Hikers at the Narrows in Zion National Park, Utah
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- August 1982
- Location
- Zion National Park, Utah
- License
- This photograph copyright ©1982. All Rights Reserved
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Learn more
- Search LEARN NC for canyons, Colorado Plateau, falls, geology, gorges, hiking, Mukuntuweap National Monument, National Monument, national parks, plants, sandstone, The Narrows, Utah, Virgin River, waterfall, William Howard Taft, Zion Canyon, and Zion National Park.
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Hikers in the canyon at the Narrows in Zion National Park, Utah. Walls of striated sandstone rise on either side of the river. The Virgin River, over thousands of years, carved a spectacular gorge into the rock of the canyon, creating 16 miles of steep rock walls that are sometimes 2,000 feet deep and only 20 or 30 feet apart. It is one of the most popular hikes in Zion National Park, but is a difficult one. There is no maintained trail, so sixty percent of the hike is wading through the Virgin River itself. The rest is along the riverbank.
The area was protected as Mukuntuweap National Monument by President William Howard Taft in 1909 and was later renamed Zion National Park. Zion is located on the Colorado Plateau, but borders the Basin and Range Province. Elevations in the park range from 3,600 to 8,700 feet, allowing for a wide range of animal and plant life, all of which are adapted to the area’s arid conditions. Elevation differences and geologic processes such as tectonic uplift, erosion, and sedimentation have created environments ranging from high plateaus and riparian environments to deserts and deep sandstone canyons. The park is located in Washington, Iron and Kane Counties in southwestern Utah.
