The Bryce Valley BV

Bryce Valley is the name for the broad, high-desert agricultural valley that spreads below the Paunsaugunt Plateau in Garfield County, Utah. The valley floor holds the small communities of Tropic, Cannonville, and Henrieville — three ranching towns that together form the human footprint of this corridor between Bryce Canyon National Park to the west and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to the east. Tropic sits closest to the park, about 11 miles from the entrance via UT-12.

The Landscape

The valley sits at roughly 6,300 feet and is bounded by the red and white cliffs of the Paunsaugunt Plateau to the west — the same plateau that forms the Bryce Canyon rim, which rises nearly 3,000 feet above the valley floor. From Bryce Point inside the park, the town of Tropic is clearly visible far below. The valley geology tells its own story: Tropic is the type locality for the Tropic Shale formation, a Cretaceous-era fossil-bearing layer containing ammonites, sharks, turtles, and dinosaur remains, named for the town in 1931.

Orientation for Travelers

Travelers base themselves in Bryce Valley for access to multiple attractions. Bryce Canyon National Park is 11–15 minutes west; Kodachrome Basin State Park is roughly 20 minutes south of Cannonville; Grosvenor Arch and the unpaved roads into Grand Staircase are accessible from the valley's south end. The towns have lodging, a handful of restaurants, and small markets. Scenic Byway 12 connects the valley westward toward the park and eastward to Escalante and Boulder.