Zion National Park is a United States National Park located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile (593 km²) park is Zion Canyon, 15 miles (24 km) long and up to half a mile (800 m) deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, this unique geography and variety of life zones allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. A total of 289 bird species, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bat), 32 reptiles and numerous plant species inhabit the park's four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Notable megafauna include Mountain Lions, Mule Deer and Golden Eagles, along with reintroduced California Condors and Bighorn Sheep. Common plant species include Cottonwood, Cactus, Datura, Juniper, Pine, Boxelder, Sagebrush and various willows.

Human habitation of the area started about 8,000 years ago with small family groups of Native Americans; the semi-nomadic Basketmaker Anasazi (300 CE) stem from one of these groups. In turn, the Virgin Anasazi culture (500 CE) developed as the Basketmakers settled in permanent communities. A different group, the Parowan Fremont, lived in the area as well. Both groups moved away by 1300 and were replaced by the Parrusits and several other Southern Paiute subtribes. The canyon was discovered by Mormons in 1858 and was settled by that same group in the early 1860s. Mukuntuweap National Monument was established in 1909 to protect the canyon, and by 1919 the monument was expanded to become Zion National Park (Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning a place of refuge or sanctuary). The Kolob section was proclaimed a separate Zion National Monument in 1937, but was incorporated into the park in 1956.

The geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes nine formations that together represent 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation. At various periods in that time, warm, shallow seas, streams, ponds and lakes, vast deserts and dry near-shore environments covered the area. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago.

Notable geographical features of the park
• National Park Service Map
• Virgin River Narrows
• Emerald Pools
• Hidden Canyon
• Angels Landing
• The Great White Throne
• Checkerboard Mesa
• The Three Patriarchs
• Kolob Arch, a remote cliff wall arch

Early exploration
The Historic period begins in the late 18th century, with the exploration and settlement of southern Utah by Euro-Americans. Padres Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez passed near what is now the Kolob Canyons Visitor Center on October 13, 1776, becoming the first white men known to visit the area. In 1826, trapper and trader Jedediah Smith led 16 men to explore the area in a quest to find a route to California. These and other explorations by traders from New Mexico blazed the Old Spanish Trail, which followed the Virgin River for a portion of its length. Captain John C. Fremont wrote about his 1844 journeys in the region.

Mormon pioneers and the Powell expedition
In the 1850s, Mormon farmers from the Salt Lake area became the first white people to settle the Virgin River region. In 1851, the Parowan and Cedar City, Utah areas were settled by Mormons who used the Kolob Canyons area for timber, and for grazing cattle, sheep, and horses. They prospected for mineral deposits, and diverted Kolob water to irrigate crops in the valley below. Mormon settlers named the area Kolob - in Mormon scripture, the star nearest the residence of God.

In 1858, they had expanded 30 miles south to the lower Virgin River. That year, a Southern Paiute guide led young Mormon missionary and interpreter Nephi Johnson into the upper Virgin River area and Zion Canyon. Johnson wrote a favorable report about the agricultural potential of the upper Virgin River basin, and returned later that year to found the town of Virgin. More settlers arrived in 1860 and 1861 and settled the towns of Rockville and Springdale. Catastrophic flooding by the river (especially in the Great Flood of 1861–1862), little arable land, and poor soils made agriculture in the upper Virgin River a risky venture.

In 1861 or 1862, Joseph Black made the arduous journey to Zion Canyon and was very impressed by its beauty. His stories about the Canyon were at first seen as exaggerated, prompting his neighbors to call the Canyon "Joseph's Glory". The floor of Zion Canyon was settled in 1863 by Isaac Behunin, who farmed corn, tobacco, and fruit trees. The Behunin family lived in Zion canyon near the site of today's Zion Lodge during the summer, and wintered in Springdale. Isaac Behunin is credited with naming Zion, a reference to a place of peace mentioned in the Bible.

