Observation Point (Zion)
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Observation Point is a elevation Navajo Sandstone feature located in
Zion National Park Zion National Park is a national park of the United States located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a ...
, in Washington County of southwest
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
, United States. Observation Point is situated at the north end of
Zion Canyon Zion Canyon (also called Little Zion, Mukuntuweap, Mu-Loon'-Tu-Weap, and Straight Cañon; ''weap'' is Southern Paiute, Paiute for canyon) is a deep and narrow gorge in southwestern Utah, Utah, United States, carved by the North Fork of the Virgin ...
, towering above the canyon floor and the North Fork of the
Virgin River The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about long.Calculated with Google Maps and Google Earth It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the ...
which drains precipitation runoff from this viewpoint. A popular 8-mile round-trip trail climbs from the Weeping Rock trailhead along Zion Canyon Road to reach the top.Erik Molvar and Tamara Martin, ''Hiking Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks'', Second Edition, Globe Pequot Press, 2005, page 56. Due to a major rockfall from Cable Mountain, which has destroyed the lower part of this trail, the Observation Point is currently only accessible from the East Mesa or Stave Spring trailhead. Neighbors visible from the point include The Great White Throne, Cathedral Mountain,
Angels Landing Angels Landing, known previously as the Temple of Aeolus, is a tall Formation of rocks, rock formation in Zion National Park in southwestern Utah, United States. A renowned trail cut into solid rock in 1926 leads to the top of Angels Landing ...
, and Cable Mountain. This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1934 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.


Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Observation Point. According to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, it is located in a
Cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
zone, which is defined by the coldest month having an average mean temperature below , and at least 50% of the total annual precipitation being received during the spring and summer. This desert climate receives less than of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.


Gallery

File:Zion Canyon Observation Point.jpg, View from Observation Point looking southwest down Zion Canyon File:Observation Point (6231720129).jpg, Enjoying the view from Observation Point, white cliffs of Cathedral Mountain to right File:Observation Point from Angels Landing Zion NP Utah.jpg, Observation Point from Angels Landing File:Zion Canyon from Observation Point trail.jpg, Cathedral Mountain (left) from the trail, with Observation Point upper right File:Observation Point from Cable Mountain, Zion National Park.jpg, Observation Point from Cable Mountain File:Observation Point from East Mesa Trail - panoramio.jpg, Observation Point from southeast File:Panoramic view from Observation Point, Zion NP.jpg, Panoramic view from Observation Point File:Observation Point detail.jpg, Observation Point detail File:Zion Lodge 4-29-14e (14498043866).jpg, Angels Landing and Observation Point from Zion Lodge File:Observation Point Zion Canyon.jpg, Observation Point left of center File:Angel's Landing view of Observation Point.jpg, Observation Point seen from Angels Landing File:Observation Point, Zion.jpg, Clockwise from top: Lady Mountain, Cathedral Mountain,
Angels Landing Angels Landing, known previously as the Temple of Aeolus, is a tall Formation of rocks, rock formation in Zion National Park in southwestern Utah, United States. A renowned trail cut into solid rock in 1926 leads to the top of Angels Landing ...
, The Organ, The Great White Throne, Red Arch Mountain. File:Observation Point - Zion Canyon 2010-12-31.jpg, Observation Point covered with winter snow File:Observation Benchmark.jpg, Observation Benchmark seen from Temple of Sinawava File:Zion Canyon (3644257965).jpg, Observation Point to left


See also

*
Geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area The geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes nine known exposed formations, all visible in Zion National Park in the U.S. state of Utah. Together, these formations represent about 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sediment ...
*
Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. This plateau covers an area of 336,700 km2 (130,000 mi2) within w ...


References

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External links


Zion National Park
National Park Service * Weather forecast
National Weather Service
Mountains of Utah Zion National Park Mountains of Washington County, Utah Sandstone formations of the United States