Zion National Park: Zion Ablaze

First designated as Mukuntuweap National Monument under President Taft in 1909, based on a native American name, this area was enlarged and became a National Park in 1919, so designated by the US congress and the name contributed by Mormon usage was changed to “Zion,” derived from the Biblical Hebrew.

The park now incorporates 229 square miles of terrain with over five million visitors annually. 85% of the park is designated “wilderness.”
Over the last couple decades, Zion National Park has become a favorite place for us to visit. With numerous hiking trails, technical canyons to descend, peaks to ascend and both road and mountain biking opportunities, this park fits our interests superbly. Most years, we have planned a later September or early October trip, that would coincide with the end of the summer monsoonal season and see the daytime temperatures begin to moderate some. This can be an ideal time to visit.
But we’ve also gone at other times of the year in order to see and capture Zion in other seasons. For one such trip, we wanted to be able to photograph the “canyon maples” as they changed to their vivid red fall color. Thus, we headed out mid-October to find these maples in the east canyon along the dry Pine Creek. While the deciduous trees in the lower, main canyon had not begun to turn yet, the maples in the higher east canyon were turning. The red leaves provided a beautiful contrast to the blue sky, green pines and creams and terra cotta colors of the rock formations. This was just another of many reasons to be enamored with this amazing national park.
Photo taken Oct. 2010