Mukuntuweap National Monument become Zion National Park in 1919.   Part of the Colorado Plateau, the park’s forested northern areas sit at 8700 feet and descend southward to the mouth of Zion Canyon at 3700 feet.   From the Kolob Plateau, canyons descend to the rocky desert below.   The deepest and widest canyons become the access routes among the bare rock cliffs, mountains, ridges, and monoliths of the area.  The mesas, buttes, arches, and canyons are dressed in vertical red Navajo sandstone.   The main route follows the Virgin River into Zion Canyon where sheer cliffs line both sides of the narrowing canyon.    As the highway turns the corner into Springdale and the gates of the park, your eyes lift to the West Temple and the Towers of the Virgin.    On the east side, the Watchman flanks the East Temple, with the Great White Throne up the canyon.   What strikes the first time visitor is the stunning views right from the start.

Vehicles are not permitted up the canyon so we parked at the Visitor Center and took the bus up the canyon each day to the various trailheads. We boarded buses every day and never had to wait for more than 5 minutes. The trip to the end of the canyon takes about 40 minutes, but there is lots to see along the way.  The Virgin River runs down the bottom of the canyon, and monoliths rise up on both sides.

There were no side valleys as routes into the hills. All the trailheads started in unlikely spots and took improbable routes, some straight up sheer slopes with carved switchback ledges. This was a delightful surprise to us. The trails were built in another era, when manpower of the Depression could be employed by the government to cut paths into the sandstone and then haul and apply concrete to the trail surfaces. Every trail had sheer drop-offs and stunning viewpoints. Every trail was unique in its route, shape, form, and environment. We were surprised and delighted every day and have already planned return visits, this time to camp right in the park. A series of trails will be featured in following posts:

• Observation Point
• Hidden Canyon
• Angels Landing
• The Narrows
• Finger Canyons of the Kolob
• East Rim

Note – There are a number of more recent posts on hiking in Zion National Park on this website.