If you’re considering where to go for your next US vacation, you might consider visiting Bryce Canyon in Utah. It’s amazing and beautiful. However, today I’m going to talk about why you should visit Bryce Canyon National Park.
Bryce Canyon National Park is an amazing and alien landscape. It is unlike anywhere else on Earth (save perhaps for surrounding nearby lands such as Escalante National Monument). It hovers around the top 10 US national parks if it doesn’t make the top 10 (depends upon the list you look at). It’s also a big wide open place when standing at the rim so you can really feel the space. Pictures really don’t do the place justice when it comes to feeling the open space.
1. Dark Skies
On August 13, 2019, Bryce Canyon National Park was certified by the International Dark-Sky Association as an “International Dark Sky Park.” This certification recognizes the already existing dark night skies in the area along with the park’s decade-long efforts, along with those of other surrounding communities and organizations, to minimize light pollution and maintain the dark skies at night in the area.
If you didn’t fully get the message from that line above, then let me put it to you straight. Bryce Canyon National Park has some of the darkest night skies you will find on the continental United States of America. This makes for some amazing views for astronomers of all ages and skill levels as well as astrophotographers. The park rangers and staff built up an astronomy program over the summer to highlight these amazing nighttime views.
Check this photo below out for an idea of the kinds of views you can see at Bryce Canyon during the summertime.
You can see a very bright and clear Milky Way in addition to other celestial objects such as planets, stars, comets, and more from the dark skies of Bryce Canyon. If you choose to hike down into the canyon, you can even remove some of the lights of nearby Tropic from your view of the night sky. Very few places in the lower 48 of the US will afford you views of the heavens like this. Bryce Canyon, and the surrounding area, is one such place.
2. The Hikes
Bryce Canyon has over 65 miles of hiking on about 10 trails, many of which interconnect and can be planned for continuous hiking. Trails range in difficulty from easy to strenuous depending on the trail and your personal preferences.
Bryce Canyon hiking trails have a significant advantage over other national parks’ (such as Yellowstone, Zion, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and others) hiking trails. Bryce Canyon hiking trails are less crowded. Some trails you will hardly find a soul on. This means you can have the trail to yourself for enjoying the pleasant sounds of nature.
As you hike down into the hoodoos, you will get to see some amazing formations along with some beautiful flora during certain times of year. Just don’t pick the flowers. That’s against the rules. Take all the pictures you like.
3. Open Year Round
Perhaps one of the best reasons why you should visit Bryce Canyon is that the national park is open year round. This means that you can plan your trip any time of the year and there will be something open to go see. Please keep in mind that Bryce Canyon does get snow in the winter so parts of the park can be closed off for safety reasons. Still, there will be plenty to see there and Bryce Canyon really transforms in the winter. Observe.
Conclusion
Bryce Canyon really is an amazing, beautiful, and unique place to visit no matter what time of year. It has some of the best hiking you will find and some of the darkest night skies available in the continental US. It really is a full package day or night, winter, spring, summer, or fall. Just be careful around and during winter. Keep up with the current weather forecast and park closures and you should have yourself an amazing vacation trip in Southern Utah which you won’t forget.
