You couldn't ask for anything more in canyoneering than Zion National Park. The only problem is reservations and permits. Yes, they are a necessary evil if you want to canyoneer in this park. And you better plan ahead, because the permits are limited.

Below you will find helpful links for obtaining information about Zion National Park. This is not all inclusive, but will give you a start in planning your canyoneering trip.

Canyoneering Information: www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/canyoneering.htm

Reservations and Permits: www.nps.gov/archive/zion/Backcountry/ReservationsAndPermits.htm

Fees and Reservations: www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm

Zion National Park Lodging and Hotels: www.utah.com/lodging/zion.htm

Zion National Park is a United States National Park located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature in the 229-square-mile (593 km²) park is Zion Canyon, 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. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, this unique geography and variety of life zones allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. A total of 289 bird species, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bat), 32 reptiles and numerous plant species inhabit the park's four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Notable megafauna include Mountain Lions, Mule Deer and Golden Eagles, along with reintroduced California Condors and Bighorn Sheep. Common plant species include Cottonwood, Cactus, Datura, Juniper, Pine, Boxelder, Sagebrush and various willows.

Weather - Spring weather is unpredictable, with stormy, wet days being common, mixed with occasional warm, sunny weather. Precipitation is heaviest in March. Spring wildflowers bloom from April through June, peaking in May. Fall days are usually clear and mild; nights are often cool. Summer days are hot (95 °F to 110 °F; 35 °C to 43 °C), but overnight lows are usually comfortable (65 °F to 70 °F; 18 °C to 21 °C). Afternoon thunderstorms are common from mid-July through mid-September. Storms may produce waterfalls as well as flash floods. Autumn tree-color displays begin in September in the high country; inside Zion Canyon, autumn colors usually peak in late October. Winter in Zion Canyon is fairly mild. Winter storms bring rain or light snow to Zion Canyon and heavier snow to the higher elevations. Clear days may become quite warm, reaching 60 °F (16 °C); nights are often 20 °F to 40 °F (−7 °C to 4 °C). Winter storms can last several days and make roads icy. Zion roads are plowed, except the Kolob Terrace Road and the Kolob Canyons Road, which are closed when covered with snow. Winter driving conditions persist from November through March.

The geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes nine formations that together represent 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation. At various periods in that time, warm, shallow seas, streams, ponds and lakes, vast deserts and dry near-shore environments covered the area. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago.

The park is located in southwestern Utah in Washington, Iron, and Kane counties. Geomorphically, it is located on the Markagunt and Kolob plateaus, at the intersection of three North American geographic provinces: The Colorado Plateaus, the Great Basin, and the Mojave Desert. The northern part of the park is known as the Kolob Canyons section and is accessible from Interstate 15, exit 40.

The 8,726 foot (2660 m) summit of Horse Ranch Mountain is the highest point in the park; the lowest point is the 3,666 foot (1117 m) elevation of Coal Pits Wash, creating a relief of about 5,100 feet (1500 m).

Streams in the area follow rectangular paths because they follow jointing planes in the rocks. The headwaters of the Virgin River are at about 9,000 feet (2700 m) and the river empties into Lake Mead 200 miles (320 km) southeast after flowing 8,000 feet (2400 m) downward. This gives the Virgin a stream gradient that ranges from 50 to 80 feet per mile (0.9–1.5%)—one of the steepest stream gradients in North America.

The road into Zion Canyon is 6 miles long, ending at the Temple of Sinawava ("Sinawava" refers to the Coyote God of the Paiute Indians). At the Temple, the canyon narrows and a foot-trail continues to the mouth of the Zion Narrows, a spectacular gorge with walls 40-100 feet (12-30 meters) wide and 1000 feet (300 m) tall. The Zion Canyon road is served by a free shuttle bus from early April to late October and by private vehicles the other months of the year. Other roads in Zion are open to private vehicles year-round.

Other areas of the park also offer outstanding scenery. The east side of the park is served by the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway which passes through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel and ends at Mt. Carmel Junction. On the east side of the park notable park features include Checkerboard Mesa and the East Temple and one of the more popular hikes, the Canyon Overlook Trail.

