See also: Bryce

Bryce Canyon is a geological site of the south-west of the the United States in the Utah. The neighborhoods of the Canyon form a national park of 145 km ². The name is unsuitable because, rather than a canyon, it is about a gigantic natural amphitheater created by the erosion of the part is plate of Paunsaugunt. The place is made remarkable by its extraordinary geological structures, the hoodoos, formed by the action of the wind, precipitations and freezing. The rocks take exceptional colors here energy of the red to the white.

Bryce Canyon is at a higher altitude (between 2400 and 2700 meters) that other natural sites of Utah such as the National park of Zion. The area was initially occupied by Mormon pioneers as of the years 1850, among which Ebenezer Bryce. It was classified national monument in 1924 and became national park four years later.

Natural curiosities

Geological formations

• Aquarius Plate (the plate of Aquarius)
• Bryce Amphitheater (the amphitheater of Bryce)
• Henry Mountains (mountains of Henry)
• Vermilion Cliffs (the cliffs vermilions)
• White Cliffs (white cliffs)
• Queen Victoria (in reference to the Queen Victoria and its court)
• Queen' S Garden (the garden of the Queen, in reference to the Queen Victoria and its court)
• Thor' S Hammer (the hammer of Thor)
• Wall Street

Point of view

• Rainbow Not (the place of the rainbow)
• Inspiration Not
• Sunrise Not (sunrise)
• Sunset Not (sunset)
• Yovimpa Not

Excursions

• Fairyland Loop
• Navajo Trail
• Queen' S Garden Trail
• Navajo/Queens Garden Loop
• Peekaboo Loop
• Under-tea-Rim Trail

History

The Pétroglyphe S found in Bryce Canyon indicate the presence of Amerindian S several thousands of years ago, but the historians know some little on their subject. In the south of the park the archeologists found objects of the culture Anasazi and Pueblos of Fremont.

The Indians Paiute arrived in the surrounding valleys and the plates around the 12th century. They drove out and gathered, but they practiced also agriculture to supplement their sources of food. Paiute developed beliefs around the hoodoos (stone pinnacles) of Bryce Canyon. They thought that the hoodoos were legendary characters petrified by a Coyote.

At the 18th century, the first Europeans pressed the ground of the area. The Mormons explored the sector in the middle of the 19th century to evaluate the agricultural potential of it. The first scientific exhibition was carried out by the army of John Wesley Powell on behalf of the government in 1872. The cartographers and the geologists kept several Paiute toponyms. The Mormons settled along the Paria river and, in 1873, the Kanarra Cattle Company adapted the area to develop the breeding. The Church of Jesus-Christ of the Saints of the Last Days (of which the members are the Mormons) then sent the carpenter of Scottish origin Ebenezer Bryce and his Mary wife to help with the installation of the community. Its work was indeed rather important: it arranged a road and a channel to irrigate its exploitation. It allotted to the throat its family name. Following natural disasters (succession of drynesses, floods…), Paiutes remaining required of the colonists to build a system of Irrigation starting from Sevier River. The creation of the park of Bryce Canyon is due to the action of J.W. Humphrey. In the years 1920, the railroad brought more visitors. In same time, the conservatives were alarmed at the damage caused by the overgrazing and the threats on Bryce Canyon. The director of the American national parks, Stephen Mather proposed the classification of the site to the president Warren G. Harding. A road was built in 1923 on the plate to provide an easy access to the points of sights above the amphitheater. In 1924, the members of the congress proposed to transform the place into National park of the Utah. After land sales and transactions, the park was founded on February 25th 1928.

In 1931, President Herbert Hoover increased the park towards the south and in 1942 2,57 km ² were added. A ship of the American navy bore the name of USS Bryce Canyon of 1947 to 1981.

Geology

Bryce Canyon is a natural amphitheater dug by the agents of erosion in the calcareous plate of Paunsaugunt.

Geography

Relief

Bryce Canyon is in the average part of the Rocky Mountains called Middle Rockies .

Climate

Temperatures depending on altitude. In height, the days are moderate in summer whereas the nights are fresh. In second half of the season, the storms bring constant precipitations the afternoon. In spring and in autumn, time varies considerably from one day to the next. The winters are cold in altitude. March is most snow-covered, but snow can fall from October at April. The snowfalls make possible the practice of the ski touring. |---- |align=center colspan=2| Figures of the Web site of the national park of Bryce Canyon |}

Fauna and flora

Bryce Canyon is located in the natural environment of the Rocky Mountains. It shelters 164 species of birds. The Puma drives out there large the Cervidé S. the flora consists of fir trees and pines pondérosas.

See too

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