The first dinosaurs, two mass extinctions, the breaking apart of the supercontinent Pangea—these are just a few of the stories contained in the more than 2 miles (3.2 km) of rocks beneath your feet, and the view stretching over 100 miles (160 km) south.

Uplifted and exposed over the last 20+ million years, the landscape between the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon is a unique geological province known as the Grand Staircase. Named for its series of colorful cliffs, these exposed layers of sedimentary rock and their fossils preserve one of the most complete records of changing life and environments over the last 250 million years on Earth.