National Park, Essay Example

Introduction

My parents came from India to visit here on March 3rd 2012. In long weekend we planned to go somewhere so we went through much online information, travel magazines, friend’s reviews and at last we decided to go for Zion National Park which is in Utah State. We went there for five days in Memorial Day long weekend. We are so excited because we are going together after such a long time.

We start our exited trip on Saturday we rented car for this trip. We had left our home at 6:00 AM with my husband and parents. Zion national park is almost 450 miles from our residence so during journey we had lots of fun. We played cards, listen music, jokes etc. in the car. We had lunch in way which we prepaid at home and took some snacks from other restaurants. And finally we reached St George city in evening at 8:00 PM, where we already booked hotel. After taking little rest we gone for visit the city where we stayed and took dinner after that we found “Nielsen’s frozen custard diner” which one is most famous for custard. It was really good desert after dinner.

Zion National Park in Utah is one of the great recreational areas in the USA. The park attracts over 25 million visitors each year and is considered to be a place of outstanding natural beauty. The diverse habitat spans over 8,000 years of history. It was Brigham Young who introduced the Mormons to this valley in 1847. They helped to create the towns of Springdale, Grafton and Paradise. The park has an abundant range of recreational activities. This paper provides an introduction to the park and the wonderful recreational facilities it has to offer. (National Park Service, 2012)

Sports and Adventures

Hiking is considered to be one of the most popular pastimes in the park. There are great hiking trails throughout the park. Hikers can enjoy scenic walks such as:

• The Watchman (2.7 miles)
• Angels Landing ( 5 miles)
• Observation Point (8 miles) ( round trip distances)

The park caters for trails that will accommodate both novice and expert hikers alike. Hiking is considered to be one of the best ways in order to explore the main canyon. There are a whole range of additional sporting activities.

The guides at Zion National Park can put you in touch with a whole range of high adventure sports. This can include rock and mountain climbing. The hiring of jeeps to explore the off track terrains or Mountain biking through some really challenging terrain. The rock climbing is considered to be the best in the business and offers the professional climber some amazing rock climbing experiences and challenges. For the novice climber the park can help in the arrangement of guided trips that allows you to learn this exciting sport. This includes both safety features and techniques in the skill of rock climbing.

After a hard day on the slopes what better way to relax than to stay at a spa hotel where you participate in a range of rejuvenating activities. The resort has three destination spas:

• Fitness Ridge
• Red Mountain Resort
• Green Valley Spa

Green Valley has a gained a reputation as being one of the best spas in North America and listed in the top three in the world. In addition, there are several day spas where you drop in for relaxing after a fitness session or long hike. This all set in beautiful tranquil surroundings.

Outstanding Scenery

Main Canyon – This is perhaps the most popular section of the park. It is also the starting point for many of the good trails including that of Weeping Rock, The Emerald Pools, Angels Landing and the Narrows etc. Visitors are cautioned to be careful in the slots and canyons, particularly on bad weather days, as the areas are prone to flash floods and rising water levels. The rangers offer advice and guidance on how to proceed along the trails in adverse weather conditions.

The Narrows – This area is considered to be one of the most challenging areas of the park. It is referred to as the “Narrows” for a good reason. Here the Virgin River gathers all of its water from several tributaries and then carves out a deep gorge through the sandstone rock. This is a long 12.5 mile hike along the river and plan on getting wet as you walk through water for most of the day. The rewards are great though as the scenery is spectacular and provides great entertainment for hikers and photographers. This is one of those long hikes where an evening in the Spa (hot tub) is a great way to unwind and relax.

Kolob Section – This is located in the northwest section of the park between that of St George and Cedar City. It is accessed by a short drive of 5.5 miles to a feature that resembles a person’s hand only with thousand foot canyons as fingers. From here you can access lava point and many of the back country canyons. During the winter this area is closed because of snow depths. As with all back country hikes plan your trip carefully and inform someone of your route, departure time and expected return time.

The Grand Circle – One of the attractions of Zion Park is that it is part of the grand circle of some of the best parks, monuments, historical sites and areas of outstanding natural beauty in the USA. Some of the great sites include that of : Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Cedar breaks national monument, Glen Canyon recreational area and Pipe Spring national monument amongst many other interesting locations and features for the tourist to visit.

Conclusion
Describing the own experience is very difficult but also interesting. It’s one of those things that you can appreciate well only when you see it with your own eyes and with own experience. Even the best pictures in the world don’t do enough justice to experiencing the beauty of these falls, the splash and sound of the water, all the green around you, the mountains, and the dome…. during two amazingly sunny and warm spring days. And then two day in Las Vegas to visit all casinos and show also most amazing bridge that is ‘hoover dam’. I will never forget this trip in my life.

References

National Park Service. (2012, 6 29). Zion National Park. Retrieved from National Park Service: http://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm