By ANGELA DRAKE
The hiker stands at the foot of the trail, his head arched back to take in the 2,000-foot cliff of Navajo sandstone bathed in red.
Zion National Park, one of Utah’s five national parks, is a geological wonderland of vertical cliffs, winding canyons, hoodoos, alcoves and even arches. Zion, established as a national park in 1909, covers 229 square miles.
Zion is located in southern Utah, 43 miles from St. George. It is part of the southwest’s “Grand Circle,” surrounded by the world’s most celebrated natural phenomenons. Bryce Canyon National Park is 86 miles northeast of Zion and Grand Canyon National Park’s North Rim is 119 miles southeast of Zion.
Zion offers something for everyone: the inexperienced hiker can enjoy a 10-minute walk, the adventurous can take a two-day backpacking trip and the indecisive can choose from several hikes that are in between.
“Once you go once, you’re addicted,” said Dave Kelley, a BYU student majoring in civil engineering, after his first exposure to the park.
Kelley hiked Angels Landing with a group of BYU students. This five-mile hike is classified as strenuous. Angels Landing is comprised of long drop-offs and narrow trails, ending at a summit 1,500 feet above the Zion Canyon floor. The final one-half mile climbs up a steep narrow ridge, so chains are installed to ensure safety. The hike can be completed within four hours, according to the park’s visitor’s guide.
“It’s never been so easy to get up to a place that has such a great view,” said Jan Finlinson, a BYU student majoring in electrical engineering. The national park trails make the hike easy, he said.
Angels Landing is popular with visitors because it is “fun to walk across with a sheer drop off on each side,” Finlinson said. “It brings out the rock climber in me.”
“I would like to exhaust Zion’s,” Kelley said after completing his first Zion National Park hike. “Anyone that loves the outdoors would love Zion’s.”
“Get into the backcountry,” advises Alison Tolman, a geology major at BYU. “There is so much land you never see from the road or the trails. The high desert ecosystem is right up there with coral reefs in beauty,” she said.
Visitors should explore the backcountry because “some of the most beautiful things are hard to find,” Finlinson said.
The Narrows is one of the most popular off-trail hikes. This 16-mile hike requires at least one day and wading through the Virgin River.
The trail names in Zion — the Narrows, Emerald Pools, Hidden Canyon — foreshadow what the hiker will experience. The park also embodies a reverent atmosphere in other names, from the name of the park, Zion, to mountains known as the Three Patriarchs, the Great White Throne and a rock called the Pulpit.
