The park rangers say that at night you can often hear the sounds of the rock cracking and noises as pieces fall to the valley floor. Of all the parks in the Colorado Plateau Bryce is the one that is changing the most quickly. In the next 50 years the park will appear very different that it does now and for that reason the Park Service does not even name the 'hoodoos'. Many will not be there in a few decades and others will have formed to take their place. It is the most dynamic of our national parks.
I took my childern there a number of years ago hiking through the spires and canyons and find it fascinationg that when they take thier children to see this 'red rock playground', it will be a bit different.
Located in southwestern Utah, Bryce National Park is a childs fantasy land wrapped in a scientific laboratory.
The uniqueness of the rocks, the famous spires of red and white sandstone called "hoodoos," occur only in the rocks of the Claron Formation in this area of the Colorado Plateau.
The elavation at Bryce, the rim varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet, is much higher than nearby Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon. where the south rim sits at 7,000 feet. This creates an unusual environment in Bryce where over 200 days a year temperatures drop below freezing at night and rise to above freezing during the day.
Water from rain and moisture in the air seeps into the weak limestone of the Claron Formation and freezes when the temperature drops cracking the rocks as the ice expands.