18 Fascinating Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Zion National Park in Utah
Zion National Park is certainly one of the most beautiful places in Utah. You’ve probably visited at least once, and if you haven’t, you should make plans to go SOON. Even if you’re a park regular, you might not know all of these facts about Utah’s most visited national park. Here are 18 fascinating tidbits to intrigue you.
During these uncertain times, please keep safety in mind and consider adding destinations to your bucket list to visit at a later date.
President Woodrow Wilson designated it a national monument in 1909.
It’s Utah’s oldest national park.
The lodge was built in 1925, but destroyed by a fire in 1966. It was rebuilt the following year.
The highway enables visitors to travel through Zion and into Bryce Canyon National Park.
It was a true feat of engineering. Workers blasted out of the mountain with dynamite between 1927 and 1930.
It would take you many weeks to thoroughly explore the entire park. Most visitors stick to the popular trails.
Unlike the Grand Canyon, which you experience from the top, at Zion, you look up at the towering cliffs above the Virgin River and valley.
Make sure to take plenty of water in the summer!
The park offers something for everyone; you don’t have to be a hiking expert here.
Impressive, right?
He was the park’s first custodian, and helped construct the West Rim Trail.
He took one look at the peak and proclaimed, “Only an angel could land on it.”
From the peak, you’ll be about 1,500 feet above the valley below.
More deaths have been reported at Emerald Pools, where conditions at the middle and upper pools can be slippery (and deadly) if you venture past the chained-off area.
Due to an overwhelming numbers of visitors, in 2000 the park eliminated vehicle traffic on the 6.5 mile scenic drive. Visitors during winter months can still drive their own cars.
The Narrows “bottom-up” hike begins at the Temple of Sinawava. Most people hike in as far as Wall Street, then turn back. Serious hikers do the “top-down” hike, which is 16 miles long and much more strenuous.
Climbers come from all over the world to scale the 2,000 foot-high cliff walls.
Utahns who want to experience some solitude usually try to visit on the off-season.
What do you love most about Zion National Park?
