Tips On Enjoying Zion National Park

Above, the Watchman. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is often said that Zion National Park is like Yosemite, but in color. And colorful it is!

Since vacation season is not too far off in the distant future, you may want to consider visiting Zion National Park in Southern Utah. I have been to Zion several times, the first being in 1969 (we camped at The Watchman Campground) and the last was two years ago.

Above, Checkerboard Mesa. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

USA Today has an article with ten tips on enjoying the park.

They begin with:

In Southern Utah, Zion National Park and its 229 square miles of towering cliff walls, narrow canyons and absolutely stunning scenery lie about 300 miles from Salt Lake City and 160 miles from Las Vegas. Once Mukuntuweap National Monument, established in 1909, the area’s name was changed and Zion National Park was established in 1919; the Zion National Monument of the Kolob Canyons area was proclaimed in 1937 and added to the park’s boundaries in 1956. A man-made feature that draws attention is the 1.1-mile-long Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, which was carved through a sandstone cliff as part of the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway project constructed between 1927 and 1930 to ease travel between Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon national parks, a route known as the “Grand Circle Tour.” When Zion National Park was still Mukuntuweap National Monument, 1,000 people visited in 1915; over the past 10 years, visitation has grown by more than 1 million and in 2015, 3.66 million people visited the park.

Above, can you spot Darth Vader's helmet on the rock wall? Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here.

For the National Park Service website for Zion National Park, go here.

Above, the East Entrance to the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel. Photo by Armand Vaquer.