Bryce Canyon's signature "hoodoos," formed by ages of thawing and freezing, are even more eye-popping then usual when outlined by snow. Photo by Deborah Wall/Cerca Contributor Archery biathlon at Bryce's upcoming Winterfest combines two challenging outdoor pursuits, at an altitude which could wring a wheeze out of Wonder Woman. Photo by Janet Reffert/Cerca Contributor Rental equipment, room to romp and the retreat of a warm, properly equipped lodge makes resort at Bryce ideal for introducing children to cross-country skiing with minimal discomfort and boredom. Photo by Deborah Wall/Cerca Contributor More than 20 miles of well-groomed trails on relatively level land make the the rim country around Ruby's Inn the stuff of dreams for cross-country skiers. Photo by Deborah Wall/Cerca Contributor

Colleen Bathe, chief of interpretation at Bryce Canyon National Park, won't forget the first time she looked over the eastern rim of the Paunsaugunt Plataeau.

"The first time ever out on the rim, I was at Sunset Point and my jaw dropped. I had never had a park or any scenery grab me like it has here," said Bathe.

Compared to other national parks, Bryce Canyon is unique because of thousands of formations called hoodoos that fill the eastern rim of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Stunning anytime of year, Bryce is even more spectacular when you add snow against the wide spectrum of red, pink, purple and orange colors.

"Winter is magical in Bryce; it's my favorite time of year because of the contrast of the snow with the hoodoos," said Bathe.

If you are looking for tranquility and solitude on a winter trip, that's a goal easily reached in Bryce, especially seeing the area by skis or snowshoes. Plenty of visitors do it that way, but in winter, there's plenty of Bryce for all of them. The park sees an average 96 inches of snow a year.

My daughter Charlotte, 10, and I took a trip up to Bryce recently. After checking into the world-famous Ruby's Inn, we were eager to get outside and head to the rim on skis. This is made easy at Ruby's because they rent skis and snowshoes at their Nordic Ski Center in the main lodge. After finding the right size boots, we checked the wall chart to pick out the correct size skis and poles and we were on our way.

A short walk across the street brought us to the trail. After some difficulty getting Charlotte's boots to attach to the skis, we were off, heading toward the Bryce Canyon rim on a wide and well-groomed path. Ruby's Nordic Center has about 20 miles of groomed trails, some on the resort's own property and some within Dixie National Forest land, all accessible by skis from the lodge. In about an hour, you can ski to the rim and back, or you can extend your trip by traversing along the escarpment into the park itself or head to longer trails for a backcountry experience that fills an entire day.

There were a few routes to the rim, but since it was Charlotte's first time on cross-country skis we chose the quickest and most direct route. This would take us about one mile across a fairly flat, ponderosa-forested landscape. Once on the rim, we were treated to views stretching more than 100 miles. Elevations in the park vary from about 7,000 feet to more than 9,000, and with the excellent air quality and low humidity, it has been said there are days you can see close to 200 miles.

When Southern Nevada was in the grip of a cold snap two weeks ago, so was Bryce Canyon. While we were visiting, overnight temperatures plunged well below zero. When I checked my car's thermometer the first morning, it read 15 degrees below. But take heart; if you visit in February, average daytime temperatures are in the low 40s.

Skiing isn't the only way to get around the park this time of year. Many of the park's roads remain open and plowed, including those roads to the most popular viewpoints and overlooks. Even the main campground stays open for hardy winter campers.

For more adventure, hiking is still a popular option as long as you are prepared for the conditions. In winter, Bathe recommends hiking the Rim Trail, Queens Garden or Navajo Loop Trails. When hiking snow packed trails, adding some traction to your boots really helps. One option is attaching a product such as Yaktrax to the bottom of your boots.

"They are like chains for your shoes," Bathe said.

The product can be bought at Ruby's. Be sure to bring along your hiking poles as well. Conditions on the trails change daily but for those well-outfitted, it will be a journey long remembered.