Two more families settled Zion canyon in the next couple of years, bringing with them cattle and other domesticated animals. The canyon floor was farmed until Zion became a Monument in 1909.

The Crawford ranch was located near the mouth of Zion Canyon, in Springdale.The Powell Geographic Expedition entered the area in 1869 after their first trip through the Grand Canyon. Powell returned in September 1872 and descended the East Fork of the Virgin River (Parunaweap Canyon) to the town of Shunesberg. He may have made the climb up to Zion Canyon, and named it Mukuntuweap under the impression that that was the Paiute name. In the same year, Geologist Grove Karl Gilbert, working with the Wheeler Survey, descended the North Fork of the Virgin River from Navajo Lake to Zion Canyon, making the first recorded descent of "The Zion Narrows". It is likely that he named this remarkable section of canyon in the process.

Powell Survey photographers, Jack Hillers and James Fennemore, first visited the Zion Canyon and Kolob Plateau region in the spring of 1872. Hillers returned in April of 1873 to add more photographs to the "Virgin River Series" of photographs and stereographs. Hillers described wading the canyon for 4 days and nearly freezing to death to take his photographs. Geologist Clarence Dutton later mapped the region and artist William H. Holmes documented the scenery.

Protection and tourism

From April through October, the scenic drive in Zion Canyon is closed to private vehicles, and visitors ride the frequent shuttle busesPaintings of the canyon by Frederick S. Dellenbaugh were exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, followed by a glowing article in Scribner's Magazine the next year. That, along with previously created photographs, paintings, and reports, led to U.S. President William Howard Taft's proclamation creating Mukuntuweap National Monument on July 31, 1909. In 1917, the acting director of the newly created National Park Service visited the canyon and proposed changing its name Zion from the locally unpopular Mukuntuweap. That occurred the following year. The United States Congress added more land and established Zion National Park on November 19, 1919. A separate Zion National Monument, the Kolob Canyons area, was proclaimed on January 22, 1937, and was incorporated into the park on July 11, 1956.

Travel to the area before it was a national park was rare due to its remote location, lack of accommodations, and the absence of real roads in southern Utah. Old wagon roads were upgraded to the first automobile roads starting about 1910, and the road into Zion Canyon was built in 1917, to as far as The Grotto.

By the summer of 1917, touring cars could reach Zion Canyon, and the Wylie Camp was established - a tent camp providing the first visitor lodging in Zion Canyon. The Utah Parks Company, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad, acquired the Wylie Camp in 1923, and offered ten-day rail/bus tours to Zion, Bryce, Kaibab, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The Zion Lodge complex was built in 1925 at the site of the Wylie tent camp. Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed Zion Lodge in the "Rustic Style" and the Utah Parks Company funded the construction. In 1968, the main lodge building was destroyed by fire but was quickly rebuilt. The detached Western Cabins (photo) survived and were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Tour buses at Zion Lodge in 1929. Tourism greatly increased after paved all-weather highways were built to Zion.Work on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway started in 1927 to provide reliable access between Springdale and the east side of the park. The road opened in 1930 and park visitation and travel in the area greatly increased. The most famous feature of the highway is the 1.1-mile (1.8-km) Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, which has six large windows cut through the massive sandstone cliff. On the south side of the tunnel, switchbacks take motorists from the tunnel to the floor of Zion Canyon. On the east side the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway terminates at Mt. Carmel Junction and Highway 89, allowing visitors to travel by car to other national parks, including Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon.

In 1896, local rancher John Winder improved the Native American footpath up Echo Canyon so he could travel on horseback up to the East Rim, and hence to Long Valley. This trail was improved again about 1925 and became the East Rim Trail. Other trails were built in 1925 including the West Rim Trail and the Lady Mountain Trail. The auto road was extended to the Temple of Sinawava, and a trail built from there one mile to the start of the Narrows. The next year saw construction of the Angels Landing Trail, and two suspension bridges were built over the Virgin River. The Hidden Canyon trail was built in 1928. The West Rim and East Rim Trail were built for horse-back riding visitors, and were blasted out of the sandstone in many places.

