Bryce Canyon National Park  Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Utah.Larry Brownstein/Getty Imagesarea of
spectacular rock formations in southern Utah, U.S., roughly 40
miles (64 km) northeast of Zion National Park. The park actually
is a series of natural amphitheatres rather than a canyon, below
which stands an array of white, pink, and orange limestone and
sandstone columns, spires, and walls sculpted by erosion. The
amphitheatre called Bryce Canyon was named for Ebenezer Bryce,
an early settler in the area. The park was created in 1928, five
years after part of the present area (56 square miles [145
square km]) had been set aside as a national monument.  The
geologic history of the park is related to that of nearby Grand
Canyon and Zion national parks, since the foundation stone of
all three was laid down while the entire region was inundated by
a shallow sea; the sandstone and limestone beds of Bryce Canyon,
however, were formed more recently, during the past 60 million
years (the Cen