Bryce National Park is named after Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon carpenter sent to this area by the church to help settle the area in 1875 (as he put it, "It was a hell of a place to lose a cow!") Locals called this area with the strange rock formations "Bryce's Canyon" because he had built a road to the plateau top to cut timber and firewood. The odd formations, technically called spires, fins, pinnacles, and mazes, are better known as "hoodoos," and thousands populate a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheatres, all the result of erosion of colorful limestones, sandstones, and mudstones. Ponderosa pine, high elevation meadows, and fir-spruce forests border the rim of the plateau.
There are over 50 miles of hiking trails with a range of length and elevation change. The main backpacking trail is the 23 mile Under-the-Rim Trail which has 8 backcountry campsites and water available at 4 locations, and along its 9 mile continuation called the Riggs Spring Loop Trail. A permit and $5 fee are required for overnight stays. Several connector trails allow you to access the rim if you choose not to do the entire length. NOTE: As of 1999 there was no shuttle service, and hitchhiking is prohibited.
Elevation ranges from 6620 feet to 9115 feet above sea level. It averages 18 inches of precipitation annually and over 100 inches of snow.
In 1923 it was proclaimed Bryce Canyon National Monument and it became Bryce Canyon National Park in 1928.