A pair of never built roads in Bryce Canyon National Park: One in the bottom and the other a loop road

BRYCE Canyon National Park had somewhat of a lackluster beginning, being in the shadows of the more highly esteemed sister park, Zion. From almost changing Bryce's name away from "Canyon" (since geologically it is NOT a canyon); to it almost became only a Utah State Park; to being administratively under Zion Park until 1956; Bryce has had some major "what ifs?"
And, here are two others to add to that list -- 1. In 1931 there was a failed proposal to create a loop road from Highway 89 through Red Canyon to Bryce and then back to Highway 89 at Long Valley Junction; 2. In 1951 there was a strong move to build a road on the floor of Bryce Canyon itself.
"Government plans new road to Bryce Canyon" was a March 28, 1931 headline in the Iron County Record newspaper of Cedar City.
This tentative road reached Rainbow Point (where the Bryce park highway ends southward today) and then would head due west to Highway 89 at the Long Valley Junction of U-14.
"The entire road would be about 27 miles long, with five miles being private lands and most of the balance in the Powell and Dixie national forests," the story stated.

                      Today's end of the road southward in Bryce Canyon.

The story also stated, "The new road would make it possible to visit Bryce via the present route through Red Canyon and then return over an entirely different route, eliminating all retracing. Most of the route would be at 8,000 ft. elevation and would add much to the pleasantness of the trip in hot summer months."

                   The parking lot turnaround at the end of 18 miles of road in Bryce Canyon.

Why didn't this road ever get built? Constructing the loop highway was contingent upon the State of Utah being able to cooperate and create five miles of road through the private lands. This apparently didn't happen, likely because of property acquisition issues. 
Yes, the more recent proposal in 1951 was to build a paved road below the rim.

The rugged terrain looking west from today's south end of the road in Bryce Canyon. But if a 1930s proposal had happened, Bryce Canyon National Park would have had a loop road and a highway would have descended below in this picture and connected with Long Valley Junction.

"Civic clubs will support move for road on floor of Bryce Canyon": was an August 30, 1951 headline in the Richfield Reaper newspaper of Utah.
Bryce Canyon put Panguitch, Utah on the national map, as the entrance, the last town before the now popular national park. So, the Associated Civics Clubs of Southern and Eastern Utah, along with the Panguitch Lions Club, held a meeting in town to discuss the idea of a road at the bottom of Bryce.
"The Club agreed to support a suggestion by State Representative John Johnson of Tropic to the effect that a road can be built on the floor of Bryce Canyon so that visitors can view the real scenic attractions of the area," the Richfield newspaper story stated.
It continued, "The main beauty of Bryce Canyon cannot be seen from the rim of the canyon."

                                                 Hikers on the Navajo Trail in Bryce.

                                    Imagine a paved road through the middle of this?

So, there you have it. Of course, the road was never built, but it leaves little to the imagination to envision a road going through the bottom of Bryce. Many, many natural features would have had to have been demolished to make room for such a road. Hiking would also not be a big activity as it is today in Bryce with such a road. Why hike, when you can drive down?

-In 1920, Bryce was just picking up steam with tourists. "Volunteers repair Bryce Canyon road" was a May 6 headline that year in the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper. A "road day club" had just been formed in Panguitch, with up to 47 men volunteering their time to smooth out the dirt road from Panguitch through Red Canyon and onto Bryce so that automobiles had better access.

                                                        The iconic tunnel in Red Rock Canyon.

-Initially, for more than a decade, the road to Bryce Canyon ended at the northwest rim of the amphitheater, probably near today's Sunrise Point. Walking or horse travel was the only way further south.
However, the Salt Lake Tribune of Dec. 6, 1929, reported that the National Park Service had allocated $13,700 to survey and begin to construct a road eight or more miles long southward along the rim of Bryce in the summer of 1930.
This road was "to afford visitors opportunity to view the canyon from many vantage points, instead of the one point now reached by the main highway," the Tribune story stated.
(At the time time, the Park Service allocated $280,000 to improve roads along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, particularly from the Bright Angel Camp to Point Imperial and Cape Royal.)

