Bryce Canyon National Park exists in three climatic zones due to the 2000 feet of elevation change
from the highest rim to the lowest part of the canyon floor. This elevation change and the three zones
(Spruce/Fir Forest, Ponderosa Pine Forest, and Pine/Juniper Forest) provide a diverse habitat that
supports more than 400 species of plants, nearly 60 mammals and over 170 species of birds.

The Flora and Fauna page contains 60 images of trees and flowers, birds and mammals.

Click an image to open a larger version.
Use your back button to return to this page.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Direct Link to the Flora and Fauna Gallery:

Flora and Fauna

Bryce Canyon Bristlecone Pine Fairyland X1828
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A gnarled ancient Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree stands above the Fairyland Trail,
with a bright blue Utah sky and the orange hoodoos of the canyon wall providing a backdrop.

Bryce Canyon Bristlecone Pine Fairyland Trail X1816
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Great Basin Bristlecone Pines grow slowly, at high elevations near the tree line.
Some Bristlecone Pines are nearly 5000 years old, and they are the oldest single
living organisms on Earth (some clonal colonies such as the Pando Aspen grove
and the King’s Lomatia are as old as 50,000 to 80,000 years, although individual
plants of the colony are far younger). The oldest Bristlecone Pine (Prometheus),
4862 years old by ring count, was cut down by a research student in 1964. The
oldest living Bristlecone (4842 years) is Methuselah in the White Mountains.

Bryce Canyon Bristlecone Pine Queen’s Garden 6716
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A Bristlecone Pine skeleton stands beside the Queen’s Garden Trail,
near one of several arches which pierce the fins that cross the trail.

Bryce Canyon Dead Tree Queen’s Garden 6700
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A Limber Pine skeleton on the Queen’s Garden Trail. This shot was taken in late August (the one at right in late June).

Bryce Canyon Dead Tree Queen’s Garden X2075
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The same Limber Pine skeleton from a different angle. These two shots were both taken with an 85mm at mid-morning.

Bryce Canyon Dead Tree in Winter 5399
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A mid-afternoon 85mm shot of the same Limber Pine skeleton in late December.
This tree was a popular subject for many of the students I trained in Bryce Canyon.

Bryce Canyon Dead Tree Fairyland X2123
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Several tree skeletons stand in front of a hoodoo alcove on the side of Fairyland Canyon (taken near sunset in late June).

Bryce Canyon Douglas Fir Wall Street 6763
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A 500 year old Douglas Fir stands deep within an alcove in the Wall Street Canyon section of the Navajo Trail.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Direct Link to the Flora and Fauna Gallery:

Flora and Fauna

Bryce Canyon Ponderosa Pine Navajo Trail X2000
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A Ponderosa Pine on the Navajo Trail, with a characteristic Bryce Canyon hoodoo formation in the right background.

Bryce Canyon Pinyon Pine Fairyland X1852
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A young Pinyon Pine stands beside the upper part of the Fairyland Trail, with defocused hoodoos in the background.

Bryce Canyon Pinyon Pine Fairyland Hoodoos X1853
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Near the young Pinyon Pine shown in the previous image is the top of a larger Pinyon Pine.
For this shot, I placed the defocused hoodoos across the entire background of the image.

Bryce Canyon Fallen Pine Navajo Trail X2049
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The root system of a fallen pine on the Navajo Trail.
Note how shallow the root system of this pine tree is.

Bryce Canyon Fallen Pine Root Navajo Trail X2048
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Side detail of a part of the root system
of the fallen pine tree on the Navajo Trail.

Evening Primrose Bryce Canyon X1840
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An Evening Primrose shot in the early morning on the Fairyland Trail.
The flowers open rapidly near evening, and close by the late morning.

Evening Primrose Bryce Canyon X2047
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Another Evening Primrose, shot the next day and about an hour later on the Navajo Trail.

Goldenweed Bryce Canyon X2087
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One of numerous similar Pyrrocoma called Goldenweed.
These daisy-like Asters may be Pyrrocoma racemosa,
which is also known as the Clustered Goldenweed.

