Zion National Park

This view is looking upstream (east) along Zion Canyon, the gorge of the North Fork of the Virgin River. This image was taken from near the Zion Museum parking area. Prickly-pear cactus are in the foreground. Whereas the cliffs consist of massive beds of Navajo Sandstone, the valley of the Virgin River is underlain by slope-forming red shale and sandstone beds of the Kayenta and Moenave Formations (Biek and others, 2000).