33 Fun Facts About Zion National Park

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

Utah. Zion sits in the state's southwest, and the Mormon pioneers who farmed its canyon floor in the 1860s gave it the biblical name Zion.

Which small town sits right outside Zion National Park's south entrance?

Springdale. Mormon settlers founded it as a farming community in the 1860s, but today tourism from the park is what sustains it.

The North Fork of which watercourse carved Zion Canyon?

Virgin River. As the land was pushed upward, the river's North Fork tumbled down a steep gradient and cut through the rock layers, carving the canyon.

Zion Canyon's reddish and tan walls are made of which rock formation?

Navajo Sandstone. It formed from Jurassic sand dunes; iron oxides stain its lower cliffs red, while its upper cliffs are bleached pale, nearly white.

Which president first protected Zion Canyon, as Mukuntuweap National Monument?

William Howard Taft. In 1909 he acted after Frederick Dellenbaugh's paintings of the canyon and his Scribner's Magazine article stirred calls for its protection.

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

John Wesley Powell. He came while leading his second Colorado River expedition, and his party travelled down neighbouring Parunuweap Canyon.

Why was Mukuntuweap National Monument renamed 'Zion' in 1918?

Locals disliked the old name, and the Mormon community already called the canyon Zion, so officials adopted that name instead.

Each year from March 1, Zion closes some climbing routes to protect which nesting bird?

Peregrine falcon. Pesticides such as DDT made it endangered, but after they were restricted it recovered and was taken off the US endangered list in 1999.

Which two Franciscan friars passed near Zion's Kolob Canyons in 1776?

Dominguez and Escalante were looking for an overland route from Santa Fe to Monterey, California, but gave up and turned back to New Mexico.

Which famous Zion hike ends on a knife-edge ridge where hikers hold chains above sheer drop-offs?

Angels Landing. After years of crowding, the park began requiring permits beyond Scout Lookout in 2022.

Which owl, listed as federally threatened in 1993, nests in Zion's deep side canyons?

Mexican spotted owl. Zion's deep slot canyons let in little sunlight and stay cool, and the owl pairs nest in cavities in their cliffs.

Which famous Zion hike means wading upstream into a deep gorge from the end of the scenic drive?

The Narrows. Because the route follows the river itself, spring snowmelt that swells the river can close it to hikers.

Which famous slot canyon lies off Zion National Park's Kolob Terrace Road?

The Subway. Going top-down takes advanced canyoneering skills, so the easier way in is hiking upstream from below.

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

A 1.1-mile tunnel. Bicycles are barred from it, so cyclists must catch a ride with a vehicle to get through.

Which famous formation stands beside the highway near Zion National Park's east entrance?

Checkerboard Mesa. Horizontal lines of ancient dune cross-bedding meet vertical cracks, giving the rock its grid.

Which spot marks the end of the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive?

Temple of Sinawava. From here the canyon widens, as soft shale beneath the cliffs wears away and the undercut walls collapse.

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

On free shuttle buses. The park began running them in 2000 and bars private cars from the scenic drive during shuttle season, to ease traffic and parking problems.

Which architect designed the rustic Zion Lodge for a railroad's tourism company?

Gilbert Stanley Underwood. After a 1966 fire a prefabricated replacement went up quickly but lacked his rustic style, until later remodels made it more rustic again.

In April 1995, what stranded about 450 people at Zion Lodge?

A landslide. Earlier slides had dammed the river into lakes that left the canyon floor flat, and in 1995 the blocked river washed out the only road.

Which Western filmed in Zion National Park and at nearby Grafton ghost town?

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Robert Redford later named the ski resort he had bought near Provo 'Sundance', after his role in it.

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

Fallout: New Vegas. Its 2011 'Honest Hearts' expansion sends players into a post-apocalyptic Zion, where peaceful tribes are fighting off invading White Legs raiders.

Which large mammal, once gone from the area, was reintroduced to Zion National Park?

Desert bighorn sheep. Hunting, habitat loss and diseases from domestic livestock had wiped them out in the area before they were brought back.

In 2014 Zion National Park confirmed the first successful breeding within its borders of which giant bird?

California condor. After the last wild condors were captured in the 1980s, captive-bred birds were released in Arizona, and a pair from there nested in Zion and hatched a chick.

Which ancient culture lived in the Zion area before the Southern Paiute moved in?

Ancestral Puebloans. Rather than vanishing, they migrated away and merged into later peoples, and today's Hopi and Zuni are among their descendants.

Which large predator roams Zion, preying mainly on mule deer?

Mountain lion. With fewer cougars in Zion Canyon, over-abundant deer browsing is one reason few young cottonwoods now take hold.

Entrepreneur David Flanigan built cableworks to lower what from Cable Mountain into Zion Canyon?

Lumber. Settlers needed it for building, and before the cable, getting it could mean a trip of a week or more.

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

A flash flood. Moisture partly from Hurricane Linda fed the storms, which also killed at least 12 people in nearby Hildale.

Which three geographic provinces meet at Zion?

Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert. Zion sits at their junction, which helps explain its unusually varied plants and animals.

Zion's cliffs form the middle of which famous sequence of rock layers between northern Arizona and Bryce Canyon?

The Grand Staircase. Uplift raised the region's rock layers, and erosion shaped their edges into a series of giant cliff steps.

Which railroad set up the company that developed early tourism at Zion?

Union Pacific. The company it formed in 1923 built rustic lodges such as Zion Lodge to give its rail travellers a destination.

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

I-15 (Interstate 15) exit 40 leads straight to the Kolob Canyons visitor centre and the 5-mile scenic road that ends at a viewpoint over the Finger Canyons.

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

Juniper. Pinyon pine seeds are wingless, and pinyon jays are among the birds that spread them through these woodlands.

Zion's Kolob Canyons Visitor Center sits just south of which town?

Cedar City. A railroad line reached the town in 1923, making it a gateway for travelers heading to Zion and Bryce Canyon.