Bryce and Zion National Parks

This Series Bryce and Zion National Parks

Eons of Geological Forces

Driving into Bryce National Park through a hole in the rock

Bryce Nat’l Park

Sheer rock faces, hoodoos and fins looking like sand dribblings, windows in the rocks, vast curiously intriguing landscapes... Bryce and Zion have been defined by slow geological forces from upheavals and grinding tectonic plates, to slow sedimentation and erosion. Build it up with savage forces, then wear it down slowly one grain at a time.

Hole in the Rock, or window, Bryce National Park

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Famous hole in the rock

“Camping” Out

As kids my sisters and I would often visit grandma and grandpa out in the Southwest, wherever they happened to be parked at the time. Often they would meet us in San Diego and drive up to Zion and Bryce in their 40-foot 5th wheel. We'd "camp" for a week or two and hike around the parks. It's like a big playground with strange rock formations.

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Trees and Rock Formations

Bryce and Zion both have a tremendous amount of scenic natural beauty that I haven't even begun to capture here. On this photo trip I was just passing through. Most of these scenes are captured near roadways. It is also painfully obvious that these were also taken with a cheap, instant, digital camera, unlike most of the photos of this website which were taken with more sophisticated equipment. You can see more images from this same camera in Elkins and Canaan Valley. Thankfully those three days are the only ones.

The Majestic Southwest

Still, you get a glimpse of the tremendous raw beauty of the Southwest encapsulated in Bryce and Zion National Parks. The worn monuments are reminiscent of Sedona and the Grand Canyon which are just around the corner!

Tags Driving, Valleys, Mountains, Parks