national parks in the usa: bryce canyon
There are almost 60 National Parks in the USA and one of our travel goals would be to see each of them. We have barely touched the surface with what we have seen. It would be great if we could grow a “national parks series” in our blog to cover them all one day 🙂
One of the ones we have visited is Bryce Canyon National Park. And we absolutely loved what we saw and would go back to the area in a heartbeat!
Bryce Canyon, located in southwest of Utah and named after a Mormon pioneer, was listed as a national park in 1928. According to the National Park Service website, it is small in comparison to other national parks. Smaller or not, it is a sight that you will have to see for yourself to believe.
As we stand at the rim and look down… all we can see are these unusual, red rocky “spires”, known as hoodoos. There are thousands of them. We have never seen anything like it before. It literally made us “ooh” and “ahh” as we snap our photos.
The area is said to be filled with wildlife but much to our disappointment, we didn’t see any except maybe a bird that looked like a raven in flight.
From Sunset Point, there is a trail that winds down so we could walk amongst the rocks. Standing beside rocks this size, we felt so small and insignificant. It was rather daunting to walk down and then look back at the rim. It just seemed like we were in really deep.
The sun and colour of the rocks make for some serious glare, so be sure to have sunglasses with you. We were here in October but the weather was as perfect as any summer we could imagine.
Then to end the day, we were granted skies like this…. Ahhhh…. how can we simply NOT love this place?
It is because places like this exist, we just realise how much we love nature and just want to keep seeing more!
Have you visited Bryce Canyon National Park?
Share your thoughts here.
wise monkeys abroad 
November 24, 2014 at 6:26 pm
I’ve been there! We stopped on one of our family road trips. It’s really amazing.
November 24, 2014 at 9:05 pm
Yet to find a person who didn’t like it 🙂 Must’ve been one heck of an awesome road trip 🙂
November 23, 2014 at 7:25 am
Bryce is indeed spectacular. I’ve been there a number of times over the years. And, I might add, there are several other beautiful National Parks to the north and south, including such treasures as Arches, Zion and the Grand Canyon. Peggy and I also had the goal of visiting all of America’s National Parks, and except for a handful, have done so. So much beauty and such diversity. I’ve blogged about many of the parks, including Bryce. Your photos do a good job of capturing the canyon. Right now, Peggy and I are in Sedona, Arizona, surrounded by beautiful red rock cliffs. I am sure there is a blog here. 🙂 –Curt
November 23, 2014 at 10:34 am
You are the third person in about a month to mention that you are in Sedona to us. Hmmm…. maybe that is another sign that we need to go there 🙂
Yes, we’ve visited Zion and the Grand Canyon too and loved those too. Again, just adding to our desire to see more of the NPs of America 🙂
Thanks for paying us a visit Curt! Hope you are well and we look forward to your Sedona post.
November 23, 2014 at 1:52 pm
Just spent an hour watching the sun set on the beautiful red rocks… I suspect it will be Sedona posts. (grin) You definitely need to visit. –Curt
November 23, 2014 at 10:47 pm
Totally on the cards…. only a matter of when 😉
November 22, 2014 at 6:04 am
This place is AMAZING! Beautiful pics!!!
November 22, 2014 at 9:14 am
Diana, this is undoubtedly one of the coolest place we have seen. Wishing you a fabulous weekend 🙂
November 21, 2014 at 5:47 pm
The American Southwest is quite beautiful. I grew up near there, so I’m biased, but I think it has some of the most spectacular scenery in the country.
November 21, 2014 at 7:41 pm
There is just so much to see …. How will we get to see everything?!
Thanks for your comment 🙂
November 21, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Bryce Canyon is one of my favorite places. When I can’t fall asleep at night, I picture myself walking through the hoo doos. I also wrote a blog post on Bryce Canyon that you might enjoy as each of us sees different things no matter where we are. Visit http://www.gypsyroadtrip.com and click on Utah on the right hand side. Bryce Canyon will be in that group. Your pictures are fantastic!
November 22, 2014 at 9:15 am
Thank you Gypsy Bev for sharing your thoughts. We will definitely check out your post 🙂 It seems like people who have been to Bryce all seem to love it. How can we not, right? Have a terrific weekend!!