                       There are some small cliffs along the Navajo Trail in Bryce.

-Finally, while Zion has been host to a lot more accidents than Zion, given its sheer cliffs and towering rocks, Bryce Canyon has also not been immune to accident from falls.
Some examples:
1. "Fall from Bryce Canyon cliff seriously injures Cedar girl" was a June 23, 1932 headline in the Beaver County News. The girl slipped off a cliff near Point Supreme and suffered three breaks in her pelvis bone and a broken arm. It took rescuers several hours to reach her.
2. "Girl has close call in Utah park accident" was a July 13, 1946 headline in the Logan Herald-Journal. The 14-year-old-girl from Buffalo, N.Y. slipped off a sandstone cliff in Bryce and went down 100 feet "before she clutched the edge of a projecting chunk of sandstone -- one of the many spires which have made the canyon famous," the story reported. She was rescued with ropes by a park ranger. The girl's physician father treated her many cuts and bruises, but nothing was broken.
3. The Ogden Standard-Examiner of April 22, 1954, reported that a 61-year-old woman tourist from Illinois died in a fall at the park on April 21 that year. She stepped over a log barrier at the Far View Scenic Point, lost her balance and plunged 90 feet to her death down a cliff. She died instantly.
4. A man died in cliff fall in Bryce in September of 2003.

  -Another milestone in Bryce National Park happened in November of 1936 when it began staying open in winter, to Inspiration Point. Years later, that led to snowmobiling and cross country skiing there.

-Originally published in the Deseret News on June 24, 2020.

Bryce Canyon 'stirs Ogdenites' in 1920

THE Ogden Standard-Examiner of July 14, 1920 published the account of an Ogden family visiting South Utah and the majesty of Bruce Canyon was at the top of their list.
According to the Standard-Examiner, the Joseph Chez family agreed with a fellow tourist they met that Bryce was as spectacular as the famed Alps in Switzerland. They described Bryce "as an awe inspiring spectacle."
The only drawback to Bryce at the time, was that it could pretty much only be viewed from the rim above, as the only trail downward was very sketchy.
There was "a steep and somewhat uncertain trail into its depths," the Chez family reported to the Standard.

Ruby's Inn: An Area Destination since 1916 -- even before Bryce Canyon

Taylor Arave at the historic Ruby's Inn, which even predates the nearby Bryce Canyon National Park.

                                 Bryce Canyon National Park.

      Ruby's Inn in the 1930s, as represented in a painting, hanging in today's Ruby's Inn.

By Lynn Arave

Ruby's Inn, a commercial establishment, located just north of the entrance to Bryce Canyon, has been around since 1916 and even predates nearby Bryce Canyon National Monument by seven years.

By the time Bryce Canyon was a National Monument in 1923 (or National Park in 1928), Ruby's Inn was already well established and serving as a focal point for the area.

        The Ruby's dining room from decades past. --From a photo hanging at Ruby's Inn.

Given its legacy, the first newspaper mention of Ruby's was NOT for anything relating to Bryce Canyon, but for an area Halloween party on Oct. 31, 1924. The Garfield County News on Nov. 7, 1924 stated that the event was a big success.
The Garfield County News of Jan. 16, 1925 described Ruby's as a "homelike headquarters for the weary traveler" and a "wonderful resort."
In that era, Ruby's not only had plenty of water for visitors, but also cabins, food and even a dancing hall. It was also in 1925 when the resort received its first electric lighting system.
By the spring of 1925, Ruby's had a U.S. Post Office, a monster porch for relaxation, supplies, campground and even access to horses and guides to explore the area.
In July of 1925, the Panquitch Orchestra even played at Ruby's Inn and attracted a large crowd.
It was Ruby Syrett and his wife who started Ruby's. and their descendants still operate the business.
Ruby's Inn was the most popular destination in the area, though as the decades went by, the place became more and more synonymous with Bryce Canyon National Park.
 Indeed, you HAD to travel past Ruby's Inn to enter Bryce Canyon and that's how it remains today. 
Yes, Bryce Canyon does have its own inside-the-park accommodations available, but Ruby's was there first and is literally just a few hundred yards north of the Bryce Canyon entrance.
Today Ruby's has expanded to have an RV Park, a seasonal rodeo, ATV rentals and more. In the summer, its work staff expands top some 600 employees, the largest in the county.

