In Retrospect: Zion National Park

In July, 2004, I did a cross-country drive from California to Washington, DC. Along the way, I stopped and visited a number of national parks in the western states. Southern Utah consists of a number of national parks, national monuments, and national forests – a great place to be if you like the outdoors.

Map of the US with location of Zion National Park marked

The road leading to Springdale nestled among the mesas

The red-tinged road inside Zion

Angels Landing, the tall rock formation on the left, forms part of the canyon wall

The shuttle bus is just a dot at the bottom of the canyon when surrounded by the massive cliffs

View of Zion Canyon from Observation Point, 670 meters from the canyon floor

The sheer drop off of the cliff offers spectacular views and gives you sweaty palms

Pine trees and cacti coexist here

Rainwater has carved out their preferred course through the sandstone canyon over the years

The layers of the soft Navajo sandstone is revealed after years of the polishing action from raging floods

The canyon comes to a point at The Narrows along the Virgin River

Rock formation and pine tree

The Zion-Mount Carmel Highway winds its way up the canyon wall