Jan

The Beauty of Zion National Park

Located in southeastern Utah, Zion National Park was dedicated in 1919 making it the oldest national park in the state. Zion, in ancient Hebrew, means place of refuge or sanctuary. It is home to unique geographic regions that harbor over 280 different species of plants and animals. Included in the list are bats, mountain lions, mule deer, and golden eagles.

The geology of the park, however, is the main attraction. Exposed rock formations in Zion National Park are part of a sequence known as the Grand Staircase. They represent about 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation in that part of North America. The formations exposed in the Zion area were deposited as sediment in very different environments:

The warm, shallow (sometimes advancing or retreating) sea of the Kaibab and Moenkopi formations;
Streams, ponds, and lakes of the Chinle, Moenave, and Kayenta formations;
The vast desert of the Navajo and Temple Cap formations; and
The dry near-shore environment of the Carmel Formation.

Uplift affected the entire region, known as the Colorado Plateaus, by slowly raising these formations more than 10,000 feet higher than where they were deposited. This steepened the stream gradient of the ancestral Virgin and other rivers on the plateau.

Kolob Canyons are a set of finger canyons cut into the Kolob Plateau. The fast-moving streams took advantage of uplift-created joints in the rocks to remove all Cenozoic-aged formations and cut gorges into the plateaus. Zion Canyon was cut by the North Fork of the Virgin River in this way. During the later part of this process, lava flows and cinder cones covered parts of the area.

High water volume in wet seasons does most of the downcutting in the main canyon and carries much of the 3 million tons of rock and sediment that the Virgin River transports yearly. The Virgin cuts away its canyon faster than its tributaries can cut away their own streambeds, so tributaries end in waterfalls from hanging valleys where they meet the Virgin. The valley between the peaks of the Twin Brothers is a notable example of a hanging valley in the canyon.

For many, the highlight of Zion is a trip up the main canyon to the Temple of Sinawava, via the park-run free shuttle buses (operating April 1 to October 31) or driving in their own vehicles the rest of the year. Spectacular, colorful sandstone cliffs soar into the sky above a flat-bottomed, forested valley floor.

Driving through the east side of Zion to U.S. Route 89 allows access north to Bryce Canyon National Park or south to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Due to the narrowness of the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, RVs and buses must obtain a special pass and run through the tunnel during limited hours.

The more primitive sections of Zion include the Kolob Terrace and the Kolob Canyons. The Grotto in Zion Canyon and the viewpoint at the end of Kolob Canyons Road have the only designated picnic sites.

More than 150 miles of maintained trails provide access to the roadless interior. Seven popular trails with round-trip times of half an hour (Weeping Rock) to 4 hours (Angels Landing) are found in Zion Canyon. Two popular trails, Taylor Creek (4 hours round trip) and Kolob Arch (9 hours round trip) are in the Kolob Canyons section of the park (near Cedar City). Hiking up into The Narrows from the Temple of Sinawava is a popular summertime activity. Orderville Canyon, a narrower slot canyon, is also a favorite. Heartier souls can backpack down The Narrows from the top in two days, or hike down in one long day. Other popular backpack trips include the West Rim Trail and LaVerkin Creek/Kolob Arch.

Zion is also a center for Rock climbing, with short walls like Touchstone, Moonlight Buttress, Spaceshot and Prodigal Son being very popular. There are many short free climbs, and a large number of hard, long aid climbs. Rockclimbing does not require a permit, though any anticipated bivy on a wall does. Certain areas are closed for raptor nesting in the spring.

Zion is the USA’s most concentrated center for canyoneering. Popular routes like Pine Creek and Mystery Canyon were first descended in the 1950s and 1960s, with the last of the big drainages (Heaps) descended in 1982. Zion has a concentration of about 50 technical canyons, characterized by downclimbing and rappels in beautiful sandstone canyons. The most difficult canyons have long sections of entrenched narrows, with keeper potholes that require technical gear and specialized techniques to escape.

Guided horseback riding trips, nature walks, and evening programs are available from late March to early November. The Junior Ranger Program for ages 6 to 12 is active from Memorial Day to Labor Day at the Zion Nature Center.

Rangers at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center and the smaller Kolob Canyons Visitor Center can help visitors plan their stay. A bookstore attached to the Zion Canyon Visitor Center, run by the Zion Natural History Association, offers books, maps, and souvenirs for sale, with proceeds benefiting the park. The Association also runs the Zion Human History Museum.

Our family visited Zion five years ago. The scenery was breathtaking to say the least. We were fortunate to go early in the season (March) and avoided the large crowds that frequent the area all summer. We entered the park near sunrise on our second day and were greeted with beautiful images of the light reflecting off the colorful formations while other areas were still shaded.

Zion National Park, like other national parks, is truly a sanctuary of nature!

In the bookstore: Zion National Park (books)

On the web: Zion National Park (NPS)

Note: Some of the information in this post was used under the GFDL. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Zion National Park.”

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