Q 01/05

Bryce Canyon National Park is in which US state?

A) Utah

B) Arizona

C) Colorado

D) Nevada

Answer · why

A) Utah

It sits about 50 miles northeast of Zion, is much smaller and roughly 1,000 feet higher, and gets far fewer visitors because it is more remote.

Q 02/05

Despite its name, Bryce Canyon is technically not a canyon. What is it?

A) The collapsed caldera of an ancient volcano

B) A row of amphitheaters eroded into a plateau edge

C) A meteorite impact crater on the plateau

D) The dried bed of a prehistoric lake

Answer · why

B) A row of amphitheaters eroded into a plateau edge

No central stream carved it; headward erosion ate into the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, leaving bowl-shaped scoops full of spires.

Q 03/05

The tall, thin rock spires that make Bryce famous are called what?

A) Fins

B) Arches

C) Hoodoos

D) Buttes

Answer · why

C) Hoodoos

They form when frost and rain erode soft rock beneath a harder cap; nowhere on Earth are they as abundant as in the northern part of the park.

Q 04/05

The name for Bryce's spires comes from a Southern Paiute word implying what?

A) A person turned to stone

B) A very tall tree

C) Fast-running water

D) Something that inspires fear

Answer · why

D) Something that inspires fear

The spelling matches Hoodoo folk spirituality but the two words are unrelated; the same rock forms are called fairy chimneys in Turkey's Cappadocia.

Q 05/05

In Paiute legend, the rock spires are the Legend People, turned to stone by which trickster figure?

A) Raven

B) Coyote

C) Spider Woman

D) Bear

Answer · why

B) Coyote

One Paiute elder said his people called the formations Anka-ku-was-a-wits, 'red painted faces'.