Zion National Park - The Patriarchs

More about Zion National Park • Part 2: Getting There • Part 3: Lodging & Dining • Part 4: Activities • Part 5: Saving Money, Tips • Part 6: Hiking

Zion National Park Resources • Zion National Park Essentials • Zion National Park Photos • Zion National Park Maps • Zion National Park Travel Planner • Walking Zion National Park

If You Go to Zion National Park • Zion National Park • Zion Lodge • Bryce Canyon • Grand Canyon • The World Outdoors

The name early Mormon settlers gave Zion National Park is a fitting one. In Mormon theology, Zion is a heavenly place close to God, and Zion is a park filled with natural wonders that range from 2,000-foot-tall slot canyons to dripping springs and hanging gardens.

Unlike its neighbors in arid southern Utah, Zion National Park centers on water. The Virgin River cuts through its heart, forming The Narrows, a hiker's favorite. Sycamore trees thrive along the river's banks, and green joins red as the park's predominant color. Elsewhere one find emerald pools and dripping springs.

Zion National Park elevations range from 3,666 feet in the southwest corner to 8,726 feet at Horse Ranch Mountain. In profile, it's more like a cliff than a canyon. Zion National Park is the middle step of the Colorado Plateau's Grand Staircase, its cliff-top rock layer extending into the bottom of Bryce Canyon, and its valley floor strata forming the top of the Grand Canyon's North Rim. The canyons here cut into the cliff's edge, forming high-walled crevices.

Visitors come to Zion National Park for the scenery, and cameras are as common as pocketbooks. Others come to hike the park's trails, or to enjoy its abundant wildlife. Zion National Park is part of the Southwest's "Grand Circle," and is commonly visited along with Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks and the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

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