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    Zion National Park, an Interpretive Road Guide
    Zion National Park, an Interpretive Road Guide
    Zion National Park, an Interpretive Road Guide
    Ebook85 pages34 minutes

    Zion National Park, an Interpretive Road Guide

    By David Gafney

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    About this ebook

    Towering vertical walls of colorful sedimentary rock surround you relaying simultaneously contradictory feelings of intimacy and overwhelming grandeur. This eBook (illustrated with 40 wilderness images and written by a former Zion interpretive ranger) allows you to experience a vicarious journey through one of America's truly great national parks.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDavid Gafney
    Release dateJan 12, 2011
    ISBN9781458037183
    Zion National Park, an Interpretive Road Guide
    Author

    David Gafney

    David Gafney is a photographer and an attorney who resides in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts and who has spent many years working in the fields of conservation and natural history interpretation. For more than fifteen years he served as a ranger and naturalist with the National Park Service where he presented interpretive programs in such treasured and diverse locations as Yellowstone, Zion, Isle Royale, Great Smoky Mountains, Death Valley and Everglades National Parks. He has served as a wilderness ranger with the U.S. Forest Service in Colorado and Wyoming and has hiked more than half of the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails. Dave holds a law degree from Northeastern University, a master's degree in forest ecology from Utah State University and a B.S. degree in environmental conservation from the University of Massachusetts. His wilderness images have been published in books, magazines and exhibited in galleries. For information

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      Book preview

      Zion National Park, an Interpretive Road Guide - David Gafney

      Introduction

      Towering vertical walls of colorful sedimentary rock surround you, relaying simultaneously a contradictory feeling of intimacy and overwhelming grandeur. Zion is one of the true gems of the national park system. This fact has not been appreciated by many people through most of the park’s history. The cat is out of the bag, however, and Zion can no longer be described as a well kept secret. The park’s monumental scale and indescribable beauty now draws more than 2.5 million people a year, which represents a doubling of the visitation in little more than a decade.

      To minimize the impact of so many people, the National Park Service now restricts automobile access to the main part of Zion Canyon during the busy months of the year and has instituted a shuttle bus service which can be accessed from the Visitor Center located near the park’s South Entrance as well as at other points along the Canyon Scenic Drive. W h e t h e r viewing the park via shuttle, car, or on foot, a greater appreciation of its splendor may be achieved through a deeper understanding of the natural forces that have created and continue to shape Zion.

      Using this Booklet

      This booklet will serve as your interpretive guide to the two main scenic drives within Zion National Park. Pages 4 through 32 cover the Canyon Scenic Drive which, for seven miles, follows the Virgin River along the floor of Zion Canyon, ending at the Temple of Sinawava. Here the canyon narrows to such a degree as to allow no further room for the road. The highlighted numbers show mileage for those starting at the Visitor Center and traveling toward the Temple of Sinawava.

      If you are driving the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway turn to page 33. The highlighted numbers on the left represent miles from Canyon Junction, where the road starts on the floor of Zion Canyon, while the numbers on the right measure miles for those traveling from the park’s East Entrance. If traveling from the East Entrance turn to page 47 and work your way to page 33. Let’s begin our tour of one of America’s great national parks.

      Temple and Towers viewed from Cougar Mountain in Zion’s backcountry

      The Temples and Towers of the Virgin

      [ 1.0 ] [Shuttle Stop 1]

      During the nineteenth century, Clarence Dutton, a member of the John Wesley Powell Expedition, was struck with awe upon his approach to Zion canyon: in an instant there flashed before us a scene never to be forgotten. He would write that there is an eloquence to these forms which stirs the imagination with a singular power and kindles in the mind … a glowing response. Dutton poetically name the great rock mass rising up along the west side of the lower canyon the Temples and Towers of the Virgin.

      Millions of visitors have since been swept away by the wild beauty of these rock monoliths that include the West Temple, rising almost 4000 feet above the canyon floor; and the blood stained Altar of Sacrifice. A good place to view these great rock structures is from the patio behind Zion Museum. From here it is possible to begin to comprehend something of the timeless

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