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Zion
EL GOBERNADOR IN ZION CANYON (THE GREAT WHITE THRONE)
This monolith, which rises 3,100 feet from the valley
floor, appears brilliant red two-thirds up, then glistening white
Photograph by Douglas White
ZION NATIONAL PARK
PICTURESQUE in the extreme is the canyon of many vivid colors, through which the North Fork of the Virgin River emerges from the shales and sandstones of southwestern Utah to find its way to the Colorado River and the Pacific. Zion Canyon was known to the Mormons as early as 1861. Later it was known to the geologists, who buried graphic descriptions in their scientific texts. It was made a national monument in 1909, but the public did not discover it until 1917. In 1919 it was made a national park. Now it is reached by rail and motor, and ample lodge accommodations and a free public automobile camp afford comfort for all comers.
Zion Canyon is in truth the Rainbow of the Desert. Its carved cliffs are quite as high and its conformation not dissimilar to those of the Yosemite Valley. But instead of granite, its precipices are of sandstone stratified in brilliant contrasts. Most of its cliffs are gorgeously red two-thirds up, and glistening white above; and some of these white-topped monsters are capped again in crimson. In places the white is streaked across with crimson bands like a Roman sash.
ZION LODGE
Photograph by J. Reed Jones
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Last Modified: Mon, Oct 31, 2002 10:00:00 pm PDT
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