Wyoming Paintbrush Bryce Canyon X2086
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The Wyoming Paintbrush grows on rocky slopes in the
Pinyon Pine and Juniper woodlands. These brilliant red
mountain flowers bloom between June and September.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Direct Link to the Flora and Fauna Gallery:

Flora and Fauna

Uinta Chipmunk Bryce Canyon 0531
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A terminally cute Uinta Chipmunk poses momentarily on fallen wood on the Navajo Trail.
The Uinta Chipmunk (or Hidden Forest Chipmunk) lives in sub-alpine forests in Bryce Canyon.

Golden-Mantled Squirrel Bryce Canyon 5667
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A Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel peeks at the hikers from his perch on a rock above the Navajo Trail.

Golden-Mantled Squirrel Bryce Canyon 5668
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Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels have body stripes similar to the Uinta Chipmunk, but do not have the facial stripes.

Golden-Mantled Squirrel Bryce Canyon X2014
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A Golden-Mantled Squirrel sniffs out a tasty seed on a fallen tree beside the Navajo Trail. The Golden-Mantled Squirrel is like the Chipmunk in that it has cheek pouches to carry food.

Golden-Mantled Squirrel Bryce Canyon X2016
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This little fellow seems pleased with the smell of this seed. The Golden-Mantled Squirrel is a true hibernator, but like the Chipmunk he caches food to break the hibernation fast.

Golden-Mantled Squirrel Bryce Canyon X2018
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During the summer, the Golden-Mantled Squirrel stores up body fat to sustain him during his long winter hibernation. The Chipmunk wakes up periodically to eat some cached food.

Golden-Mantled Squirrel Bryce Canyon X2021
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Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels live in shallow burrows up to 100 feet long with openings hidden in hollow logs, under tree roots or behind rocks. They will eat just about anything.

Golden-Mantled Squirrel Bryce Canyon X2006
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This little fellow scurried right out onto the trail in front of me. Obviously, the
Golden-Mantled Squirrels in Bryce Canyon are no longer wary of humans.

Mist Rider Sunrise Point 1782
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A rider leads a group on a horse trek from Sunrise Point through the Queen’s Garden.

Bryce Canyon Queen’s Garden Horse Trek 6691
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Trail riders enter the Queen’s Garden on horses and mules past the red-orange and pink hoodoos to the Navajo Trail.

Bryce Canyon Queen’s Garden Horse Trek 5583
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This group is passing by ET, on the longer loop ride which continues past the Wall of Windows on the Peekaboo Trail.

Bryce Canyon Queen’s Garden Horse Trek 5586
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A Queen’s Garden horse trek passes by the pink hoodoo unofficially known as ET.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Direct Link to the Flora and Fauna Gallery:

Flora and Fauna

Wild Turkey Bryce Canyon 1763
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A male Merriam’s Wild Turkey forages on the rim at Sunrise Point.
The Merriam’s Wild Turkey lives in Ponderosa Pine forests in Bryce Canyon.

Wild Turkey Bryce Canyon 1761
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Males are extremely colorful, the females are a duller brown.

Wild Turkey Bryce Canyon 1769
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They forage for nuts and seeds, berries and insects.

Wild Turkey Bryce Canyon 1768
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Occasionally, they have been known to grab up a wandering lizard.
This fellow seems to be curious about that strange clicking noise.

Grouse on a Cold Car Roof Bryce Canyon 0552
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You’ve heard about the “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”?
This Blue Grouse seems to have a different idea.

Blue Grouse Hood Ornament Bryce Canyon 0561
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This Blue Grouse (a Dusky Grouse, also called Sage Grouse) is checking out the cars at Bryce Canyon’s Rainbow Point.

Blue Grouse Hood Ornament Bryce Canyon 0557
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They eat mainly pine and fir needles in winter, but in the summer they eat green plants, berries and insects.

