| Bryce
Canyon National Park offers year round majestic scenery to explore and appreciate.
At Bryce Canyon National Park erosion forms a remarkable array of fantastic shapes we know as hoodoos.
What is a Hoodoo?
Hoodoo - a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, carved and
left by erosion.
Hoodoo - to cast a spell.
Surrounded by the beauty of southern Utah, these hoodoos cast their spell on all who visit.
Geologists say that ten million years ago forces within the Earth created and then moved the massive
blocks we know as the Aquarius and Paunsaugunt plateaus. Rock layers on the Aquarius now tower
2,000 feet above the same layers on the Paunsaugunt. Ancient rivers carved the tops and exposed edges
of these blocks, removing some layers and sculpting intricate formations in others. The Paria Valley was
created and later widened between the plateaus.
The Paria River and its many tributaries continue to carve the plateau edges. Rushing waters carrying dirt
and gravel gully the edges and steep slopes of the Paunsaugunt Plateau on which Bryce Canyon National
Park lies. With time, tall thin ridges called fins emerge. Fins further erode into pinnacles and spires called
hoodoos. These in turn weaken and fall, adding their bright colors to the hills below.
Early Native Americans left little to tell us of their use of the plateaus. We know that people have been in
the Colorado Plateau region for about 12,000 years, but only random fragments of worked stone tell of
their presence near Bryce Canyon. Artifacts tell a more detailed story of use at lower elevations beyond
the park's boundary. Both Anasazi and Fremont influences are found near the park. The people of each
culture left bits of a puzzle to be pieced together by present and future archaeologists. Paiutes lived in the
region when Euro-Americans arrived in southern Utah. Paiutes explained the colorful hoodoos as "Legend People" who were turned to stone by Coyote.
For more information, contact Bryce Canyon National Park at 435-834-5322
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