The Temple of Sinawava is a hallmark of Zion National Park, with its paved trail following the Virgin River upstream through ever-narrowing canyons of sandstone to the Zion Narrows. The trail alone is lined with wildflowers during the spring and summer. As the temple comes into view, framed by hanging gardens of flowers and waterfalls., seemingly never-ending like some of the world's tallest skyscrapers. Picturesque waterfalls tumble gently into a deep pool below and extensive hanging gardens of lush green foliage and brightly colored flowers hang from varied levels and crevices.
The Watchman is perhaps the most iconic peak in Zion National Park. During sunset, the sandstone face of the Watchman glows red-orange when the sun hits it. Zion National Park is an American national park located in Southwestern Utah near the city of Springdale. A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile park is Zion Canyon, which stretches 15 miles long and spans up to half a mile deep. It cuts through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety of life zones that allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. Numerous plant species as well as 289 species of birds, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bat), and 32 reptiles inhabit the park's four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches.
Capitol Reef National Park is an American national park located in south-central Utah. The park was established in 1971 to preserve 241,904 acres of desert landscape and is open all year. Capitol Reef National Park was initially designated a national monument on August 2, 1937, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in order to protect the area's colorful canyons, ridges, buttes, and monoliths; however, it was not until 1950 that the area officially opened to the public. The park was named for whitish Navajo Sandstone cliffs with dome formations (similar to the white domes often placed on capitol buildings) that run from the Fremont River to Pleasant Creek on the Waterpocket Fold. The local word reef refers to any rocky barrier to land travel, just as ocean reefs are barriers to sea travel.
