The Geology of Zion National Park is amazing. Many visitors traveling through the park wonder how such massive stone structures came to be. The answer dates back 250 million years ago when volcanoes were erupting and spewing ash all over. Dinosaurs left tracks in the ash leaving behind fossils which are still around today.

 The sandstone which makes up most of the rock in Zion National Park was formed by the compacting of sand about 150 million years ago. This occurred when cementing properties of compounds such as calcium carbonate compacted the sand which covered the huge desert of the west. Dunes were at that timed formed into the present day Navajo Sandstone.

The next stage of creation occurred starting close to 4 million years ago when streams running of the Colorado Plateau caused the Virgin River to flood. As the river flowed through the current Zions, it eroded the rock away taking boulders, sand, and pebbles with it. Over time it formed, or rather carved the canyon we see today.

Interestingly enough, Zion National Park is actually very young from a geological standpoint. This is because Zion didn't develop its current characteristics until just the past few million years. As Zion keeps changing, as it does every year, some day far in the future it will become nothing but a flat plain.