Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rock.

[8] A nearby example of amphitheaters with hoodoos in the same formation but at a higher elevation is in Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is 25 miles (40 km) to the west on the Markagunt Plateau.

[11] The weather in Bryce Canyon is cooler and receives more precipitation than Zion: a total of 15 to 18 inches (380 to 460 mm) per year.

[8] Small groups of Mormon pioneers followed and attempted to settle east of Bryce Canyon along the Paria River.

[16] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent Scottish immigrant Ebenezer Bryce and his wife Mary to settle land in the Paria Valley to apply his carpentry skills.

Bryce grazed his cattle inside what are now park borders, and reputedly thought that the amphitheaters were a "helluva place to lose a cow.

A combination of drought, overgrazing, and flooding eventually drove the remaining Paiutes from the area and prompted the settlers to attempt to build a water diversion channel from the Sevier River drainage.

[5] Forest Supervisor J. W. Humphrey among others promoted the scenic wonders of Bryce Canyon's amphitheaters, and by 1918 more articles helped to spark interest.

By the early 1920s, the Union Pacific Railroad became interested in expanding rail service into southwestern Utah to accommodate tourists.

Mather relented and sent his recommendation to President Warren G. Harding, who on June 8, 1923, established Bryce Canyon National Monument.

[18] A process led by the Utah Parks Company for transferring ownership of private and state-held land to the federal government started in 1923.

[19] In 1931, President Herbert Hoover annexed an adjoining area south of the park, and in 1942 an additional 635 acres (257 ha) was added.

[16] The USS Bryce Canyon, named for the park, served as a supply and repair ship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet from September 15, 1950, to June 30, 1981.

[21] It runs the bookstore inside the park visitor center and support interpretive, educational, and scientific activities.

[citation needed] Responding to increased visitation and traffic congestion, NPS implemented a voluntary, summer-only, in-park shuttle system in June 2000.

On April 7, 2020, Bryce Canyon National Park was closed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,[22] before a phased reopening started on May 6, 2020.

[23] The Bryce Canyon area experienced soil deposition that spans from the last part of the Cretaceous period and the first half of the Cenozoic era.

Dakota Sandstone and Tropic Shale were deposited in the warm, shallow waters of the advancing and retreating Cretaceous Seaway (outcrops of these rocks are found just outside park borders).

[8] The brown, pink, and red colors are from hematite (iron oxide; Fe2O3); the yellows from limonite (FeO(OH)·nH2O); and the purples are from pyrolusite (MnO2).

The three life zones in the park are based on elevation:[18] The lowest areas are dominated by dwarf forests of pinyon pine and juniper with manzanita, serviceberry, and antelope bitterbrush in between.

Ponderosa pine forests cover the mid-elevations with blue spruce and Douglas fir in water-rich areas and manzanita and bitterbrush as underbrush.

[17] The forests and meadows support diverse animal life including foxes, badgers, porcupines, elk, skunks, black bears, bobcats, and woodpeckers.

[29] Also in the park are the black, lumpy, very slow-growing colonies of cryptobiotic soil, which are a mix of lichens, algae, fungi, and cyanobacteria.

Twenty miles (32 km) of connecting groomed ski trails are in nearby Dixie National Forest and Ruby's Inn.

[citation needed] The air is so clear that on most days Navajo Mountain and the Kaibab Plateau can be seen 90 miles (140 km) away in Arizona from Yovimpa and Rainbow points.

Park rangers host public stargazing events and evening programs on astronomy, nocturnal animals, and night sky protection.