West of Zion Canyon, the Kolob Terrace area features The Subway, a famous slot canyon hike, and Lava Point, with a spectacular view of the entire area. The Kolob Canyons section, further west near Cedar City, features the worlds longest arch, Kolob Arch.

Human habitation of the area started about 8,000 years ago with small family groups of Native Americans; the semi-nomadic Basketmaker Anasazi (300 CE) stem from one of these groups. In turn, the Virgin Anasazi culture (500 CE) developed as the Basketmakers settled in permanent communities. A different group, the Parowan Fremont, lived in the area as well. Both groups moved away by 1300 and were replaced by the Parrusits and several other Southern Paiute subtribes. The canyon was discovered by Mormons in 1858 and was settled by that same group in the early 1860s. Mukuntuweap National Monument was established in 1909 to protect the canyon, and by 1919 the monument was expanded to become Zion National Park (Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning a place of refuge or sanctuary). The Kolob section was proclaimed a separate Zion National Monument in 1937, but was incorporated into the park in 1956.

The Historic period begins in the late 18th century, with the exploration and settlement of southern Utah by Euro-Americans. Padres Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez passed near what is now the Kolob Canyons Visitor Center on October 13, 1776, becoming the first white men known to visit the area. In 1826, trapper and trader Jedediah Smith led 16 men to explore the area in a quest to find a route to California. These and other explorations by traders from New Mexico blazed the Old Spanish Trail, which followed the Virgin River for a portion of its length. Captain John C. Fremont wrote about his 1844 journeys in the region.

In the 1850s, Mormon farmers from the Salt Lake area became the first white people to settle the Virgin River region. In 1851, the Parowan and Cedar City, Utah areas were settled by Mormons who used the Kolob Canyons area for timber, and for grazing cattle, sheep, and horses. They prospected for mineral deposits, and diverted Kolob water to irrigate crops in the valley below. Mormon settlers named the area Kolob - in Mormon scripture, the star nearest the residence of God.

In 1858, they had expanded 30 miles south to the lower Virgin River. That year, a Southern Paiute guide led young Mormon missionary and interpreter Nephi Johnson into the upper Virgin River area and Zion Canyon. Johnson wrote a favorable report about the agricultural potential of the upper Virgin River basin, and returned later that year to found the town of Virgin. More settlers arrived in 1860 and 1861 and settled the towns of Rockville and Springdale. Catastrophic flooding by the river (especially in the Great Flood of 1861-1862), little arable land, and poor soils made agriculture in the upper Virgin River a risky venture.

In 1861 or 1862, Joseph Black made the arduous journey to Zion Canyon and was very impressed by its beauty. His stories about the Canyon were at first seen as exaggerated, prompting his neighbors to call the Canyon "Joseph's Glory". The floor of Zion Canyon was settled in 1863 by Issac Behunin, who farmed corn, tobacco, and fruit trees. The Behunin family lived in Zion canyon near the site of today's Zion Lodge during the summer, and wintered in Springdale. Isaac Behunin is credited with naming Zion, a reference to a place of peace mentioned in the Bible.

Two more families settled Zion canyon in the next couple of years, bringing with them cattle and other domesticated animals. The canyon floor was farmed until Zion became a Monument in 1909.

The John Wesley Powell expedition entered the area in 1869 after their first trip through the Grand Canyon. Powell returned in September 1872 and descended the East Fork of the Virgin River (Parunaweap Canyon) to the town of Shunesberg. He may have made the climb up to Zion Canyon, and named it Mukuntuweap under the impression that that was the Paiute name. In the same year, Geologist Grove Karl Gilbert, working with the Wheeler Survey, descended the North Fork of the Virgin River from Navajo Lake to Zion Canyon, making the first recorded descent of "The Zion Narrows". It is likely that he named this remarkable section of canyon in the process.

NOTE: The majority of this information is taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia). For more information, via Wikipedia, click on the Zion National Park link.