SO NICE IN BRYCE ROCK CONTORTIONS ARE THE FEATURED PLAYERS IN UTAH PARK.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Utah - Paiute parents in southwestern Utah probably had a simple solution for misbehaving children. Just conduct them to the floor of what is now called Bryce Canyon.

Here, the visitor treads among otherworldly rock formations, accidents of erosion that have been contorted into spires and pinnacles that almost look ... well, human. Light refracts at crazy angles. And far below the canyon rim, all sound is swallowed up by an eerie stillness.

Paiute legend held that these monoliths were wayward souls who had been turned to stone by a coyote deity - something for a recalcitrant child to mull over in the gathering dusk.

Visitors get caught in Bryce's spell even today. After you descend into an amphitheater thick with ``hoodoos'' - as the multicolored rock formations have come to be called - your imagination is likely to take flight, much as it does when you gaze at elaborate white puffs of cumulus clouds.

Here are pieces on a chessboard. Over there is a lost city of Arabia, partially buried in a sand drift. This one resembles a child's stacking toy, assembled haphazardly and crookedly, with a big block perching precariously at the top. It all resembles a sand castle that hasn't necessarily been assaulted by waves but rather left out in the rain.

Over the years, fitting names have been conferred on many of the shapes: the Sinking Ship, Thor's Hammer, Queen Victoria (not a bad likeness), the Poodle, Fairy Castle, the Sentinel. There is also the Silent City, so named because it resembles an assembly of faceless zombies - turned to stone, of course.

Bryce's enchantment is lost on many visitors to the park, simply because they don't trouble themselves to get off the rim and descend to the gardens of hoodoos.

``The average length of stay here is four hours, so there are a lot of people just driving to overlooks,'' said park ranger James Woolsey. ``We get a lot of drive-and-look-type visitors, people who are in a hurry. They want to do a park a day (there are five national parks in southern Utah), and it's already taken them a lot of time to get here.

``The number of people taking the Navajo Loop Trail (into the amphitheater) as a percentage of total park usage ... if it was more than 15 percent, I'd be surprised.''

Maybe that's because the Navajo Loop looks so intimidating from the rim. During my visit last fall, a couple of seniors peered over a railing at Sunset Point and surveyed the dusty switchbacks disappearing into the depths of the amphitheater. ``I don't think so,'' said one.

A less arduous alternative lies a half-mile off at Sunrise Point. (The fact that the sunset and sunrise are celebrated at viewpoints so close together indicates the appeal of Bryce's features in any light.) Below Sunrise Point, the Queens Garden Trail descends at a much more gradual rate, easing the strain on joints and muscles.

Set out early in the morning. The trail quickly circles to the east side of the canyon, such that the monoliths gleam in the sun's low rays as you gaze back toward the rim. You'll probably see a lot of cameras on this walk; shutterbugs find the canyon's strange figures irresistible at all times of the day.

Bryce Canyon National Park is a little more isolated than its cousin to the southwest, Zion, which sits just 30 miles off Interstate 15, the busy thoroughfare between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. A major state highway passes through the heart of Zion, but you have to work a little harder to get to Bryce, and it sees considerably fewer visitors as a result.

First-time arrivals at both parks are often stunned by the contrasts. Zion is a land of massive stone monoliths that soar skyward, whereas Bryce's contorted formations sprout from the floor of a canyon gash.

Bryce also has a much cooler climate. While Zion occupies a sun- blistered corner of Utah, Bryce sits high on a plateau, with elevations in the park ranging from 6,620 to 9,115 feet. The air is crisp and clear, and because there is no city of consequence within many miles, the views are sweeping.

These attributes can be enjoyed on an 18-mile drive along the park road to Rainbow Point, the tallest summit in the park. On the drive out, you'll notice that all the viewpoints are on the left side of the road; the best strategy is to proceed to the end of the road and then catch them on the way back.

On really clear days at Rainbow Point, you can see all the way to the Kaibab Plateau in Arizona - 90 miles away.

On the drive back, be sure to stop at Natural Bridge, another quirk of erosion. A spur road also leads to Inspiration and Bryce points, which overlook the park's primary amphitheater.

To the east, you can gaze into the Paria River Valley, where a Mormon settler named Ebenezer Bryce began running cattle in 1875. His spread backed up to the strange canyon that came to bear his name, and he is famously quoted as saying of it, ``Hell of a place to lose a cow.''

Natural alchemy created the wonderland that befuddled him. The rock here, called Claron Formation, features striations of limestone, sandstone and mudstone, with various minerals contributing the colors of an artist's palette. Iron provides red and yellow. Manganese lends pink and purple. A dearth of minerals results in rock that is cream-colored.

