Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southern Utah. The park was established by proclamation in 1928. The protected area is 145 km2. The upper edge of the plateau varies between 2400 and 2700 m of elevation and the park elevation is between 2000 and 2775 m above sea level. That is a bit higher than the neighbouring Zion National Park. The park was named after a Mormon homesteader Ebenezer Bryce who lived here in 1870s.
Bryce Canyon
The unique feature of this park is its geological makeup. Bryce canyon is not a canyon per se because it was created by ‘headway erosion’ of cliffs and walls creating sculpted amphitheaters along one side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The access is by an excellent paved highway with viewpoints along the way and possibilities for hiking down the walls and getting a feeling of the desert landscape and climate. It is a paradise for photographers. Just listen to the names of the formations to be seen: Fairyland View, Palace of the Fairy Queen, Tower Bridge, Crescent Castle, Chinese Wall, Sinking Ship, Queen’s Garden, Wall of Windows.
Bryce Canyon
The climate is quite continental with precipitation 380 to 460 mm per year, which is higher than nearby desert areas. January average temperature is -13 °C and July avg. maximum of 28 °C. The lowest measured temperature was -34 °C and the highest 36 °C.
Bryce Canyon
Flora is typical Great Basin variety. The vegetation changes according to elevation. At higher elevations at the southern part of the park you can see forests consisting of White Fir (Abies concolor), Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Colorado Spruce (Picea pungens) and Aspen (Populus tremuloides). At the ground level Rocky Mountain Grape (Mahonia repens), Greenleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula) and Common Juniper (Juniperus communis) are prevalent. In Northern part of the park you can see in higher elevations Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), in open meadows grows sagebrush (Artemisia nova) or Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), with grasses like fescues (Festuca thurberi) and Needle & Thread Grasses (Stipa comata, S. hymenoides).
The perennials include Utah Columbine (Aquilegia scolpulorum), Rocky Mountain Iris (Iris missouriensis), Blue Flax (Linum lewisii), Stoneseeds (Lithospermum multiflorum, L. incisum), Beardtongue (Penstemon leiophullus) and Death Camas (Zigadenus elegans).
Bryce Canyon
Under the ridge of the plateau in the eastern part are the forests of Colorado Pinyon (Pinus edulis), Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) and Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii). Among the hoodoos and other rock formation the plant life is scarce but you can se some specialties like Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) which is the longest-living organism on earth, also Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) and number of very rare and endemic perennials found only in southern Utah as Plateau Catchfly (Silene petersonii), Yellowwhite Cryptantha (Cryptantha ochroleuca), Cedar Breaks Springparsley (Cymopterus minimus), Abajo Fleabane (Erigeron abajoensis) and Bryce Canyon Paintbrush (Castilleja revealii).
Bryce Canyon
According to US National Park Service even Bryce Canyon is not immune to invasive plants, although at lesser scale than other parts of the Southwest. In the 2004 survey they estimated that only 1.34 % of the area hosted the introduced species and that mainly along highways, parking lots and around campsites and buildings. The count reached to 67 species, none of which aggressive enough to be alarmed. The major pest of these areas appear to be Tamarisks (Tamarix spp.), Russian Olive (Eleagnus angustifolia) and variety of imported thistles (Cirsium and Carduus spp.)
Bryce Canyon
These images were taken by Karel Bergmann, summer 1995, and by Pavlína Zahradníková, winter 2007.