The term may relate to the very high, near-perpendicular canyon walls. In the decades following the Powell expeditions, the beauty and geologic wonders of the canyon and monoliths like Cathedral Mountain, Temple of Sinawava, Great White Throne, and the Great Temple situated near the canyon entrance were brought to public attention by artists and photographers.
Artist Frederick S. Dellenbaugh played an especially important role. Dellenbaugh spent part of the summer of painting in Zion Canyon, and his paintings attracted a good deal of attention when they were exhibited the next year at the St. Louis World's Fair. Speaking of the Great Temple, he said: One hardly knows just how to think of it.
Never before has such a naked mountain of rock entered our minds. Without a shred of disguise its transcendent form rises pre-eminent [sic]. There is almost nothing to compare to it. Niagara has the beauty of energy; the Grand Canyon of immensity; the Yellowstone of singularity; the Yosemite of altitude; the ocean of power; this Great Temple of eternity.
Local residents were shocked and angry. Zion Canyon had been brought within the embrace of the National Park System, but it had been preserved under the historical Indian name for the place. Mormons in general, and residents of the Zion Canyon area in particular, complained loudly and bitterly.
In , the acting Director of the newly created National Park Service, Horace Albright , took matters into his own hands and changed the park's name to Zion National Monument. That settled that. Albright was in a position to take this action because the iconic Director of the new agency, Stephen Tyner Mather , was suffering one of his periodic disabling bouts of depression.
Mather eventually left office in January after suffering a stroke. Albright replaced him, serving as Director from January 12, - August 9, Mormon pioneers arriving in the area in the s were so overwhelmed by the natural beauty of Zion Canyon and its surroundings that they named it after the Old Testament name for the city of Jeruselem.
But why take the well-trodden trail? Here are a few tips for how to experience the peace of the park during the crowded high season. Zion Canyon is epic, but the park is full of off-the-beaten path adventures and hidden gems, perfect for seeking out during the crowded summer high season. So pull over, wander off , and let chance be your guide. Kolob Canyons may be smaller than Zion Canyon, some 40 miles to the south, but this wilderness delivers countless adventures in the form of empty hiking trails and 2,foot cliff walls with hardly anyone to hear their own echoes.
While the park's waterfalls generally attract crowds on hot summer days Pine Creek waterfall remains under the radar; this small, but swimmable feature is an easy mile round-trip hike from an unmarked trailhead near the park's south entrance.
But beware: the pleasant, creek-side hike can become suddenly dangerous if a flash flood strikes. The park revolves around Zion Canyon —15 miles long and almost 3, feet deep in places. It also includes much of the surrounding terrain, landscapes that range from desert to the high-altitude forests sprawling across the plateaus above the canyon.
The main drag Highway 9 is flanked by heaps of hotels, restaurants, art galleries, and shops, as well as outfitters that arrange adventure activities in and around the park. Choose between rock climbing and rappelling, helicopter and 4x4 tours, guided hikes along the Narrows, and tubing on the Virgin River downstream from the park.
Pedestrian and vehicle bridges connect Springdale with the national park Visitor Center on the other side of the Virgin. In addition to exhibits and information, the visitor center is the southern terminus of the Zion National Park Shuttle, which is the only way to reach the heart of the canyon between spring and fall when visitation peaks.
The first stop on the shuttle route is the Zion Human History Museum , which details the heritage of Native Americans and Mormon pioneers in the region. Entering the canyon, the shuttle makes seven stops, including viewpoints of celebrated stone formations such as Court of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Weeping Rock, as well as historic Zion Lodge, a classic national park lodging designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood and opened in The road and shuttle route ends with a dramatic flourish inside the Temple of Sinawava, a colossal natural amphitheater.
A riverside path continues to the Narrows, where the thousand-foot-high canyon walls are sometimes just 20 to 30 feet apart. Anyone is free to hike the Narrows as far as upstream Big Springs beyond that you need a backcountry permit. But be prepared to get wet: much of the trail is through waist-high water. Zion Canyon is laced with other popular trails, from easy hikes including Emerald Pools 2. Zion National Park is located along the edge of a region known as the Colorado Plateau.
The rock layers have been uplifted, tilted, and eroded, forming a feature called the Grand Staircase, a series of colorful cliffs stretching between Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon. The bottom layer of rock at Bryce Canyon is the top layer at Zion, and the bottom layer at Zion is the top layer at the Grand Canyon. The Utah Geologic Survey produced this free interactive geologic map of the state. Zoom in to identify rock types and ages, as well as volcanic eruptions. Sedimentation Zion was a relatively flat basin near sea level million years ago.
As sands, gravels, and muds eroded from surrounding mountains, streams carried these materials into the basin and deposited them in layers. The sheer weight of these accumulated layers caused the basin to sink, so that the top surface always remained near sea level.
As the land rose and fell and as the climate changed, the depositional environment fluctuated from shallow seas to coastal plains to a desert of massive windblown sand. This process of sedimentation continued until over 10, feet of material accumulated.
Learn more about the ancient environments of Zion's sedimentary layers. Lithification Mineral-laden waters slowly filtered through the compacted sediments. Iron oxide, calcium carbonate, and silica acted as cementing agents, and with pressure from overlying layers over long periods of time, transformed the deposits into stone.
Ancient seabeds became limestone; mud and clay became mudstones and shale; and desert sand became sandstone. Each layer originated from a distinct source and so differs in thickness, mineral content, color, and eroded appearance. Learn more about Zion's sedimentary rock layers. Uplift In an area from Zion to the Rocky Mountains, forces deep within the earth started to push the surface up.
This was not chaotic uplift, but very slow vertical hoisting of huge blocks of the crust. Uplift is still occurring.
0コメント