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| General Information | Scenic Drives | The Grand Circle | The Narrows | Utah Sites |
Zion National Park has some fantastic rock structures and colors for some unbelievable scenic beauty. Activities to consider while here are (but not limited to): backpacking, biking, camping, climbing, fishing, hiking, horseback rides, photography, river running, star gazing, swimming, Tram tours, wading and watching wildlife.
Join a National Park Service ranger to explore Zion's natural and cultural history. Join a ranger to learn about the forces that once shaped this landscape - and continue to do so, see the Calendar Page. Ranger / Naturalist programs include interpretive programs in summer. These include geology talks, campfire programs and guided walks and hikes on a variety of topics. Schedules for Ranger activities are available at the Visitor Center. These are just some of the ways to discover the diversity of the scenic, natural and historic wonders that comprise Zion National Park. There is a Junior Ranger program for youth ages 6 to 12 years old.
For a detailed list of Zion hiking possibilities, with locations and trails, see the Hiking Page. Hiking trails of varying length and difficulty are offered.
Zion Canyon Scenic Drive
Short, seven mile drive along the canyon floor. Sheer, vividly colored cliffs tower above as you follow this road along the floor of Zion Canyon. This narrow deep is the centerpiece of the park. It awed early visitors like Frederick Vining Fisher, a Methodist minister who named the Great White Throne, Angles Landing and many other monoliths. Today the canyon continues to spark a sense of wonder and disbelief in those who come and stand beneath its 2,000 to 3,000 foot walls.
Along the bottom of the canyon flows the Virgin River. It is the river with the looks of a creek and the muscle of the Colorado. This small river almost single handedly carved the profound rock gorge of Zion Canyon. It began its cutting more than 13 million years ago and continues its work today.
Zion - Mt Carmel Highway
This 13 mile drive is up steep switchbacks and through tunnels to Checkerboard Mesa. Outstanding works of man and nature compete for attention along this route. The road, completed in 1930, was considered an "almost impossible project," an engineering marvel of its time. Built across rough up-and-down terrain, it connects lower Zion Canyon with the high plateaus to the east. Two narrow tunnels, including one 1.1 miles long, were blasted through the cliffs to finish the construction job. As you travel from one side of the tunnel to the other, the landscape changes dramatically. On one side lies Zion Canyon with its massive cliff walls. The colossal size of the canyon is matched by one of the most striking attractions alone this road - the Great Arch of Zion, a "blind" arch carved high in a vertical cliff wall.
On the other side of the tunnel is slickrock country. Here rocks colored in white and pastels of orange and red have been eroded into hundreds of fantastic shapes, etched through time with odd patterns of cracks and grooves. The mountains of sandstone known as Checkerboard Mesa stands as the most prominent example of this naturally sculptured rock art.
Kolob Canyons
Scenic drive skirting the Kolob "finger canyons", (5 miles from Kolob Canyons Visitor Center; 45 miles from Zion Canyon). Two roads lead from the north-western corner of the park, where streams have carved spectacular canyons at the edge of Kolob Terrace. The Kolob Canyons Road enters the park from I-15 at exit 40 and penetrates 5 miles into the red rock, perpendicular walled Finger Canyons, ending at a high viewpoint. The Kolob Terrace Road overlooks the white and salmon-colored cliffs of the Left and Right Forks of North Creek. Both routes climb into forests of pinyon and juniper, ponderosa pine, fir, and quaking aspen are found at Lava Point. In summer there is often a feel of mountain coolness to the air atop Kolob's high country plateaus. In the early spring the Kolob is buried under thick snowpack.
Zion is part of the Southwest's "Grand Circle" of national parks, monuments, historical areas, and recreational areas - one of the world's great concentrations of outstanding natural and cultural features. Driving distances from Zion Canyon Visitor Center to many of these sites and to area towns are listed here:
This is one of the park's most popular and strenuous, off-trail hikes. Hiking through the Narrows is a 15-mile trip requiring at least one full day. Much of the trip involves wading through the Virgin River. The Narrows may be closed because of the threat of flash floods. Permits are required for trips through the length of the Narrows and its tributaries.
For more detailed information and links click on the Utah State Page.
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Anasazi Indian - Heritage Antelope Island - Scenic Bear Lake - Recreation Camp Floyd / Stagecoach Inn - Heritage Coral Pink Sand Dunes - Recreation Dead Horse Point - Scenic Deer Creek - Recreation East Canyon - Recreation Edge Of The Cedars - Heritage Escalante - Recreation Flight Park - Recreation Fort Buenaventura - Heritage Fremont Indian - Heritage Goblin Valley - Scenic Goosenecks - Scenic Great Salt Lake - Recreation Green River - Recreation Gunlock - Recreation Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail - Recreation Huntington - Recreation Hyrum - Recreation Iron Mission - Heritage Jordan River - Recreation |
Jordanelle - Recreation Kodachrome - Scenic Lost Creek - Recreation Millsite - Recreation Otter Creek - Recreation Palisade - Recreation Piute - Recreation Quail Creek - Recreation Red Fleet - Recreation Rockport - Recreation Scofield - Recreation Sand Hallow - Recreation Snow Canyon - Scenic Starvation - Recreation Steinaker - Recreation Territorial Statehouse - Heritage This Is The Place - Heritage Utah Field House of Natural History - Heritage Utah Lake - Recreation Veterans Memorial - Heritage Wasatch Mountain - Scenic Willard Bay - Recreation Yuba Lake - Recreation |
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Anasazi Indian Village Camp Floyd-Stagecoach Inn Edge of the Cedars Fort Buenaventura Fort Deseret |
Iron Mission Dinosaur Natural History Museum Newspaper Rock Pioneer Trail Territorial Statehouse |
