ZION NATIONAL PARK

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HISTORY

• Almost 12,000 years ago Zion's first peoples, who are now almost invisible, tracked mammoth, giant sloth, and camel across southern Utah. Due to climate change and overhunting these animals died out about 8,000 years ago.

SIZE & ELEVATION

• Zion National Park is located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile (590 km2) park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles (24 km) long and up to half a mile (800 m) deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River. The lowest elevation is 3,666 ft (1,117 m) at Coalpits Wash and the highest elevation is 8,726 ft (2,660 m) at Horse Ranch Mountain.

MAIN ATTRACTIONS

• The main attractions are the unique landscaping around the park. Such as Angel's Landing, The Narrows, and Zion's main canyon. Some activities include sight seeing, the canyon scenic drive, the Zion shuttle, and even the Canyon trail rides.

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ANIMALS FOUND HERE

• Some animals include bears, bighorn sheep, coyotes, and fox. Utah has three species of native cats, the mountain lion, the lynx, and the bobcat, a cousin to the lynx. Lizards and snakes flourish in Zion Canyon. Frogs, toads, a variety of fish and salamanders also call Zion home. At least 291 bird species call Zion home. Birds operate pretty independently of humans, but sometimes the two conflict. Both falcons and climbers love Zion’s commanding cliffs.

CHANNEL CATFISH

BIGHORN SHEEP

SALAMNDER

LYNX

ZIONS NATURE AND TERRAIN

• With elevations ranging from 3,600 to 8,700 feet, Zion National Park has a diversity of plant communities, supporting more than 900 species of plants. Changing elevations, temperature ranges, and varying amounts of sun and water, as well as species from the Colorado Plateau, Basin and Range, and Mojave Desert, all create a mosaic of habitats within the park.

PLANTS AND TREES

• Ponderosa Pine
• Fourwing Saltbush
• Rabbitbrush
• Singleleaf Pinyon
• Boxelder
• Quaking Aspen
• Western Columbine
• Golden Columbine
• Scarlet Lobelia

RABBIT BRUSH

• Rubber rabbitbrush is also known as gray rabbitbrush, or chamisa. This perennial shrub is a member of the Aster family (Asteraceae) along with sagebrush, with which it is often found. Rubber rabbitbrush is highly variable, with several different subspecies located throughout the western United States. It is typically distinguished by having whitish to green flexible stems, felt-like matted hairs, and narrow, thread-like grayish-green alternate leaves

QUAKING ASPEN

• Quaking aspens, also called trembling aspens, are named for their leaves. Flat leaves attach to branches with lengthy stalks called petioles, which quake or tremble in light breezes. Quaking aspens often grow in dense, pure stands, creating a stunning golden vista when their leaves change color in the fall. The white bark is one identifying characteristic of this tree, but the bark is special for more reasons than just its unique appearance. The bark layer of quaking aspens carries out photosynthesis, a task usually reserved for tree leaves.

SCARLET LOBELIA

• It is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows up to 1.2 m (4 ft) tall and is found in wet places, streambanks, and swamps. The leaves are up to 20 cm (8 in) long and 5 cm (2 in) broad, lanceolate to oval, with a toothed margin. The flowers are usually vibrant red, deeply five-lobed, up to 4 cm across; they are produced in an erect raceme up to 70 cm (28 in) tall during the summer to fall. Forms with white and pink flowers are also known.[2]

BOXELDER TREE

• The Acer negundo (scientific name) is a small, fast-growing and short-lived tree that grows up to 10–25 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of 30–50 centimeters, rarely up to 1 meter diameter. It often has many trunks and can form impenetrable thickets. The shoots are green, often with a whitish to pink or violet waxy coating when young. Branches are smooth, brittle, and tend to retain a fresh green color rather than forming a bark of dead, protective tissue. The bark on its trunks is pale gray or light brown, deeply cleft into broad ridges, and scaly.

SINGLELEAF PINYON

• The cones open to 6-centimeter - 9 -centimeter broad when mature, holding the seeds on the scales after opening. The seeds are 11-millimeter - 16-millimeter long, with a thin shell, a white endosperm, and a vestigial 1-millimeter - 2-millimeter wing. Empty pine nuts with undeveloped seeds (self-pollinated) are a light tan color, while the "good" ones are dark brown. The pine nuts are dispersed by the Pinyon Jay, which plucks the seeds out of the open cones, choosing only the dark ones and leaving the light ones. The jay, which uses the seeds as a food resource, stores many of the seeds for later use by burying them. Some of these stored seeds are not used and are able to grow into new trees. Indeed, Pinyon seeds will rarely germinate in the wild unless they are cached by jays or other animals.

INTERESTING FACTS

• The word “Zion” is Hebrew. It means “a place of peace and relaxation.”
• 3. At its dedication July 4,1930, the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel was the world’s longest at 1.1 mile.
• Endangered California condors and peregrine falcons are among the 288 bird species seen in Zion.
• Kolob Arch in Zion’s backcountry is one of the word’s largest freestanding natural arches. It measures about 287 feet in length.
• The Olympic Torch passed through Zion on its way to Salt Lake City for the 2002 Games.

PEREGRINE FALCON

KOLOB ARCH

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