Zion

Declared a national monument in 1909 and a national park in 1919, its name comes from the Mormon settlers who established themselves in the canyon in the 19th century and named it with the Hebrew word for sanctuary, holding it to be a spiritual refuge. The Virgin River has spent millions of years cutting through its Navajo sandstone walls, creating narrow canyons such as The Narrows, one of the most famous walkable river canyons in the world, where hikers literally walk in the river bed between walls more than 300 metres high.