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Bryce Canyon National Park is a National Park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called ''hoodoos'', formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from . The Bryce Canyon area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874. The area around Bryce Canyon became a National Monument in 1923 and was designated as a National Park in 1928. The park covers 〔 and receives relatively few visitors compared to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, largely due to its remote location. ==Geography and climate== Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwestern Utah about northeast of and higher than Zion National Park.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=When to go )〕 The weather in Bryce Canyon is therefore cooler, and the park receives more precipitation: a total of per year.〔The Hoodoo (Summer 2005)〕 Yearly temperatures vary from an average minimum of in January to an average maximum of in July, but extreme temperatures can range from .〔 The record high temperature in the park was on July 14, 2002. The record low temperature was on December 10, 1972.〔http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ut1006; http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ut1007; http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ut1008〕 The national park lies within the Colorado Plateau geographic province of North America and straddles the southeastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau west of the Paunsaugunt Fault (''Paunsaugunt'' is Paiute for "home of the beaver").〔 Park visitors arrive from the plateau part of the park and look over the plateau's edge toward a valley containing the fault and the Paria River just beyond it (''Paria'' is Paiute for "muddy or elk water"). The edge of the Kaiparowits Plateau bounds the opposite side of the valley. Bryce Canyon was not formed from erosion initiated from a central stream, meaning it technically is not a canyon. Instead headward erosion has excavated large amphitheater-shaped features in the Cenozoic-aged rocks of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. This erosion exposed delicate and colorful pinnacles called hoodoos that are up to high. A series of amphitheaters extends more than north-to-south within the park.〔 The largest is Bryce Amphitheater, which is long, wide and deep.〔 A nearby example of amphitheaters with hoodoos in the same formation but at a higher elevation, is in Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is to the west on the Markagunt Plateau.〔 Rainbow Point, the highest part of the park at ,〔 is at the end of the scenic drive.〔 From there, Aquarius Plateau, Bryce Amphitheater, the Henry Mountains, the Vermilion Cliffs and the White Cliffs can be seen. Yellow Creek, where it exits the park in the north-east section, is the lowest part of the park at .〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bryce Canyon National Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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