photographic heart. It's one of those rare places where I can spend an entire day with a camera and still feel as though I've barely scratched the surface.

Of course, the scenery has something to do with it.

Bryce Canyon is ridiculously photogenic. I mean, come on. What's not to love about a landscape filled with thousands of colorful rock spires, all arranged in what looks like a geological sculpture garden designed by someone with an exceptionally active imagination?

But the hoodoos are only part of the story.

A Landscape That Keeps Me Looking

The first thing that strikes you about Bryce Canyon is the sheer abundance of interesting things to look at. Stand along the rim, and the landscape unfolds beneath you in a seemingly endless collection of shapes, colors, textures, and patterns.

The formations are primarily carved from the Claron Formation, a collection of sedimentary rocks that have spent millions of years being sculpted by water, ice, and gravity. One of the main forces at work is frost wedging, a process in which water freezes inside cracks in the rock, expands, and gradually breaks it apart. Bryce Canyon can experience more than 200 freeze-thaw cycles a year.

That's a lot of geological chiseling.

The result is a landscape that seems almost impossible to believe until you're standing there looking at it.

For a photographer, the possibilities are endless. Sometimes I'm drawn to the enormous sweep of the amphitheater, with its thousands of hoodoos stretching toward the horizon. Other times, it's a single formation that catches my eye, perhaps because of its shape, its color, or the way the light happens to strike it.

And that's one of the things I enjoy about photography. You don't always need to find something new. Sometimes you just need to look at something familiar a little differently.

The view from the rim is spectacular, but I also love getting down among the formations. Looking up at those towering spires gives you an entirely different appreciation for their size and complexity. The narrow passages, intricate rock textures, and changing patterns of light and shadow make the experience every bit as rewarding as admiring the scenery from above.

Of course, there's a price to pay for that change in perspective. What goes down must eventually come back up, and at Bryce Canyon's elevation of 8,000 to 9,000 feet, that return trip can be a bit of a workout.

The hoodoos don't seem particularly concerned about my cardiovascular fitness.

A Desert That's Not Always Hot

One of the things I appreciate about Bryce Canyon is its elevation. While much of the Southwest is baking in summer heat, Bryce often offers wonderfully comfortable conditions for exploring and photographing the landscape.

Cool mornings, pleasant afternoons, and refreshing evenings make it a welcome change from the lower desert. The thinner air can make strenuous hiking more demanding, but I'll gladly trade a little extra huffing and puffing for temperatures that don't make me feel like a rotisserie chicken.

The elevation also creates something else I love: variety.

Bryce Canyon isn't just a collection of colorful rocks surrounded by scrubby desert vegetation. As you move through the park, the landscape changes from pinyon pine and juniper woodlands to forests of ponderosa pine, spruce, fir, and aspen.

Gambel oak, cactus, and yucca add their own character to the lower elevations. Higher up, the forests become denser, and the scenery takes on a distinctly different personality.

And then there are the bristlecone pines.

I've always been drawn to these wonderfully twisted trees. Their weather-beaten trunks and contorted branches tell stories of survival in places where the growing season is short and the conditions can be downright miserable.

They're not exactly the sort of trees you'd choose for your front yard, but photographically, they're wonderful. Their character comes from everything they've endured, and I find that rather appealing.

Besides, there's something reassuring about a tree that has managed to hang on for centuries despite conditions that would send the rest of us searching for a comfortable chair and a cup of coffee.

A Little Wildlife Never Hurts

The hoodoos may steal the show, but Bryce Canyon has plenty of living residents worth watching.

Mule deer are common, and the park's varied habitats support an assortment of birds, mammals, and reptiles. Utah prairie dogs inhabit suitable areas, while the broader region provides habitat for pronghorn and California condors.

Wildlife photography requires a different kind of patience from landscape photography. You can wait for the light to improve on a hoodoo, but good luck convincing a deer to stand in precisely the right spot.

I've learned to appreciate these encounters for what they are. Sometimes you get a photograph. Sometimes you get a brief moment of watching an animal go about its business, completely uninterested in your plans.

