Mark Your Calendar: 2nd Bryce Canyon National Park Geology Festival July 28-30

Bryce Canyon National Park's 2nd Annual Geology Festival is scheduled for July 28-30. Kurt Repanshek photo of Thor's Hammer.

People the world over head to Bryce Canyon National Park to marvel in its geology. Once a year the park formally celebrates that geology, and this year the park's annual Geology Festival falls on July 28-30.

Known for its colorful and oddly shaped rock spires called “hoodoos,” the area was established as a national park in 1928. Each year more than a million visitors from all over the world come to the park to marvel at its beautiful scenery and delicate formations, unique on planet earth.

This year's Geology Festival will offer daily ranger‐guided walks and talks in the canyon and on the rim, children’s activities on geology, guided bus tours through the park, illustrated programs, geology and fossil tables and an exhibit of “Hoodoos Around the World.”

Featured speakers include:

• Dr. Alan Titus, paleontologist for the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. He has been involved in uncovering new species of dinosaur fossils in the monument.

• Dr. Jeff Eaton, professor of paleontology in Weber State University in northern Utah. He spends his summers in the Bryce Canyon area and is currently researching small mammal fossils. The recently discovered Diabloceratops eatoni has been named after him.

• Dr. Dave Gillette, who holds an endowed chair position at the Museum of Northern Arizona and is the former Utah State paleontologist. He is responsible for some of the most significant paleontological discoveries in the Grand Staircase including Therizinosaur, the Sickle Claw Dinosaur.

• Wayne Ranney, geologic interpreter and author, has served as a backcountry ranger in the Grand Canyon and has traveled over the world as a renowned speaker. He is an adjunct faculty member at Yavapai College in Sedona and has authored Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau, Carving Grand Canyon and Sedona Through Time.

To view the schedule of festival activities, click on: http://www.nps.gov/brca.