When I was 8 my family took a trip to Bryce and Zion National Parks. I don’t remember much, but I definitely remember hiking among the hoodoos along Navajo Loop. This summer I decided to take my daughter, also 8, on the same trip. It was incredible to see how much has and has not changed about the parks. When we got to Zion to hike the Lower Emerald Pools I had a flood of memories I had forgotten cascade into my brain. I remembered hiking this trail as a child and it was incredible how being there recalled so many flashes of my childhood adventure. Since returning from our trip I’ve had the luxury of going through old pictures with my daughter and telling her about my trip as a child and it is amazing to share the parks with her. I hope someday she takes her children on the same trip and gets to experience the magic with them in the same way.
Sincerely,
Zion National Park
Free-flowing rivers cut through multi-hued sedimentary rock to form Zion's deep and spectacular canyons. Park trails lead visitors to dramatic rock formations, hanging gardens, scenic vistas, ancient rock art and natural arches. People have lived in Zion’s landscape for at least 8,000 years, and the park's prehistoric art and artifacts tell the stories of the area’s previous inhabitants. The park also provides habitat for a variety of wildlife and large mammals, hardy desert plants like cholla and juniper, and rare and threatened birds like the peregrine falcon, California condor and Mexican spotted owl.
State(s): Utah
Established: 1909
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