Zion National Park is the last national park alphabetically - but it wasn’t always that
way.
The park, located in the southwestern corner of Utah, has secrets dating back many centuries,
hidden within the landscape of the park.
Over time, many people would come to discover the secrets of Zion, each gaining valuable
knowledge from those who came before.
And even in the 21st century, when the park gets around 4 and a half million visitors
annually, Zion continues to contain mysteries waiting for visitors to discover.
So what makes this place such an important area that it was destined to become one of
America’s national parks?
Today, we find out.
Welcome to Zion National Park.
To discover how Zion came to be geologically, we must first zoom out to get a grander perspective
on what formations lie in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona - specifically a feature
called the Grand Staircase, which is responsible for a couple of other national parks as well,
including Bryce Canyon to the north, and Grand Canyon to the south.
The oldest rocks come from the Grand Canyon, gradually growing younger as you go north,
until reaching Bryce Canyon, where the rocks date back to only around the time of the extinction
of the dinosaurs.
In the middle of this staircase is Zion Canyon, whose creation began not unlike many other
geographical formations in America’s national parks - through water.
240 million years ago.
Present-day Utah is a flat basin that is slowly filled up by gravels, sands, and mud in a
process called sedimentation.
As millions of years go by, the landscape changes drastically, with ancient seas coming
and going, hardening sediments into stone.
And then, across the middle of the continent spring the Rocky Mountains - a formidable
barrier, dividing the land in two.
Just to the west of the mountains, Zion is caught in the uplifting and soars to heights
of almost 10,000 feet above sea level.
But water can still change the landscape even at towering heights - and the Virgin River
carves away at the rocks of Southern Utah, molding them into a deep canyon which the
river still flows through today.
With the formation of the canyon came the peoples who would ultimately come to define
the landscape for centuries.
The two groups which would leave the most impactful mark on the land around Zion would
be the Fremont and Anasazi Indians, the former of which were an agricultural people who were
named after the Fremont River, meaning “noble protector”.
The Fremont left petroglyphs across Utah and its neighboring states, some of which can
still be seen in national parks and other public lands today.
The Anasazi are best known for their massive cliff dwellings, such as those at Mesa Verde
National Park, a couple hundred miles east of Zion.
More recently, tribes like the Ute, Paiute, and Navajo lived in the area of Southern Utah,
and the Paiute were the people who gave the canyon the name that the area would originally
come into the National Park Service under - Mukuntuweap, meaning “straight canyon”,
or “straight river”.
For those who have been tuning into RAC’s series covering the national parks for a while,
or even if this is your first RAC video, it’s important to note that the peoples who lived
here before the arrival of Europeans often get very little credit for their names for
particular places in the modern day, especially because attempts to translate words into European
languages can sometimes result in different pronunciations and meanings than the original
intention of the word.
Many of the states within the U.S. owe their names to Native American words, and most people
don’t look too deep into what the words actually mean.
So as we close this segment on the first peoples here in Zion, remember those who lived here
so long ago, with a series of unique and distinct cultures that span beyond the reach of the
national park system and into the very fabric of the history of the North American continent
itself.
As settlement into the West began to occur by many people in the Eastern United States
heading out to the unknown territory to start a new life for themselves, one religious group,
the Mormons, were forced out of the East, from places like Illinois and Missouri, and
eventually found their way to Utah Territory.
Their leader Brigham Young, began to establish an official community in Northern Utah near
the Great Salt Lake, but Mormons were spread out throughout the area, including some in
Mukuntuweap Canyon, which was first given a new name by a man called Isaac Behunin,
who established a cabin in the canyon, and named the canyon “Little Zion”, Zion being
a Hebrew word meaning sanctuary, or refuge, a moniker the canyon certainly lived up to
by Behunin’s standards.
However, Zion would not fall into the eye of the general public until the 20th century,
when President Willaim Howard Taft proclaimed the canyon Mukuntuweap National Monument in
1909.
And then, when National Park Director Horace Albright visited the area in 1917, he saw
its potential and beauty, and pushed for it to become a national park, which it did only
two years later in 1919 under the name Zion, which Albright insisted was easier to pronounce
and say.
Zion has changed a lot since its inception as a national monument (and eventually a national
park), and today, navigating the park can be difficult, especially during the summer
months, when crowds take the park by storm.
It is very convenient, as is the case with Yosemite Valley in California as well, to
walk or take a form of public transportation to your destination while at Zion, as driving
in the valley portion of the park is often impractical and not a very enjoyable experience.
But what is there to do in Zion Canyon?
Two of the most popular experiences are the strenuous hike to Angel’s Landing, and the
navigation of a section of the North Fork of the Virgin River called “The Narrows.”
Starting with Angel’s Landing, the hike to the top of this impressive feature boldly
standing out against the rest of the canyon takes 5.5 miles roundtrip, but those who are
careful and physically prepared will find this trail a nice challenge with a fantastic
reward at the top of Angel’s Landing, named so because it was thought that only angels
could have landed on such a beautiful spot.
Further up in the canyon, at the level of the river, is the Narrows, less of a hike
than an watery adventure, wading through passages sometimes only 20 to 30 feet across, in water
than can get up to your waist at times, providing a nice respite from the often scorching temperatures
in the hot months.
Other canyon attractions include the Court of the Patriarchs, a series of rock formations
jutting out from the canyon rim, and speaking of the rim, two trails extend along both rims
of the canyon, offering multi-day adventures in the backcountry exploring not only the
rim, but the surrounding desert.
Outside the canyon, two other sections comprise the rest of Zion - heading east from the canyon
is the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, passing by the Checkerboard Mesa, a standout rock formation
near the park’s east entrance, and to the Northwest of the canyon, accessible by an
exit off of Interstate 15, is the Kolob Canyons Unit of the park, a truly epic backcountry
experience in the smaller canyons of Zion.
What else will you find besides humans in Zion?
Why animals and plants, of course!
Iconic western animals such as mule deer and bighorn sheep dot the Zion landscape, providing
an exciting sight for visitors who have never seen an animal like them before.
Trees at Zion include the Utah juniper and pinyon pine, which line the roads and trails
of Zion, and provide a place of shade along the Virgin River in Zion Canyon.
To learn more about the wildlife of Zion, be sure to check out the National Park Service’s
website about the park.
From the soaring skyward cliffs, to the deep historical impact of all those who lived and
visited here, it's no wonder that this sanctuary, this refuge, is one of America’s most iconic
and most visited national parks.
And with that statement, this series officially comes to a close.
As more national parks are created, RAC will be there to provide you, dear viewers, with
all the essential information about the wonders of America, this brilliant, bold, beautiful
nation - but until that time comes, our National Parks Briefly Series has reached its conclusion.
We hope you enjoyed coming along with us on this journey through some of America’s finest
natural areas, and stay tuned for more informative content about not just national parks, but
many interesting topics in general.
Thank you all so much for tuning in - you’ve been watching National Parks Briefly… goodbye.