60 Fun Facts About Zion National Park

Zion National Park is in which U.S. state?

It sits where three great geographic provinces meet, which is why its plant and animal life is so varied.

Which town sits at the park's south entrance and shares its territory with the park?

The first settler family farmed the canyon in summer and wintered there in the 1860s.

The North Fork of which watercourse carved Zion Canyon?

Its gradient of 50 to 80 feet per mile is one of the steepest of any stream in North America, and it moves about 3 million tons of rock and sand a year.

The canyon's reddish and tan walls are made of which rock formation?

It was laid down as a vast desert of dunes; nine formations in the park record about 150 million years of Mesozoic sediment.

Roughly how deep is Zion Canyon at its deepest?

It runs 15 miles long, and the road up it ends after 6 miles.

Which president first protected the canyon in 1909, as Mukuntuweap National Monument?

Paintings by Frederick Dellenbaugh at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and a Scribner's article helped make the case.

Which explorer visited the canyon in 1872 and named it Mukuntuweap, believing it to be the Paiute name?

His survey photographer Jack Hillers waded the canyon for four days and nearly froze to get his pictures.

Why did the Park Service push to rename the monument 'Zion' in 1918?

Acting NPS director Horace Albright drafted the proposal; the new name was one local Mormons already used.

In what year did Congress make Zion a national park?

Woodrow Wilson signed the act on November 19.

Which Mormon settler farmed the canyon floor from 1863 and is credited with naming it Zion?

He grew corn, tobacco and fruit trees near the site of today's lodge, and the canyon floor stayed farmed until 1909.

Which two Spanish padres passed near the Kolob Canyons in 1776, the first Europeans known in the area?

Trapper Jedediah Smith explored downstream stretches in 1825, and Mormon farmers arrived in the valley in 1847.

Which 1,488-foot rock fin, reached by a chain-lined trail cut in 1926, is the park's most famous hike?

It used to be called the Temple of Aeolus, and since 2022 you need a permit to go past Scout Lookout.

What are Walter's Wiggles?

They are named for Walter Ruesch, the park's first superintendent, who built them in 1926.

By 2025, roughly how many deaths had been confirmed at or near the chained summit trail?

That was the most of any hiking trail in the state, which is partly why permits arrived in 2022.

Which classic hike involves wading up the river between sandstone walls as little as 20 feet apart?

The full top-down route from Chamberlain's Ranch is 16 miles and about 12 hours; beyond Big Springs you need a permit.

Which geologist descended and named the park's famous river gorge in 1872 as part of the Wheeler Survey?

His party rode horseback from Navajo Lake all the way through to the town at the park gate.

Which slot canyon on the Kolob Terrace is famous for its tube-shaped passage?

Lava Point nearby gives a panoramic view of the whole area and holds the park's primitive third campground.

Which span in the park's northwestern section is one of the longest natural arches in the world?

Measured at 287.4 feet in 2006, it is a whisker shorter than Landscape Arch in Arches; reaching it is a 14-mile round trip.

Where does the name 'Kolob' come from?

Settlers from Parowan and Cedar City used the Kolob country for timber and grazing from 1851.

The Kolob Canyons, a separate national monument from 1937, joined the park in what year?

It is reached from Interstate 15 at exit 40, near Cedar City.

What is the most famous feature of the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, opened in 1930?

Oversized vehicles need a permit and one-way traffic control to get through.

Which cross-hatched formation is the landmark of the park's east side?

The East Temple stands nearby along State Route 9.

The road up Zion Canyon ends at a spot named for the Paiute coyote god — what is it called?

A mile-long paved trail carries on from there to the mouth of the river gorge.

Since 2000, how do most visitors travel up Zion Canyon from spring to fall?

Private cars are banned on the scenic drive from early April to late October; the fleet includes two 36-seat electric trams.

Which architect designed the rustic Zion Lodge, built in 1925 for the railroad-owned Utah Parks Company?

It rose on the site of Wylie Camp, a 1917 tent camp; the railway sold ten-day rail-and-bus tours of Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

How many people were trapped at Zion Lodge when a 1995 landslide washed out the canyon road?

A one-lane emergency road was built within 24 hours to get everyone out.

Which 1969 Paul Newman and Robert Redford film shot scenes in the park?

Silent westerns like The Deadwood Coach had used the canyon as far back as 1924.

Which video game's 'Honest Hearts' expansion is set in Zion?

Scenes for the TV series Extinct were also shot in the park in 2017.

Roughly what share of the park did the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act designate as wilderness?

That is 124,406 acres, signed by Barack Obama.

Roughly how many visitors did the park attract in 2025?

