Sunday, September 18, and we pulled into the Zion River RV Park, located along the Virgin River in the town of Virgin, Utah, located in Southwestern Utah. Our goal is to visit Zion National Park for the next three days.
Zion is the oldest and most visited national park in Utah. Zion was established as Mukuntuweap National Monument on July 31, 1909. Mukuntuweap means "Straight Canyon" in Southern Piaute. Zion National Park became the official title in 1919.
"Zion" is an ancient Hebrew word, originally used to describe a dry rocky holy sanctuary in ancient Israel. How fitting it is that today this same word should be associated with the magnificent towering cathedrals and temples of brightly colored stone called Zion National Park.
The canyons of Zion are all masterpieces sculpted from raw rock by the Virgin River. The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the states of Utah, Nevada and Arizona. the river is relatively small, only about 162 miles long. It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the centennial c
celebration of Zion National Park. The Virgin River drops an average of 71 feet each mile of the river.
Private vehicles are not allowed
to drive into Zion Canyon during the tourist season. A convenient shuttle bus loops through the canyon, stopping at all popular attractions.Everywhere we turned there were awesome views of canyon walls and colorful rock layers! Zion is a showcase of high plateaus, a maze of narrow, deep sandstone canyons and striking rock towers and mesas.
More on where we explored below.
Can
dy and Johnny
