If you haven’t heard, Bryce Canyon National Park is kind-of a big deal in national park circles.  Millions of people come every year to see this park for themselves.  So, why do they do this?  Why do they travel so far?  What in the world is Bryce Canyon famous for?  Today we discuss that very topic.

Bryce Canyon National Park is famous for one thing: being the single largest location with the biggest collection of hoodoos on the planet.  There are other locations close by which also feature some of these formations, but Bryce has the biggest collection by far.

What is a “hoodoo” you ask?  Very simply, a hoodoo is a rock formation.  Let’s grab the Wikipedia definition for more precision.

A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock formed by erosion.  Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements.  They generally form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations.

Hoodoos range in size from the height of an average human to heights exceeding a 10-story building.  Hoodoo shapes are affected by the erosional patterns of alternating hard and softer rock layers.  Minerals deposited within different rock types can cause hoodoos to have different colors throughout their height.

Here are some examples of Bryce Canyon hoodoos from my landscape photography portfolio.

As you can see, these rock formations come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and cluster densities.  The most popular vistas at Bryce Canyon show off more of the famous hoodoos than other locations do.

Other nearby parks and monuments might feature some hoodoos of their own.  For instance, Escalante National Monument and Goblin Valley State Park come to mind.  However, no park at the national or state level has the same density of individual hoodoos all in one place.

So, in conclusion, what is Bryce Canyon famous for?  Why do so many people come to see it every year?  It’s for the hoodoos.  People come to see the hoodoos which Bryce Canyon has to offer.  So, is that what you expected the answer to be?  Please share your thoughts about this answer below in the comments section.  I’d love to learn about the first time you set eyes on these famous hoodoos of Bryce Canyon.