That puts it among the busiest parks in the country despite covering only 229 square miles.

Which large mammal was reintroduced to the park in 1973?

California condors released on the Arizona Strip bred successfully in the park for the first time in 2014.

In 2014 the park confirmed the first successful breeding within its borders of which giant bird?

Golden eagles, peregrines and white-throated swifts also work the cliffs.

How many species of bat live in the park?

The park lists 289 bird species and four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland and coniferous forest.

Which small endemic fish swims in the park's riparian zones?

Flannelmouth suckers and bank beavers share the same streamside habitat.

What is the highest point in the park?

At 8,726 feet it stands about 5,100 feet above the park's low point at Coal Pits Wash.

Which culture, sometimes called the Virgin Anasazi, disappeared from the area by about 1300?

Drought and catastrophic floods probably ended their farming; Numic-speaking newcomers took their place.

Which Native people, including the Parrusits, lived in the area when Mormon settlers arrived?

A guide from this people led a Mormon missionary into the canyon in 1858.

Which Mormon missionary was guided into Zion Canyon by a Paiute in 1858 and founded Virgin?

He wrote a glowing report on the farming potential of the upper river and was back the same year to found the town.

Entrepreneur David Flanigan built cableworks in 1900 to lower what from Cable Mountain into the canyon?

More than 200,000 board feet had come down the wire by 1906.

Which September 2015 disaster killed a party of seven in Keyhole Canyon?

Afternoon thunderstorms from mid-July to mid-September can turn slot canyons deadly in minutes.

Which three geographic provinces meet at Zion?

The park sits on the Markagunt and Kolob plateaus.

The park's nine rock formations belong to which great regional sequence of cliffs and layers?

Uplift of the Colorado Plateau lifted them more than 10,000 feet starting about 13 million years ago.

Which two campgrounds sit at the far southern end of the park?

Lava Point off the Kolob Terrace Road is the primitive third option.

Which 50-mile backpacking route links the Lee Pass trailhead in the northwest to the East Rim trailhead?

The West Rim and LaVerkin Creek trails are the best-known backcountry legs.

Which environmental technology at the Zion Canyon visitor centre uses passive cooling towers?

A trombe wall traps heat in winter and solar panels feed surplus power to the grid.

Which railroad's subsidiary, the Utah Parks Company, developed early tourism at Zion?

Its ten-day loop tours also took in Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

Which trail, half an hour round trip, is the shortest in Zion Canyon?

Water seeps from the sandstone alcove year-round, feeding hanging gardens.

Roughly how many recorded deaths had the park seen between 2007 and early 2024?

Falls, heat and flash floods account for most of them.

What is the lowest point in Zion National Park, at 3,666 feet?

Measured against Horse Ranch Mountain's summit, the park has a relief of roughly 5,100 feet.

How long is the scenic road up Zion Canyon that ends at the Temple of Sinawava?

Beyond the road's end a trail continues to the mouth of The Narrows, where the walls close to 20 feet apart.

What was the name of Zion Canyon's first visitor lodging, a 1917 tent operation?

The Utah Parks Company bought it in 1923 and sold ten-day rail-and-bus tours taking in Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

The Kolob Canyons section of the park is reached from which interstate highway?

Exit 40 leads to the 5-mile Kolob Canyons Road and the trailheads for Taylor Creek and Kolob Arch.

Under the Köppen system, what climate type does Zion National Park have?

The BSk classification reflects very hot summers, mild winters and little rain year-round.

In which month is precipitation normally heaviest at Zion?

Spring is the park's most unpredictable season, mixing stormy wet days with spells of warm sunshine.

Zion's spring wildflower bloom peaks in which month?

Flowers appear from April through June, while autumn brings clear, mild days and cool nights.

Which rancher improved the Echo Canyon footpath in 1896, creating the future East Rim Trail?

Four years later David Flanigan used the route to build the cableworks that lowered lumber from Cable Mountain.

Zion's third, primitive campground sits at which viewpoint off the Kolob Terrace Road?

The spot also offers a panoramic view over the whole park, and backcountry camping beyond it requires a permit.

Stunted forests on Zion's mid-elevation slopes pair pinyon pine with which other tree?

Manzanita, cliffrose, serviceberry, scrub oak and yucca grow among them between about 3,900 and 5,500 feet.

Roughly how long is the round-trip hike to Kolob Arch?

Nearby Taylor Creek takes about half as long, and both start in the Kolob Canyons section near Cedar City.

The Kolob Canyons section of Zion lies closest to which Utah town?

Mormon settlers of Cedar City and Parowan used the Kolob Canyons for timber and grazing from 1851.