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About this city
Also known as: America's Sanctuary of Red Rock Chasms
Sprawling across a monumental, ancient geological canyon chasm along the sweeping red-rock plateaus of southwestern Utah, Zion National Park is a UNESCO-caliber natural wonderland and one of the most visited national parklands on earth. Formed geologically over hundreds of millions of years by the relentless carving rapids of the Virgin River, which sliced deep into the massive Navajo sandstone to leave a network of thousand-foot-deep vertical cream and pink chasms, the park owes its poetic name to a Mormon pioneer word translated as a sanctuary of peace. This pristine red-desert wilderness supports a rich biodiversity, home to golden eagles, rare desert bighorn sheep, and hanging emerald fern gardens fed by weeping walls. Today, the park operates under strict federal conservation rules, seamlessly pairing its high-capacity electric shuttle mass transit loops with some of the most celebrated, adrenaline-fueled backcountry hiking singletracks in the federal system.
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Practical Tourism Metadata
Suggested stay: 2–4 days
Scramble up the vertigo-inducing, narrow rock ridges and hold the iron chains to the towering summit of Angels Landing. Paddle a water hike through the dark, rushing river canyon slot chasm known as The Narrows. Photograph the dramatic sunset turn the massive sandstone fortress of the Watchman blood-red from the canyon bridge.
