National Park Utah Zion

Zion National Park - Utah's oldest national park, designated in 1919, Zion's soaring towers and monoliths offer a quiet grandeur. ...

Zion Canyon Giant Screen Theatre - A 70 mm film format theatre featuring the film Zion Canyon Treasure of the Gods portraying different eras of exploration in the Zion Canyon area. ... [Read More]

Geology of Zion National Park
Zion National Park is a showcase of geology. Geologic processes have played an important role in shaping Zion. The arid climate and sparse vegetation allow the exposure of large expanses of bare rock and reveal the park's geologic history. ...

The roads of Zion introduce you to the park's spectacular cliff-and-canyon landscape. You can drive, bicycle, or take a guided tram tour, depending on your time and interest. Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway , and the Kolob Canyons Road are open year-round. The Knob Terrace Road is usually closed by snow from late November to May. ... [Read More]

Zion National Park (National Park Service)
Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning a place of refuge or sanctuary. Protected within the park's 229 square miles is a dramatic landscape of sculptured canyons and soaring cliffs. Zion is located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert provinces. This unique geography and the variety of life zones within the park make Zion significant as a place of unusual plant and animal diversity. ...

Fire Restrictions are now in effect for Zion National Park ... [Read More]

Zion National Park News Release
and will be enforced until rescinded by the Superintendent. Park officials feel that the risk to public safety and structures within Zion National Park from a human-caused fire is great enough that these restrictions are necessary. Above normal spring rains have led to an abundant crop of grasses that are now drying out and creating a fire danger. The park has already experienced three human-caused fires this spring. These same restrictions will also be implemented in all of Washington County, Utah and the Arizona Strip concurrently. ... [Read More]

Utah History To Go - The Development of Zion National Park
Congress passed Senator Smoot's bill establishing Zion National Park; President Woodrow Wilson signed it on November 20, 1919. The annual Conference of National Park Superintendents, held that November in Denver and at Rocky Mountain National Park, was concluding as news arrived of the approval of Zion as a national park.The dedication of Zion as a national park on September 15, 1920, coincided with the conclusion of the National Governor's Conference held in Salt Lake City. It was hoped that state governors would attend the dedication, be favorably impressed, and share their positive impressions with people in their home states. Several governors did attend.In his enthusiasm for the park, NPS director Stephen Mather returned to Zion regularly; in fact, between 1919 and 1929 he made at least one trip annually. As part of his 1921 visit, he brought Emerson Hough, a Saturday Evening Post writer, and Edmund Heller, a famed naturalist, in the hope that they would share his enthusiasm and h ... [Read More]

Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Utah Issued by the National Weather Service
Heat Advisory Utahs Dixie, Zion National Park (Utah) URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGENATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT1230 PM MDT MON JUL 18 2005UTZ019-190400-UTAH'S DIXIE AND ZION NATIONAL PARK-1230 PM MDT MON JUL 18 2005...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM MDT WEDNESDAY...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A HEATADVISORY FOR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY TODAY THROUGHWEDNESDAY.HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF WASHINGTONCOUNTY...INCLUDING ST GEORGE...WILL BE NEAR 115 DEGREES TODAY.TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN IN THE 80S AND 90S MOST OF THE NIGHTTONIGHT FOLLOWED BY HIGHS IN THE 110 TO 115 DEGREE RANGE TUESDAY ANDWEDNESDAY.DRINK PLENTY OF WATER OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. WEAR LIGHTWEIGHTAND LIGHT-COLORED CLOTHING. MINIMIZE SUN EXPOSURE AND SCHEDULEACTIVITIES FOR THE COOLER HOURS OF THE DAY. EXPOSURE TO EXTREMEHEAT CAN CAUSE HEAT EXHAUSTION OR EVEN HEAT STROKE.$$ ... [Read More]

NREL: High Performance Buildings Research - Building Projects: Zion Visitor and Transportation Center
The Zion National Park Visitor Center and Comfort Station is one of the National Park Service's (NPS) most efficient complexes. Features included in the design of the 7,600-ft 2 (706-m 2 ) Visitor Center and 1,100-ft 2 (102-m 2 ) Comfort Station are daylighting, Trombe walls for passive solar heating, downdraft cooltowers for natural ventilation cooling, energy-efficient lighting, and advanced building controls. A roof-mounted photovolatic (PV) system provides electrical power. The PV system reduces the amount of power purchased from the utility and it supplies backup power when grid power is not available. Transportation inside the park was part of the redesign process. Clean-running propane buses were designed to shuttle visitors to nine stops in Zion Canyon and six stops in the nearby town of Springdale, dramatically reducing the number of vehicles inside the park and improving the visitor's experience. ... [Read More]

NPS: Nature & Science» Geology Resources Division
Zion National Park is a showcase of geology. Geologic processes have played an important role in shaping Zion. The arid climate and sparse vegetation allow the exposure of large expanses of bare rock and reveal the park's geologic history. ...

General information about the park's education and intrepretive programs is available on the park's education webpage . For resources and information on teaching geology using National Parkexamples, see the Students & Teachers pages. ... [Read More]

Park Profile
Established as Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909; name changed to Zion National Monument in 1918; expanded and established as a National Park in 1919; Kolob Canyons section established as a National Monument in 1937 and added to Zion National Park in 1956. ...

Located in Washington , Iron and Kane Counties in Southwestern Utah , Zion National Park encompasses some of the most scenic canyon country in the United States . The park is characterized by high plateaus, a maze of narrow, deep, sandstone canyons and striking rock towers and mesas. Zion Canyon is the largest and most visited canyon in the park. The North Fork of the Virgin River has carved a spectacular gorge here, with canyon walls in most places rising 2000-3000 feet above the canyon floor. The southern part of the park is a lower desert area, with colorful mesas bordered by rocky canyons and washes. The northern sections of the park are higher plateaus covered by forests. ... [Read More]

Bryce Canyon National Park: Cultural History
Later in 1924, designation as a national park put Bryce Canyon on the map. But it was the Union Pacific Railroad and the Civilian Conservation Corps that made Bryce accessible to modern day travelers. Such improvements quickly made Bryce Canyon first a national attraction, and later an international "must see." Today 1.5 million people come each year to see this little park with enormous appeal. ...

A recent archaeological survey of Bryce Canyon National Park and the Paunsaugunt Plateau shows that people have been marveling at Bryce's hoodoos for at least 10,000 years. It is suspected that throughout history, just as today, most people were just passing through. Bryce Canyon winters are so harsh that even modern year-round habitation is difficult. Yet Paleoindians hunted huge mammals here at the end of the Ice Age. Pueblo peoples hunted game in the forests and meadows of the plateau. Paiutes frequented the plateau to harvest pine nuts and conduct broad scale rabbit hunts called rabbit drives. Mormon pioneers diverted water from the plateau top into the valley below by digging a 10-mile (16 km) long irrigation ditch through the forests and rocky cliffs of what would later become the park. Their efforts made the dry valleys below the cliffs of Bryce suitable for agriculture, and gave them reason to name the town of Tropic, Utah. ... [Read More]