Page 162 - Off the Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 1 of 2)

158

NATURAL WONDERS

Bryce Canyon ABOVE Crowds of tourists at Mather Point on the Grand
Canyon’s South Rim, Arizona
FORGET THE
GRAND CANYON?

vs the Grand Canyon THE BUILD-UP The Grand Canyon deservedly
ranks among the most famous sights on earth. It
was formed over millions of years and measures
a huge 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles
Utah’s dazzling Bryce Canyon is a unique, extraordinary wonderland, on a much (29 km) wide and 1 mile (2 km) deep.
more human scale than Arizona’s huge and intimidating Grand Canyon THE LETDOWN Five million visitors flock to the
Grand Canyon every year, but sadly almost all
head to the same crowded, commercialized spot
A level walkway along the edge of the largest on its South Rim, known as Grand Canyon
NEED TO KNOW
amphitheater at Bryce makes it easy for people to Village. Crammed into the hectic look-out points
LOCATION Bryce Canyon admire the awesome rock formations en masse. and dwarfed by the colossal, silent chasm, they
stands 8,000 ft (2,440 m) above $ "/"%" experience the canyon as a remote spectacle. Those
sea level in southwest Utah Specific look-out points identified along this path
VISITORS PER boast particularly good views at sunset and few who hike into it face a very challenging task
YEAR 1.75 million #3:$& /FX :PSL sunrise, when the landscape seems to glow like a – getting down to the Colorado River and back
$"/:0/ requires a two-day backpacking expedition.
AREA 8BTIJOHUPO % $
56 sq miles (145 sq km) -PT "OHFMFT vast furnace. Unlike the Grand Canyon, an hour-
6 4 "
DAYTIME long hike here can lead you into the very heart of GOING ANYWAY? If you’re determined to go,
TEMPERATURES the monolithic labyrinth. Several straightforward consider visiting the quieter North Rim, where
Jan: 39°F (4°C); Apr: 56°F (13°C); (VMG PG
.&9*$0 .FYJDP trails thread their way down to and among the a lovely lodge stands at the canyon’s edge.
Jul: 83°F (28°C); Oct: 63°F (17°C)
most dramatic hoodoos. Walking in the perpetual Alternatively, take a 120-mile (193-km) trip
shade of the canyon’s floor, along narrow footpaths down dirt roads to remote Toroweap Point,
Nothing can prepare you for your first sight of squeezed between looming orange rocks and where you can stare straight down a sheer
Bryce Canyon. It’s as though the top layer of the implausibly slender pinnacles, is a truly mind- 3,000-ft (914-m) cliff to the river.
earth has been ripped back to reveal a landscape boggling experience. In many places, the trails cut
full of incandescent orange, yellow, and red right into the rock, through dramatic tunnels and
columns jostling for position beneath the surface. underneath archways, leading you to new and
It is such a splendid sight that even the colossal astonishing vistas at every turn.
Grand Canyon pales in comparison. The local Paiute
people called Bryce Canyon Unkatimpe-wa-Wince- PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Pockich – “red rocks standing like men in a bowl-
shaped recess” – but its modern name comes from Getting There and Around suites, individual log cabins and
The nearest major airports to motel rooms. It is set back 110
a 19th-century Mormon rancher, Ebenezer Bryce,
Bryce Canyon are at Las Vegas, yards (100 m) from the rim, and
who laconically observed that his new home was 270 miles (435 km) to the is open in summer only
“a helluva place to lose a cow.” southwest, and Salt Lake City, the (Apr–Oct).
Despite its name, Bryce is not actually a canyon same distance to the north.The When to Go
at all, but a succession of spectacular natural only way to get here is to drive, Unlike much of Utah and the
though free shuttle buses tour
amphitheaters chiseled out of a high, pine-forested Grand Canyon, Bryce remains
the park itself. The park’s entrance
plateau by eternities of ice, water, and wind erosion. is at its northern end. cool enough in summer for
Most visitors get their first glimpse of Bryce from the Where to Eat hiking to be a pleasure. While in-
park facilities close in winter, the
rim on its western edge, and, because there is no Typical American diners are found park itself stays open, and looks
corresponding rim opposite, the views from this near the park entrance, but the more beautiful than ever.
best place to eat is in the rustic
point are breathtaking. Below you lies the canyon, Budget per Day for Two
dining room at the Bryce Canyon
decorated in a palette of lurid hues. Many of its Lodge (see Where to Stay). Steaks Anything from US$100 to
sandstone forms are hoodoos – extraordinary pillars and chops are the specialty here. US$200 for food, lodging, and
created over thousands of years as soft rock has Where to Stay park entry (which is US$25 per
car). Car rental is an additional
crumbled away from hard rock, leaving sturdy The comfortable Bryce Canyon US$35 per day.
boulders balanced precariously atop pencil-thin Lodge (www.brycecanyonlodge.
com), still kitted out in its original Website
shafts of petrified sand. Beyond the canyon, a
1920s furnishings, has luxury www.nps.gov/brca
desolate plain stretches as far as the eye can see.

15/4/09 10:20:23
US158-159_NAT_bryce.indd 158 16/4/09 11:06:04
158-159_NAT_bryce.indd 158