Zion National Park

Zion National Park was next on our tour of national parks in Utah during our trip West a few weeks ago. Although it was the last national park we visited in Utah, it was the first national park to be established in that state. Most of our previous experiences in viewing canyons involved looking down into them from the rim. Zion National Park is different in that visitors drive through it at the bottom of the canyon, looking up at the canyon walls towering over them.

Actually, it was a bit frustrating at times, because we couldn't see the tops of the cliffs without stopping and getting out of the car to do so. Our necks and backs were getting tired from leaning forward and cocking our heads in an attempt to not miss anything.

Zion National Park

My camera has this neat "stitching" feature that allows me to take multiple photos and then stitch them together to make one "panorama" image. The above photo is an example of that.

We drove from the south entrance of the park to the east entrance, a distance of about 10 miles, on Utah Highway 9. The scenery was, of course, beautiful. Following is another photo from that drive:

Since private vehicles are not permitted on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, we returned to the Visitor Center at the South Entrance and caught one of the free shuttles for that part of the park.

The Court of the Patriarchs...Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

I took this shot as we walked along a trail to the Emerald Pools. The destination of the hike was a bit disappointing, but the scenery along the trail made it worthwhile.

The sheer rock walls of the canyon attract rock climbers.

As the day wound down and sunset was nearing, we drove to another section of the park known as Kolob Canyons. Park literature recommended seeing this area at sunset because of the effect of the setting sun on the rock walls of the canyon. It proved to be good advice, as you will see in the following images.

The road through Kolob Canyons is only about five miles, but it proved to be the highlight of our visit to Zion National Park. Compared to the busyness of the main section of the park, Kolob Canyons was so peaceful. There were very few people there. I think we saw only about a half-dozen other vehicles...if that many. It was a wonderful way to end our day of sightseeing.