Today (Tuesday) at 5pm Bryce Canyon National Park closed for an indefinite period of time because of the Pandemic. I decided to rush down there right before closure.
I saw one family and one other lady... that was pretty much all I saw in the park.
So i can say with a pretty high level of certainty:
These are the last pictures of Bryce Canyon that will be taken for perhaps several months.
At least the last high level / professional pictures.
GETTING IN WITH MINUTES TO SPARE
Gate was open at 4:45pm so I went in to Sunrise Point.
Parked and as I walked to the point passed a couple of rangers who wouldn't have said anything to me but I asked them about it and they confirmed it wasn't just that the gates were closing at 5pm but they were gonna start getting people out at that time but it wasn't 5pm so they just walked on by and drove away.
p.s. The whole trip i was never within like 20 feet of anyone and never touched anything at all besides my truck and my camera. The park was desolate as they all are... I think the big issue is that the parks bring in people that tend to need lodging and restaurants and convenience stores. I think that's the reason the parks close so that the businesses are kind of forced to shut down or have less people. I have an issue with the lack of transparency in some of these cases making it seem like the parks are gonna spread the virus.
Yes this is a panorama as well... just a vertical one that focuses on all the layers.
ABOUT THESE PANORAMAS
In any case all 4 of these panoramas were taken between 5:02 and 5:05
I contemplated sticking around until i was asked to leave but truth is sunset was 2.5 hours away and so I just left in search of some other pictures.
But these panoramas were all taken from SUNRISE POINT which is one of the first overlooks in the park and one of my favorite. Actually being there well before sunrise does help add some nice backlighting of the rock/sand features and the blue skies always play well with the red rocks.
All these panoramas are quite large... so if you're on peakd.com you can click on them and view them at least a bit larger.
MORE SPOTS
I did see another part of bryce that's right along the small highway and then I hiked around Red Canyon and saw a moon-rise... but i suppose those are for some other posts.
Pretty amazing scenery.
The world is so big.
Good power and energy to you.
Definitely have to place some Usa national parks on my places to see list. Great photos!
Beautiful! So glad you got in before it closed.
Bryce is one of my favorite parks. I have done field work nearby. Winters at Bryce can be harsh but spectacular. I know they had to close it as perhaps they can't operate them safely with the essential services, but I wish that was not the case. Don't know when I can get back there again. I have never taken my kids there... they deserve it in the summer.
Still haven't had a chance to visit Bryce yet, hopefully one day I will! Such gorgeous landscapes.