Hoodoos

Hoodoos are pillars of red-yellow rock that stand up to 100 ft above the dirt floor.  A hoodoo is an example of differential erosion typically by frost, wind or rain; it is composed of both hard and soft rock layers with the harder layers forming a sort of protection for the softer areas.  The word “hoodoo” means “to cast a spell” — it is no surprise that hoodoos were meant to cast a spell on visitors to the national park as a result of their beauty.

At Bryce Canyon National Park, hoodoos are abundant and people flock to Bryce by the millions to see them. Hoodoos in the Bryce Canyon area are formed by two weathering processes that continuously work together in eroding the edges of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.  The primary weathering force at Bryce Canyon is frost wedging, where there are over 200 freeze/thaw cycles each year.

Hoodoos tend to be best developed in horizontally bedded rocks or strata in which relatively soft units are interspaced with more resistant ones — for example, alternating layers of shale and sandstone. Differential weathering and erosion is enhanced, the soft material being removed more rapidly than the hard.