Both are worthwhile.

Snow and Storms: Nature's Special Effects

If you think Bryce Canyon is beautiful in summer, wait until you see it covered in snow.

Winter transforms the landscape. Snow settles on the hoodoos, fills the crevices, and highlights the intricate shapes of the formations. The contrast between the warm colors of the rock and the surrounding white creates photographic opportunities that simply don't exist during the warmer months.

I've always thought the Southwest's winter landscapes deserve more attention. Snow on red rock is a combination that never seems to get old, and Bryce Canyon takes that contrast to another level.

Of course, winter brings its own challenges. Roads and trails can be icy, temperatures can be bitterly cold, and conditions can change quickly. But on a clear day after a snowfall, the scenery can be extraordinary.

Then there's summer, when the afternoon thunderstorms roll in.

I love a dramatic sky, and Bryce Canyon can deliver some spectacular ones. Dark clouds gathering above the amphitheater, shafts of sunlight illuminating the hoodoos, and distant rain sweeping across the plateau can transform an already beautiful landscape into something extraordinary.

These are the moments when I'm especially glad to have a camera handy.

Naturally, there's a difference between appreciating a storm and doing something foolish to get a better photograph. Lightning and exposed overlooks aren't a particularly good combination, so I'll happily admire the drama from a safe location.

Some photographs just aren't worth the price of admission.

A Place to Slow Down

There's another thing I appreciate about Bryce Canyon: it's a wonderful place to spend time without feeling compelled to be constantly on the move.

The park has excellent campgrounds tucked among the trees, and its forested picnic areas offer a welcome change of pace from the overlooks and hiking trails.

I enjoy the idea of spending a few days there, taking things as they come. Maybe the morning offers some interesting light. Maybe the afternoon brings a storm. Maybe the weather refuses to cooperate, and the best thing to do is find a quiet spot beneath the trees and enjoy the day.

Not every visit needs to produce a portfolio-worthy photograph. And not every outing needs to involve a spectacular hike.

Sometimes it's enough to be somewhere beautiful, breathe the cool, high-elevation air, and appreciate the fact that you don't have anywhere else you need to be. Retirement has made that kind of experience even more enjoyable. There's something liberating about being able to spend time in a place simply because you love it, without having to squeeze the experience between work obligations.

The camera comes along, of course. Old habits die hard.

So, Why Bryce Canyon?

I've often thought that if someone visiting Utah had time for only one national park, Bryce Canyon would be a pretty compelling choice.

I know. That's a dangerous thing to say around here. Utah has five magnificent national parks, and I've spent enough time exploring them to know that each has its own personality and appeal. Capitol Reef remains one of my favorite places on Earth, and I wouldn't want to give up my time in Arches or Canyonlands, either.

But Bryce Canyon offers an unusual combination of scenery, accessible viewpoints, wonderful hiking, diverse forests, wildlife, and seasonal variety. It's comfortable to explore during much of the summer, spectacular after a snowfall, and capable of producing some wonderfully dramatic weather.

Most importantly, it offers an incredible amount to look at.

After all these years, I've come to realize that the places I enjoy most aren't necessarily those where I can see the most things in the shortest amount of time. They're the places that encourage me to slow down, pay attention, and appreciate what's in front of me.

Bryce Canyon does that exceptionally well.

I can spend an afternoon photographing the hoodoos and still find myself looking at the trees on the way back to camp. I can admire a sweeping view from the rim and then spend an hour wandering among the formations below. I can return in a different season and find that a familiar landscape has taken on an entirely new character.

And if the photography doesn't quite work out? Well, I've still spent the day in Bryce Canyon. There are worse ways to spend your time.

So yes, I love the hoodoos. I love the forests, the wildlife, the cool summer air, the winter snow, and the occasional thunderstorm that turns the whole landscape into a theatrical production.

But perhaps what I love most is the simple pleasure of being there, with a camera in hand and nowhere particularly urgent to go. After all, the point isn't always to get the photograph. Sometimes it's to enjoy the experience that gave you a reason to take it.