Zion National Park - Utah

Zion National Park is the oldest and most visited park in Utah. In 2009 the Park will celebrate it's 100th birthday.

Zion Park is made up of over 5,000 feet of vertical relief in which lay deep sandstone canyons, stricking rock towers and high mesas and plateaus. There is great camping within the park and hiking trails for every person's ability, from the very easy to the extremely strenuous.

Sometimes "herds" of bikers are seen riding on the winding hilly roads. It would be a great place to camp for a couple weeks sometime; except for the crowds of people who also like this destination in the summer time.
The park elevation ranges from 3,600 to 8,700 feet and is home to an amazing array of birds and plants, including my favorite red Indian Paintbrush flower. Mountion lions, elk, the desert tortoise, and bird species as small as the black-chinned hummingbird to as large as the Peregrine falcon all live within the Zion National Park. I may not have seen all these animals, but I did see the Steller Jay and the Indian Paintbrush flower.

Vertical monolithes made of Navajo Sandstone comprises the 2,000 high cliffs. The sandstone consists of grains of quartz held together with a "weak" cement, most likely limestone.

Life within Zion National Park is sustained by the Virgin River which flows through the canyon on its journey to converge with the Colorado River.




The building to the right was the original Visitor Center in Zion Park. Due to the increase of tourists, today's Visitor Center is many times larger and a grocery store and general store are nearby.

This amazing "picture window" appears before you at the end of one of the two tunnels along the road in the Park.

Indian Paintbrush

This grand cave (or so it appears) has been carved into the stone to allow light into the car tunnel.

We were camped at the Elks Lodge in St. George, UT. The electricity is 20amps at best with this many rigs, but the surrounding red sandstone makes up for the lesser electricity. Just across the parking lot is a beautiful golf course. This was a good place to stay for a few days while we visited the Utah National Parks.




Coming into Zion National Park from the west we passed through a small area known as Red Canyon. The area blew me away with the stunning red color! What an entrance!

Bryce Canyon National Park

In addition to camping and 50 miles of hiking trails, the park offers stunning geological panoramas along 18 miles of the plateau rim. Ancient sedimentation, uplift and compression related to the formation of the Rocky Mountains deformed the rocks, and eventual erosion has contributed to the Hoodoos seen today in Bryce Canyon.

President Warren G. Harding sign the proclamation making Bryce Canyon a National Monument in 1923. The Park was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who along with his wife settled in the area in 1875 to raise cattle. In 1928 the legeslation passed that changed the name to Bryce Canyon National Park.

It was sooo cold the day we visited (evidenced by the snow to the upper left) that upon leaving the truck I had to hurry, hurry, hurry to take pictures. It was too cold and windy, staying at any overlook for any good length of time was not possible (for us anyway). I still asked Don to stop at every single overlook anyway so I could capture pictures of Bryce Canyon.

Hoodoos are stand alone pillars of natural pink and white limestone rock, usually of fantastic shapes that seem to cast a spell upon those who visit. The limestone's display of rich color has been further stained by minerals, creating a splashy display of light pinks and yellows to deeply hued reds and oranges.

Almost looks like the bust of a person formed on the top of the hoodoo.

In addition to the hoodoos, ponderosa pine, spruce, fir and aspen are also found deep within the Canyon.

It seemed that every look out along the 18 miles was different.

We did find a couple of "arch windows" in the park.

By the time we arrived at Inspiration Point I was already so very cold that I almost did not walk out the the distant platform and would have missed all these unique and awesome hoodoos. By the time I finally did get back to the car I needed a good cup of hot chocolate to warm me.

It is like the choir lined up in order to perform some great aria.

Note we are 8,295 feet above sea level.






I think Bryce Canyon National Park is perhaps one of the most unique and beautiful of the Utah National Parks. I'd go there again.

TTFN, Karen and Don