Bryce Canyon Retreat

For the similarly named structure on the RMS Titanic, see Grand Staircase of the Titanic
For the stairs in the White House see Grand Staircase (White House)

The Grand Staircase refers to an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south from Bryce Canyon National Park through Zion National Park and into the Grand Canyon. In the 1870s, geologist Clarence Dutton first conceptualized this region as a huge stairway ascending out of the bottom of the Grand Canyon northward with the cliff edge of each layer forming giant steps. Dutton divided this layer cake of Earth history into five steps from the youngest (uppermost) rocks:

• Pink Cliffs,
• Grey Cliffs,
• White Cliffs,
• Vermilion Cliffs, and
• Chocolate Cliffs.

Since then, modern geologists have further divided Dutton’s steps into individual rock formations.