From the Grand Canyon we came to Zion national park in south-west Utah via Desert View, Cameron, Gray Mountain, and Page on the shore of Lake Powell. On the way we stopped for an enjoyable few hours at Tuba City where there was a large Navajo Indian Nation fair this weekend. The food was great and the people friendly. Further along the road not far from Kanab we stopped briefly at the ghost town of Pareah to see the old Paria movie set. This region was used to film several westerns including a few episodes of Gunsmoke. Paria is set within an intensely multi-coloured sandstone canyon, well worth seeing. http://www.kanabguide.com/articleDetails.cfm?recordID=16
Zion national park http://www.nps.gov/zion/ is a very beautiful place with a spectacular canyon cut by the Virgin River the main focus of tourist interest. The area was first settled thousands of years ago by indigenous Americans and the first European settlers were Mormons who came in the 1800s. Most of the peaks and other sights, and the park itself, bear religious names given by the Mormon settlers.
Maple, box elder, pine and cottonwood trees grow in the park, and amongst these live mule deer, bighorn sheep, wild turkeys and the occasional cougar. We saw deer but not the others.
We visited the sights of Zion, and went on several hikes including to the Emerald Pools, the Three Patriarchs and to the peak of Angel’s Landing. The latter hike contains sections only a few feet across with cliffs on both sides and a chain along the top to assist the hikers to stay on the path and to haul themselves up the rock. An exciting and satisfying afternoon.
We spent three nights in Zion and left with the opinion that it tops Yosemite, the park that is touted by some as the best in the USA.
Zion national park http://www.nps.gov/zion/ is a very beautiful place with a spectacular canyon cut by the Virgin River the main focus of tourist interest. The area was first settled thousands of years ago by indigenous Americans and the first European settlers were Mormons who came in the 1800s. Most of the peaks and other sights, and the park itself, bear religious names given by the Mormon settlers.
Maple, box elder, pine and cottonwood trees grow in the park, and amongst these live mule deer, bighorn sheep, wild turkeys and the occasional cougar. We saw deer but not the others.
We visited the sights of Zion, and went on several hikes including to the Emerald Pools, the Three Patriarchs and to the peak of Angel’s Landing. The latter hike contains sections only a few feet across with cliffs on both sides and a chain along the top to assist the hikers to stay on the path and to haul themselves up the rock. An exciting and satisfying afternoon.
We spent three nights in Zion and left with the opinion that it tops Yosemite, the park that is touted by some as the best in the USA.
