Bryce Canyon National Park

Southern Utah's national parks all are red-rock wonders.

Zion National Park features towering cliffs of stone. Arches National Park showcases a one-of-its-kind collection of stony arches and windows. Canyonlands National Park is a maze of canyons, and Capitol Reef National Park offers a sprawling rockscape.

Bryce Canyon, on the other hand, is much, much more intimate and, in some manners, more curious, geologically.

Not quite 36,000 acres in size -- little more than a tenth the size of Canyonlands -- the drawing card of Bryce is its namesake amphitheater crowded with hoodoos and goblins that erosion has sculpted from the pink underbelly of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Whether you gaze down upon the amphitheater, or stroll through it, the features known as Thor's Hammer, Queen's Garden, Natural Bridge, ET, Indian Princess, and the Warrior, just to name a few, fire your imagination and cause you to marvel at nature's artistic side.

For most visitors, Bryce is a one-day adventure, as the 18-mile long Rim Road leads to all the major overlooks that provide dramatic views into the canyons down below.

But this small park deserves a closer, more attentive inspection, for its wonders are in the nuances that wind, rain, ice and snow have created, and even in the shadows it casts. You can spend at least a day exploring down below the rim, and the viewpoints from the top of the rim can take up the good portion of another day.

Not to be overlooked, either, are the dark skies overhead that sparkle with stars once the sun goes down. Another good reason to spend at least one night in the park.