Zion National Park

Zion Nation Park has several distinct regions, but we spent most of our time on the valley floor close to the Virgin River. During the high tourist season, a shuttle runs from the Zion Canyon Visitor Center outside of Springdale, Utah along the river to end of the road, making stops at scenic locations like The Grotto, Angels Landing, Weeping Rock, and Temple of Sinawava. Off season you can drive.

An arch in the making. This is a very distinctive shape in Zion.
The softer rock of the arch is worn away at a faster pace,
leaving the harder rock of the bridge.

Being close to water, the vegetation is lush and riparian. We saw cottonwood, ash, oak, maple, grapes, and many perennial plants. Being fall, we saw lovely red and yellow leaves contrasting with the conifers. All this is displayed against the stunning backdrop of red rock – paradise for the amateur botanist or geologist.

Lush and riparian vegetation near the Virgin River.

Congress designated Zion as a national park in 1919. Today the Zion Natural History Association (ZNHA) helps support Zion by raising money for various projects, and promoting the Park. We stayed at the Zion Lodge during our trip, and made forays out into Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks by day. The lodge was built in 1920, rebuilt after a fire in 1966, and then restored to architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood’s original design in 1990.

The hotel and cabin accommodations at Zion Lodge. We enjoyed sitting
out on our private deck, equipped with rocking chairs.

We took a short day trip to the northwest section of the Park, following Kolob Terrace road, which winds in and out of private and Park land. Here, away from the water and at higher elevation, the terrain and vegetation were notably different. We saw acres of deciduous oak; at first I thought the trees had died, but then realized these were the Gambel Oak or Rocky Mountain White Oak (Quercus Gambelii). At the higher elevation, they had already lost their leaves. We also saw grasslands used for grazing.

The vegetation is drier away from the river and at a higher
elevation in Zion Park.