Mukuntuweap

Currently In: Bryce Canyon, Utah
Next Up: stopover in Thompson, Utah on our way to Moab

Our RV Park outside of Zion National Park had no wifi, so I am catching up on my blogposts now although we were actually in Zion last week.

We knew it was going to be a special place when we saw this on the drive over .  I took these photos through the windshield of our RV.

We drove right through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

We're almost there!

This is the view from the front of our RV at the campground in Glendale, Utah.

Mukuntuweap is the name the  Native American Paiute tribe gave Zion National Park.  In 1917 the National Park Service changed the name to Zion, a name given to the area by the Mormons.  Zion is the third most visited National Park after the Grand Canyon and Smokey Mountain National Parks.

This National Park has the most spectacular entrance of any that we have been to yet.  On our first drive through, we just admired the landscape.  But I took some photos on our other trips in and out.
Immediately we were treated to Checkerboard Mesa after passing through the East Entrance.

Near Checkerboard is this formation.  Not sure it has a name but it's so unusual.

As we continued to drive, there were awesome views on both sides. How do the trees grow in rocks???

We got to the first tunnel.

And then through the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel built by the CCC in 1930.

We saw the Grand Arch from the road. Stunning.

When we got to the Visitor Center we learned that pressure on layers of mud, lime, sediment and ash created the layered sandstone.  Then the Colorado Plateau rose to 10,000 feet above sea level.  Rain did its thing working into the holes and crevices in the rock and eroding it to create Zion Canyon.  This process continues today!  At the Grand Canyon, you view the Canyon from above.  But at Zion we drove and hiked along the Canyon floor.
This was our lunch spot at the museum right near the Visitor Center.

 Our lunch view was the Tower of the Virgins.

This other formation was nearby - again not sure if it even has a name.

The Visitor Center was really busy the first day we were at the Park, so we decided to take a drive to Lava Point.

Here is some of what we saw on the way over.

This one is called North Guardian Angel.

We even saw some fall colors!

Once we got to the top, we saw a view of Zion Canyon from above.

It was so beautiful at this Park, I took too many photos.  Here is one of my favorites because of the layered rock on the right and the Canyon on the left.