(12) Zion NP, Utah

From Las Vegas we traveled to Zion NP through Hurricane and Rockville - beautifully situated picturesque little towns, in which even the roads are red.
The most characteristic shape in Zion, which is practically a desert, is "mesa" - a Spanish word used for steep cliffs with a flat top like a table. Mesa is the most typical landform in the whole of the US Southwest.
Zion became a National Park in 1919, which means that it is the oldest park in Utah. The Park covers the area of about 600 km2. The picture below was taken in the town of Springdale, which is the south-western gateway to Zion:

Water plays the most important role in the creation of Zion's landscape, the major river being the Virgin, which has created steep cliffs and a canyon. It is along the River's North Fork that we took a scenic drive.

Apart from the shapes, the range of the red colors was for me the most spectacular feature of Zion's cliffs. I'm quoting from my diary: "a divine palette of reds";)

Situated in the western part of the Colorado Plateau, Zion NP is built of reddish Navajo Sandstone, which, being very soft, yields to the water flowing down the cliffs like clay to a sculptor's hands:

In Hebrew "Zion" means a "sanctuary" or a "place of refuge". The person who named the area Zion was a Mormon leader who found refuge from persecution in this place in 1863. He echoed the Bible as follows: "The Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord." I find this a very accurate description;) (S)

A glimpse at a marvelous hill whose shape invites you to take a short walk (I did;) (S):

We are out of the 2-km-long Zion Mount Carmel Tunnel, where I could not take pictures for obvious reasons;) (S):

The view on the left is very typical of the Colorado Plateau and promises even more spectacular vistas - to come next in Glen Canyon and Antelope Canyon, Arizona.