Zion National Park, Full of Formidable Landscapes Borne of Nature’s Dramatic Forces

Mountain of the Sun, as viewed from a hallway of the West Rim Trail in Zion National Park. (Jeff Perkin)

There are extraordinary places in North America where the forces of time and nature have carved monoliths that form mysterious, sacred temples. These places captivate human beings from all walks of life by providing a connection to the grandeur and creative power of the natural world. Zion National Park in southern Utah has magnetized, and also repelled, people in many ways for thousands of years. The Paiute people feared the monumental stone walls of Zion Valley above which fire periodically flashes in the sky, where torrents of water pour down through the canyon walls and disease afflicted Native peoples of the past. Formidability is often added to great beauty as the transformative aspects of nature continue to reshape Zion’s dramatic, iconic scenery.

These are the Temples of God, built without the use of human hands. A man can worship God among these great cathedrals just as well as in any man-made church. —Isaac Behunin (first Western settler to build a cabin in Zion Canyon in 1863)

Sacred cliffs in Zion National Park, as seen from the Virgin River. (Jeff Perkin)

Southern Utah was home to several Native American tribes going back thousands of years. The lands encompassing what is now known as Zion were once inhabited by the Virgin Anasazi and the Parowan Fremont in different areas, followed later by the Paiute peoples. Alternating periods of flooding and drought made survival in Zion Valley difficult and may have forced tribes to leave when crops were destroyed. Zion features a range of elevations in its 229 square miles that allows for diverse plant and animal habitation, making it appealing for settlers. The Virgin River helps life to flourish in the area, but what is given can also be taken away by violent flooding. Despite the risks, people have been drawn to Zion in an attempt to build a sustainable life in its sublime cathedral.

When Mormons became the first Westerners to settle in the area in the mid-1800s, the name “Zion” unofficially began being used, meaning “a place of peace or sanctuary” and a “gathering place in the last days” of their biblical ideology. Southern Paiute Native Americans already inhabited land in the area and were eventually driven out by new arrivals as well as disease. In 1909, the area was named Mukuntuweap National Monument, in honor of the Paiute people, after an executive order from President Taft federally protected 15,840 acres. “Mukuntuweap” is said to be Paiute for “straight canyon,” the likes of which giant rock walls famously form in many areas of the park. Only a decade later, in 1919, assistant director of the National Park Service, Horace Albright, changed the park’s name to Zion. This appeased the relative newcomers who felt that they had forged this new home through great hardship and as a testament to their faith.

A rainy day at Zion National Park.（Matej Rieciciar/Unsplash）

It wasn’t until 1917 that visitors began to be able to access Zion Canyon in the way that we take for granted today. Prior to then, roads were rough, and the nearest railroad station was 100 miles away. The Union Pacific Railroad extended a railway to neighboring Cedar City in 1919. Zion Canyon can now also be accessed from the east on Mt. Carmel Highway, thanks to a remarkable 1.1-mile-long tunnel that was cut through solid sandstone and completed in 1930. This incredible tunnel is so long that its darkness is periodically interrupted by six large windows that artistically frame views of Zion Canyon. The highway connects Utah’s 89 and 91 highways and provides a bridge to other magnificent destinations such as Bryce Canyon National Park and Grand Canyon National Park. Southern Utah is home to many incredible destinations that are a popular itinerary for a quintessentially American road trip.

Visiting Zion

In the modern day, Zion National Park is a well-known and highly-visited feature of the U.S. National Park system. During the busy summer season, the park now sees an average of half a million visitors monthly. A century ago, Zion was relatively unknown and saw only a few thousand visitors annually in stark contrast to the roughly 4 million visitors it now receives every year. The mission of the National Park system is to make these majestic places accessible to people while also maintaining and preserving them for future generations. This noble pursuit requires a delicate balance that presents practical challenges in terms of accommodating increasingly large numbers while also protecting the park’s natural wilderness and wildlife. Some of the park’s deer don’t seem to mind the crowds and often frequent the campgrounds and riverside near the Zion Canyon’s busy visitor center.

One of the most popular hikes in the park, The Narrows features towering canyons. （Tom Bixler/Unsplash）

Sunset at Zion National Park.（Nick Dunlap/Unsplash）

Soaring rock walls converge very closely in a couple areas of the park. These magnificent passageways between cliffs can be found in the canyon at the popular “Narrows” and in the lesser-visited Kolob Canyons section, which was added in 1956. In Kolob Canyons, the northwestern area of the park, the red of the rocks provides an even more visually striking contrast against green trees and a blue sky. The area features Kolob Arch, which is one of the largest arches in the world at 287 feet long. In between Zion Canyon and Kolob Canyons is the Kolob Terrace area, where higher elevation provides views above Zion Canyon in the distance. Visitors can drive along Kolob Terrace Road and/or hike to Lava Point to seek out this less-seen vantage point of Zion.

Depending on what time of year you visit Zion, everything from soaring desert heat to freezing cold and pouring rain should be expected. Plan ahead and make necessary preparations. Despite the potential for nature’s extremes, Zion always returns to a stillness and vastness that feels transcendent. Like other great National Parks, visitors find themselves in a place that pulls humanity together to a central point and unifies us in our appreciation of the divine. Moving through these perennial landscapes, the sounds of several different languages touch your ears from people who have traveled far and wide to glimpse the glory of this American treasure.