Bryce Canyon: Enjoy solitude and wonder in winter

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK — The landscape itself doesn't change. The hoodoos stand as they have for centuries. The trees may be a little taller but not so much that anyone would notice. The narrow canyons may be a little deeper, cut by running water, but, again, not to where anyone would notice.

But when temperatures cool, Bryce Canyon National Park takes on a very different look. The white snow accentuates the natural reds, oranges, browns and yellows of the landscape. The fact that there are fewer people, and in some cases no people, adds to the reflection of a true wilderness. And the stillness, with fewer distractions, does add to the visual impact of the natural surroundings. Consensus is people are able to pay more attention to their surroundings in the off-season.

Which is why, explained Jean Seiler, marketing director for Ruby's Inn, located at the gateway to the park, "many of those people who visit in the winter say they prefer the off-season. In a lot of ways it's a new experience."

And there are advantages. Aside from the different looks and no traffic, off-season rates are lower, traffic is reduced to a few cars, and there is usually a full range of new and different activities, such as cross country skiing, snowmobiling and snowshoeing.

Colleen Bathe, chief of interpretation for the park, noted that off-season visits have increased over the past couple of years.

"I think people are discovering just how amazingly beautiful the park is in the winter," she added. "The lighting, the colors, the contrast with the snow — people tell me all the time they're so glad they came here in the winter."

When there's sufficient snow the park offers snowshoe courses and offers guided tours. For information call 1-435-834-5322.

This "new look" also extends ventures outside the park.

Take Mossy Cave, for example, In the summer it's a cool, dripping cavern covered in moss and thick with vegetation. In the winter it's a cavern of strikingly beautiful ice formations. Dripping water freezes and forms solid white stalactites and stalagmites on solid, white bases.

It's an easy hike to the cave, only four-tenths of a mile from parking area along Highway 12 to the mouth of the cave. The scenery along with way is characteristic of Bryce Canyon's theme of vibrant rock cliffs, contrasting colors and sparse vegetation.

Roughly 15 miles from Bryce Canyon, on the edge of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, is the Willis Creek Narrows, a slot canyon that is easily accessible if the weather is dry and the dirt road is passable, which is usually the case. It's less than 100 yards from the parking area to the gradual descent into the canyon.