East portal of Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel in early 1930s. When it was built, the tunnel was the longest of its type in the world.The original ranger cabin was built at The Grotto in the 1920s. A real visitor center was first built in the 1950s, facing the Temples and Towers of the Virgin. Park facilities were redesigned in 2000, with the visitor center converted to a human-history museum (photo) and visitor center functions moved to a new solar powered facility adjacent to the south entrance.

Zion Canyon Scenic Drive provides access to Zion Canyon. Traffic congestion in the narrow canyon was recognized as a major problem in the 1990s and a public transportation system using propane-powered shuttle buses was instituted in the year 2000. From April through October, the scenic drive in Zion Canyon is closed to private vehicles, and visitors ride the frequent shuttle buses. The new plan restored natural quiet to the canyon.

On April 12, 1995, heavy rains triggered a landslide that blocked the Virgin River in Zion Canyon. Over a period of two hours, the river carved away 590 feet (190 m) of the only exit road from the canyon, trapping 450 guests and employees in the Zion Lodge. A one-lane temporary road was constructed within 24 hours to allow evacuation of the Lodge. A more stable, albeit temporary, road was completed on May 25, 1995 to allow summer visitors to access the park. This road was replaced with a permanent road during the first half of 1996.

The Zion-Mount Carmel Highway can be traveled year-round. Access for over-sized vehicles requires a special permit, and is limited to daytime hours, as traffic through the tunnel must be one way to accommodate large vehicles.

The 5 mile (8 km) Kolob Canyons Road was built in the mid-1960s to provide a scenic drive and access to the Kolob Canyons section of the park. This road often closes in the winter.

Temple of Sinawava WaterfallThe road into Zion Canyon is 6 miles long, ending at the Temple of Sinawava ("Sinawava" refers to the Coyote God of the Paiute Indians[1][2]). At the Temple, the canyon narrows and a foot-trail continues to the mouth of the Zion Narrows, a spectacular gorge with walls 40–100 feet (12–30 meters) wide and 1000 feet (300 m) tall. The Zion Canyon road is served by a free shuttle bus from early April to late October and by private vehicles the other months of the year. Other roads in Zion are open to private vehicles year-round.

View from MuseumOther areas of the park also offer outstanding scenery. The east side of the park is served by the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway which passes through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel and ends at Mt. Carmel Junction. On the east side of the park notable park features include Checkerboard Mesa and the East Temple and one of the more popular hikes, the Canyon Overlook Trail.

West of Zion Canyon, the Kolob Terrace area features The Subway, a famous slot canyon hike, and Lava Point, with a spectacular view of the entire area. The Kolob Canyons section, further west near Cedar City, features one of the world's longest arches, Kolob Arch.

Map of Zion National Park showing the Zion and Kolob canyon sections.Spring weather is unpredictable, with stormy, wet days being common, mixed with occasional warm, sunny weather. Precipitation is heaviest in March. Spring wildflowers bloom from April through June, peaking in May. Fall days are usually clear and mild; nights are often cool. Summer days are hot (95 °F to 110 °F; 35 °C to 43 °C), but overnight lows are usually comfortable (65 °F to 70 °F; 18 °C to 21 °C). Afternoon thunderstorms are common from mid-July through mid-September. Storms may produce waterfalls as well as flash floods. Autumn tree-color displays begin in September in the high country; inside Zion Canyon, autumn colors usually peak in late October. Winter in Zion Canyon is fairly mild. Winter storms bring rain or light snow to Zion Canyon and heavier snow to the higher elevations. Clear days may become quite warm, reaching 60 °F (16 °C); nights are often 20 °F to 40 °F (-7 °C to 4 °C). Winter storms can last several days and make roads icy. Zion roads are plowed, except the Kolob Terrace Road and the Kolob Canyons Road, which are closed when covered with snow. Winter driving conditions persist from November through March.