Charlotte and I hiked a short distance down below the rim from Sunset Point. We had been on this very trail just two months before. Then there were probably 50 people along the trail, but this time there were only two others.

Standing below the rim, dwarfed by the surrounding hoodoos, we felt we had been transported to some alternate reality. The gamut of colors seemed even more vivid standing among them, and our short jaunt gave us that ethereal feeling you get when surrounded by unfamiliar and unearthly shaped formations.

"It's a hell of a place to lose a cow," Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon pioneer who settled in the area in 1875, once said. Although the canyon is named after Bryce it was Rueben Syrett, better known as Ruby, who put it on the map. Syrett and his wife, Minnie, moved to the area in 1916 with plans to farm and ranch. A few years later, word spread about the beauty of this incredible canyon and people started coming in droves. The Syretts started offering food and lodging.

They built a place called "Tourists Rest" near what is now Sunset Point. It became Ruby's Inn when they moved operations to the current location a few miles away. Four generations later, it is still run by the Syrett family, and has become an internationally known destination. Walking through the dining room, it seemed like the conversation at every second or third table was conducted in a high-class British accent.

The second day we were back on the snow, this time within the national park boundaries. We were taking one of the most popular routes in the park, a ski run to Fairyland Point. The trail is actually the snow-covered access road. This offers a variety of scenery over a short one-mile trip to the rim. We traveled through heavily forested areas of ponderosa pine and through open meadows amid the gently rolling surroundings. Two inches of fresh snow offered proof of the varied wildlife found in the park. We found plenty of mule deer and jackrabbit tracks.

Besides these, other winter residents include elk, antelope and snowshoe hares. Mountain lions are more often seen in the park in winter than the rest of the year. While many birds head to warmer climates once a chill sets in, there is still a strong population of golden and bald eagles, wild turkeys, Steller's jays, owls, nuthatches and blue grouse.

After our trip to Fairyland Point, we drove out to Inspiration Point and took part in a geology talk with park ranger Nickolos Myers. He explained to our small group of three how hoodoos are formed.

"The moisture sits in cracks and then expands and little flakes break off," he said. "These are perfect conditions for hoodoos to form out."

The process is called frost wedging; snow melts into the cracks and fissures of the rock, then freezes and expands, cracking the rock or weakening it little each time, perhaps melting the following day only to settle in the very bottom of the widened crack and freeze once more. Here at Bryce there are around 200 nights a year of this thaw-and-freeze cycle, so the process is very fast by geological standards. First big cracks cut deep into the cliffs, leaving winglike structures or "fins" between them. Then the fins themselves split up into natural spires and pillars of rock, some in spectacular shapes that inspired the imaginative name "hoodoos."

When there is at least one foot of snow on the ground the park offers ranger-led snowshoe tours. They lend out snowshoes, teach you how to put them on and how to walk efficiently and maneuver while wearing them. Reservations are needed, but once made you just show up and you are on your way to the rim for an outdoor adventure, while learning about winter ecology and geology.

Bryce Canyon Winter Festival is the highlight of the season here. Now in its 21st year, the three-day event takes place over Presidents Day weekend, Feb. 17-19. Activities include cross-country ski and snowshoe tours, lessons and races, archery clinics and competitions, photo clinic and contests and everything in between. There are also plenty of indoor programs including a GPS clinic and kayaking in Ruby's Inn heated indoor pool.

During the festival, there will also be a night sky program put on by a park ranger. Bryce has the fifth-darkest skies in the nation. In most rustic areas of the United States you might be able to see about 2,500 stars on a clear night, but at Bryce, it is estimated you will be viewing 7,500.

As we were leaving Bryce and heading back to Las Vegas, we stopped a few miles from the park and watched a small herd of about 50 antelope hanging out in a snowy meadow. Although they are the fastest land mammal on the continent, able to reach speeds of 60 mph, this bunch wasn't in a rush to go anywhere. Perhaps they know what we had learned from a winter visit to Bryce: This is a good place to stay as long as you can.