November 21, 2014 at 11:12 am
Gorgeous photos! I have a similar goal in seeing all of the National Parks – it’s amazing how remarkably different they all are from one another. It certainly brings into perspective the variety that can be found in just this one country. But so far, I would say Bryce Canyon has been my favorite! The park is “cleaner” somehow and the formations are just wow. Definitely worth a visit – or two!
November 21, 2014 at 11:34 am
Thanks for your comment! That’s awesome that this NP is your fav 😀
We do want to back as it is so pretty and unique.
And totally yes about the different NP in the one country!! How diverse are they all – hope we do get to see them all 🙂
Good luck with your goal and sending you wishes for an amazing weekend!
November 21, 2014 at 6:10 am
Wow!!! This is mindblowingly beautiful! 🙂
November 21, 2014 at 7:38 am
Hey!!! Good to hear from you 🙂 How have you been?
Yes, you’ve described this place with two very appropriate words!!
November 22, 2014 at 2:13 am
Hey WiseMonkeys!!! Have been good…bit of a time management issue…hopefully i will be able to overcome that!! 🙂 TC!
November 21, 2014 at 5:09 am
Gorgeous pictures! I love the dessert but don’t spend enough time there. Good luck on your list!
November 21, 2014 at 7:51 am
Thanks!! We have a long way still to go. It’s so different to anything we see… We just can’t get enough of the diversity in travelling 🙂
November 21, 2014 at 1:37 am
Gorgeous photos! I would love to go there one day.
November 21, 2014 at 8:09 am
Thank you for your kind comment 🙂 We do hope you get to visit there one day! Have a wonderful weekend ahead.
November 21, 2014 at 1:20 am
Just gorgeous – one of the western parks I have yet to visit (Zion is another – I think I see a road trip in my future…).
November 21, 2014 at 8:10 am
Zion is spectacular too 🙂 We will eventually post on that NP!
We need to really get back to the US 🙂
Have a great weekend!
November 20, 2014 at 10:26 pm
Absolutely stunning pictures! If USA wasn’t already on my “to see one day” list, it definitely is now! 😀
November 21, 2014 at 8:12 am
Thanks Vlad 🙂 USA will probably never fall off our to-see list – there’s just so much there!
Hope you have been well.
November 20, 2014 at 10:13 pm
That is certainly spectacular. There is so much amazing scenery in the world for me still to see…my list keeps on growing. I love the colours in these photos.
November 21, 2014 at 8:13 am
Thank you 🙂
Tell us about it, our list keeps growing that basically we don’t even have a list anymore because it’s now just to see everything that is humanly possible for us lol
Wishing you a great weekend ahead!
November 20, 2014 at 9:33 pm
Breathtaking! The landscape and your photos! Hope to see all that grandeur in person someday.
November 20, 2014 at 9:35 pm
Thank you for your comment 🙂 It was quite a surreal thing for us to witness!
There is such diversity in the National Parks in the USA that we just want to see them all.
We hope you do get to visit one day. And if you do, take us with you 😉
November 20, 2014 at 8:19 pm
its stunning… how is it best visited?
November 20, 2014 at 8:35 pm
We went on a bus tour so didn’t get to stay as long as we would’ve liked. Next time, we will drive 🙂 Road trip USA is another travel to-do for us!!
November 20, 2014 at 7:50 pm
Awesome pictures from an awesome landscape!
November 20, 2014 at 8:31 pm
Thanks Ken! Bryce Canyon is something special 🙂 Hope you are having a good week!
November 20, 2014 at 7:25 pm
Just another “Wow”!! What an amazing place.
November 20, 2014 at 8:32 pm
Don’t know how many times we said wow while we were there! It really is something 🙂
November 20, 2014 at 5:57 pm
Woah it looks like a giant maze! What a wonderful view over this place and it goes to my secret “to-do list” 🙂
November 20, 2014 at 8:34 pm
It DOES look like a maze 🙂 It is so out of this world…. And yes, add it to your list!
November 20, 2014 at 5:49 pm
Wow.
November 20, 2014 at 6:27 pm
It certainly was wow!!