Blue Grouse Strutting Bryce Canyon 0568
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The Blue Grouse moves very much like its relative, the
Chicken. This one strutted across the open parking lot.

Blue Grouse Strutting Bryce Canyon 0567
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A Blue Grouse strutting across a parking lot at Rainbow Point in Bryce Canyon.

Mountain Chickadee Bryce Canyon 0532
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A Mountain Chickadee foraging on the Bristlecone Loop Trail at Rainbow Point. Note the white area between the eye stripe and the black cap.

Mountain Chickadee Bryce Canyon 0533
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The Black-Capped Chickadee has no white area separating the cap from the eye stripe, otherwise the two Chickadees are quite similar.

Mountain Chickadee Bryce Canyon 0534
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Their primary diet is conifer seeds, but they eat insects in the summer and breeding season.
They can often be seen hanging upside down below branches, munching on the conifer seeds.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Direct Link to the Flora and Fauna Gallery:

Flora and Fauna

Mule Deer Bryce Canyon 1776
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A Mule Deer doe and fawn grazing at Sunrise Point.

Mule Deer Bryce Canyon 1777
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Mule Deer are the most common Bryce Canyon mammals.

Mule Deer Bryce Canyon 1778
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The Mule Deer (or Black-Tailed Deer) is named for its large, mule-like ears.
Note the black tip on the tail of the fawn (the source of the other name for these deer).

Mule Deer Bryce Canyon 5428
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A Mule Deer doe in Winter at Sunrise Point in mid-afternoon.

Mule Deer Bryce Canyon 5431
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In the winter, Mule Deer forage on conifers and shrubs.

Mule Deer Bryce Canyon 5432
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This doe was leading her two fawns through the forest.

Mule Deer Bryce Canyon 5435
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“What *is* that clicking sound?”

These images were all shot with an 85mm lens. As I was close,
I kept mostly hidden behind the trees to avoid spooking the deer.

Mule Deer Bryce Canyon 5437
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I probably didn’t need to worry about it, as these deer most likely see quite a few humans around Bryce Canyon...

Mule Deer Bryce Canyon 5438
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... but since I am not in the habit of shooting wildlife with an 85mm lens (a very short telephoto), I tried to remain discreet.

Mule Deer Fawn Bryce Canyon 5441
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I was rewarded with the emergence of the fawns. This first one (the brave fawn) peeked out
(I was in the open and dropped to my stomach), then high-stepped through the snow right past me.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Direct Link to the Flora and Fauna Gallery:

Flora and Fauna

Mule Deer Fawn Bryce Canyon 5444
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Mom just kept on going, even though I was out in the open.

Mule Deer Fawn Bryce Canyon 5445
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These deer must stay in the National Park. No hunters.

Mule Deer Fawns Bryce Canyon 5447
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The brave fawn (in front) and the timid fawn (ears back) following after Mom.

Mule Deer Fawn Bryce Canyon 5449
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The brave fawn high-stepped across in front of me, trying to catch Mom.

Mule Deer Fawn Bryce Canyon 5450
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The timid fawn heard the camera, and stopped dead.

Mule Deer Fawn Bryce Canyon 5451
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The fawn obviously saw me, but rushed to catch Mom.

Mule Deer Fawn Bryce Canyon 5452
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A few seconds later, the timid fawn got a bit curious, and approached more closely.

Mule Deer Fawn Bryce Canyon 5453
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The fawn didn’t stop for long... timidity won over curiosity.

Mule Deer Fawn Bryce Canyon 5454
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However, the fawn was in far less of a hurry now.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bryce Canyon Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Direct Link to the Flora and Fauna Gallery:

Flora and Fauna

Click the display composite above to visit the Queen’s Garden Trail page

Click the display composite above to visit the Navajo Trail page

Click the display composite above to visit the Fairyland Canyon page

Click the display composite above to visit the Bryce Canyon Landscapes page

Click the display composite above to visit the Sunrise Point and Sunset Point page

Click the display composite above to visit the Bryce Canyon Rim Views page