                                 A picture from the 1984 fire.


A tragic fire in 1984 destroyed the lodge and erased some of the Ruby's Inn history, but it was rebuilt and even expanded after that.

                             The rubble after the fire,

-As a kid growing up in the 1960s, my Bryce Canyon visit memories include images of Ruby's Inn, as the two seemed linked. Decades later, when I took my own children to Bryce, was complete without a stop at Ruby's.

 Ruby's Inn, as it appeared in the 1980s, probably just before the fire.   --From a photo hanging today inside Ruby's Inn.



    

When a new name was sought for Bryce Canyon in the 1920s, like 'Utah National Park'

         Bryce Canyon National Park could have been renamed "Utah National Park."

By Lynn Arave
BRYCE Canyon WASN'T always accepted as the name to a scenic wonderland of Southern Utah. In 1920 -- even before Bryce was a national monument -- there was a strong movement to rename the area something different to better conform to geology and geography.
"New name wanted for Bryce Canyon" was a June 8, 1920 headline in the Salt Lake Herald newspaper.
A state-wide contest was held by the Utah State Automobile Association to find a more suitable title for Bryce, because it wasn't really a "canyon," but an "amphitheater."
At that time, the early 20th Century, Bryce was also sometimes referred to as "Temple of the Gods," since that it is what the place was referred to on official federal maps.
Others referred to it as "Bryce's Canyon."
Since Colorado boasted a place named "Garden of the Gods," the "Temple of the Gods name was not considered confusing and not suitable.

The winner to the contest to rename Bryce, with the chosen name, would earn an all-expense paid trip to Bryce and Zion National Park.
"Bryce Canyon to be renamed" was a June 8, 1920 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner newspaper, as all major Utah papers carried the news of a big contest.
Apparently, many early visitors to Bryce had been complaining that Bryce CANYON was not an accurate title for the scenic marvel and that a new title was needed before Bryce gained world-wide fame in coming years.
Bryce Canyon was named for Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon Pioneer who homesteaded in the area in 1874. He also reportedly proclaimed it was a helluva place to lose a cow.
Bryce became a national monument in 1923 and a national park in 1928.
The renaming contest, however, did not go smoothly.
"Garfield Count protests renaming of Bryce Canyon" was a June 12, 1920 headline in the Salt Lake Herald.
That story reported that the Utah State Automobile Association agreed that Garfield County, home to Bryce Canyon, should have a strong say in the renaming process, but that the new name contest would continue.
"We are not trying to dictate the name of anything and we would not attempt to foist an undesirable name upon any section of the state," W. D. Rishel, manager of the Utah State Automobile Association, stated in the Herald story.
He continued, "Our efforts in securing a more suitable title were solicited by hundreds of visitors, who declared that Utah is hiding the most singular scenic attraction in the world under the most commonplace title."
When the renaming contest had run its course a few weeks later, it was concluded that the judges could not find a more suitable title, despite hundreds of suggested names by the public.
"Bryce name to stand" was a July 8, 1920 headline in the Salt Lake Herald.
"No better title that the present name of Bryce Canyon was found by the board of judges ..." the story concluded.

-Jump forward eight years, to 1927, and the leading new name for Bryce Canyon National Park was Utah National Park.
The Ogden Standard-Examiner of July 21, 1927 states that Utah Governor George H. Dern said that the Utah National Park name was "highly objectionable," because "much money had been expended in bringing the name of Bryce to the attention of travelers." 

(-Originally published in the Deseret News on May 13, 2019.)