Wow.

We must have said that a hundred times or more as we rounded each turn on the Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop trails through Bryce Canyon National Park. Every few steps brought another spectacular vista of the hoodoos — red, bronze, coral, yellow and white sandstone pillars that rise hundreds of feet from the canyon floor. My husband and I and our friends from Carlsbad, Jerry Rea and Wanda Stiles, are now among the 1.7 million people a year who have come to marvel at these wonders of nature, created by a curious water-erosion process that continues today.

Bryce Canyon is only one of many wonderful parks — both federal and state — in southern Utah. We had five days in late April to see the area and just scratched the surface. We originally had planned to hike Cedars Breaks National Monument, a bit west of Bryce and 2,000 feet higher. But when we arrived at the road that would take us there, it was closed due to snow, so we continued on to Bryce. Fortunately, the trails there were clear, but ribbons of snow remained in some of the rock wall crevasses, making for high contrast that produced beautiful photos.

Before we started our first hike, we checked into Ruby’s Inn, just a minute or two north of the park’s entrance on State Highway 63. The development of this historic family-owned lodge/motel parallels the discovery of Bryce Canyon by tourists. “Ruby” was Reuben C. Syrett, a pioneer rancher who brought his family to this area in 1916. They had no idea their land sat on the brink of the canyon until another rancher told them. Once the Syretts saw the canyon, they word spread fast and visitors began to arrive. The Syretts built a lodge to house all their visitors and the rest is history.

Today, Ruby’s has about 400 rooms (many with refrigerators and microwaves) distributed among eight buildings, so it maintains an open feeling. Its restaurant offers both breakfast and dinner buffets, or you can order from the menu.

The general store in the rustic main lodge has plenty of groceries, supplies and souvenirs. There also are 200 campsites nearby that offer electricity and water for RVs, shaded tent sites, and places for large groups. The park shuttle stops at Ruby’s every 12 to 15 minutes.

Once our suitcases and other gear were stored in our rooms, we put on our hiking boots and headed for a one of the easiest trails. Bryce Canyon sits at 8,000 feet, so we needed a warmup hike to acclimate, but even this three-mile trail heads straight down. We knew that meant we’d pay when it was time to ascend, but the trek upward was worth it.

Once on the trail, we walked, gawked and took pictures as if every view might be the last. But of course, it wasn’t. The whimsical and eerie colors and shapes of the canyon walls, natural arches, panoramas and the rows of hoodoos just keep coming. The hoodoos began their evolution 60 million years ago, about the time the dinosaurs disappeared. All kinds of geologic and weather events — earthquakes, thunderstorms, snowmelt and the appearance of plants and trees — have been at work to make Bryce Canyon the spectacular show that it is.

I’ll write more on southern Utah in later columns, but if I’ve piqued your interest, here are some resources:

• Bryce Canyon National Park; www.nps.gov/brca/

• Best Western Ruby’s Inn – 1000 S. Highway 63, Bryce Canyon City, Utah; (866) 866-6616; www.rubysinn.com.

• Best deal ever for those 62 and older: Golden Age Pass — $10 gets a lifetime pass to any national park or monument. Admits cardholder and three others in the car. Must be purchased with ID at the entrance. (Children under 16 are free.)