Francesca Scalpi

ZION NATIONAL PARK (Click on thumbnail for full image)

LOCATION: Zion National Park is a southwest Utah nature preserve distinguished by Zion Canyon’s steep red cliffs. Zion Canyon Scenic Drive cuts through its main section, leading to forest trails along the Virgin River.

My Experience: The crowds made it extremely difficult to see the park even in October. You are required to take a shuttle to most of the places in the park. There are lines for the shuttle and hardly any parking spots inside the park. I chose to leave the park after a few hours. Most of my photos were taken along the National Scenic Byway (S.R. 9) between Zion's main canyon and Mount Carmel .

ABOUT: You will see massive sandstone cliffs of cream, pink, and red. Zion has narrow slot canyons. A thousand-foot deep red rock canyon, nested in dramatic surroundings. Trails range from half-mile paved hikes to multi-day backpacking routes. Angels Landing trail to its lofty summit was hewn out of its steep, rock-solid spine in 1926. Hike up roughly 1,500 vertical feet along the narrow fin of stone that reaches a top elevation of 5,790 feet. THE NARROWS is an out-and back day hike located in the lower section of famous Zion Canyon Narrows, where the North Fork Virgin River runs beneath thousand-foot walls of Navajo sandstone that centuries of erosion have sculpted into into some of the most beautiful rock forms.