The composition isn't particularly hardy, and the peculiar extremes of Bryce's climate wreak a heavy toll. On the plateau, it's not unusual to encounter sizzling conditions during the day and freezing temperatures overnight. These freeze-thaw cycles - there can be more than 200 of them in a single year - cause rain and snowmelt to seep into cracks, then freeze and pry apart rocks.

Walls form. Softer rock tumbles away and windows open - sometimes a precise row of them. More rock tumbles and spires remain, eventually to be worn down themselves. The peculiar balancing acts of some hoodoos occur because the cap rock is dolomite, a form of limestone reinforced by magnesium. Softer layers beneath it give way faster, leaving a human head-like protrusion at the top.

You'll come upon some of these oddballs soon after descending the Queens Garden Trail. If that's all the exertion you want to take on, you can readily retrace your steps, but if you're feeling chipper, head deeper into the canyon. You can eventually link up with the Navajo Loop and climb out at Sunset Point - half a mile along the rim from where you began.

This route is about three miles in length, but it's advisable to take your time on it. As with the Grand Canyon, unwary hikers often skip merrily down the trail when they're fresh, then encounter debilitating fatigue on the way back up. In this case, your hike out will be equivalent to climbing the stairs on a 40-story building.

But if you pace yourself, there are many rewards to savor along the way.

The trail passes beneath arches and winds past numerous formations. Patches of manzanita and stands of Douglas fir provide splashes of green against the reds, creams and grays of the rock. Stop and savor the quiet - you'll detect no trace of the cars and tour-group hubbub on the rim.

On the way out, one portion of the Navajo Loop passes along Wall Street, so named because the path follows a narrow crease between two sheer rock faces. Sunlight battles to find its way in here.

Daring souls might want to hook up with a moonlit hike, led by rangers three nights a month - on the night of a full moon and the two nights preceding it. The treks are extremely popular; sign-ups begin at the visitors center at 8 a.m., and they often fill up before 8:30.

``The desert is so much fun with a full moon because it lights it up so much,'' said Woolsey. ``It's a special time.''

Spooky, too, if your imagination is active.

Hey, did that one just move?

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Bryce Canyon National Park is in southeastern Utah, a 538-mile drive from Los Angeles. If you opt to fly somewhere close and rent a car, book a flight to Las Vegas (246 miles away) rather than Salt Lake City (264 miles). This will make it easier to pay a visit to Zion National Park, too. The drive from Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport is about 4 1/2 hours via Interstate 15, Utah 9, U.S. 89, Utah 12 and Utah 63.

COSTS: The entrance fee to the park is $20 per private vehicle, good for seven days.

LODGING: Plan ahead and make sure you get into the 114-room Bryce Canyon Lodge, a historic treasure (built in the early 1920s) that benefited from a five-year restoration project in the 1980s. It's only a few steps from Sunset Point and the rim of the park's premier amphitheater. The fireplace blazes in the lobby on cool nights, and there are a lot of good reading spots. Accommodations range from lodge studios ($102) to western cabins with fireplaces ($120) to lodge suites ($130). Information and reservations: [phone]. Lodge: [phone]. Web: www.brycecanyonlodge or www.xanterra.com/properties/bryce.htm.

About the only other option is the Best Western Ruby's Inn, one of those blights that can often be found just outside the boundaries of a national park. The rooms of this enormous motel are clean, and the lodgings are certainly convenient to the park entrance, but it doesn't exactly blend unobtrusively with its surroundings. Acres of plateau have been paved over with asphalt for the parking lot, and no fewer than 10 billboards are crowded within one mile on Utah 63 to make sure you don't miss it (as if that's possible). The inn has a fake Western town, covered-wagon rides and even teepees to rent in the campground. Stay here only if Bryce Canyon Lodge is booked. Information: [phone]; www.rubysinn.com.

DINING: The pickings are pretty slim for miles around - a lot of roadhouse coffee shops but not much else. Your best (and perhaps only) option is the Bryce Canyon Lodge dining room. It's a warm, inviting place with entree items to suit the setting - try the sauteed Utah red trout. It also has a good wine list and espresso capability - two things hard to come by in Mormon-dominated southern Utah. Reservations for dinner are advised: [phone].

INFORMATION: Bryce Canyon Visitors Center: [phone]; www.nps.gov/brca.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, box, map

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) A couple of visitors perch on a rock at Bryce Point, top, to survey a sea of strange rock formations at the Utah national park. Down in the canyon, hikers can navigate the narrow cleft of Wall Street, above.

(3 -- color) On the Queens Garden Trail in Bryce Canyon, the trail passes around - and through - the towering rock formations on the canyon floor.

(4 -- color) Thor's Hammer performs its perculiar balancing act just below the rim of Bryce Canyon on the Navajo Loop Trail.

(5) A hiker makes his way on the Navajo Loop Trail at Bryce Canyon National Park in the early morning.

(6) The park's awesome sights include Natural Bridge.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor

Box:

IF YOU GO (see text)

Map:

UTAH

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist