A Zion Canyon Reader

by Nathan N. Waite (Editor), Reid L. Neilson (Editor), Lyman Hafen (Foreword)

Published in Partnership with Zion Natural History Association. 

Zion National Park is one of the country’s most-visited and best-loved national parks. For the first time, lovers of the park have in one volume the best that has been written about the canyon. A Zion Canyon Reader is a collection of historical and literary accounts that presents diverse perspectives on Zion Canyon—and the surrounding southern Utah region—through the eyes of native inhabitants, pioneer settlers, boosters, explorers, artists, park rangers, developers, and spiritual seekers. Through the pages of this book, both the newest visitors to Zion and those who return to the park again and again will come to understand what this place has meant to different people over the centuries.
 
Among the works included are well-known historical accounts of exploration by John Wesley Powell, Clarence Dutton, and Everett Ruess. Writings by Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, Juanita Brooks, and others enlighten and excite in numerous memorable chapters. Here and there the book bears witness to conflicting viewpoints on controversies associated with the national park, especially development vs. preservation and locals vs. outsiders.
 
Lyman Hafen, author and executive director of the Zion Natural History Association, calls the book “the most comprehensive, insightful, and inspiring compilation of Zion writing ever assembled.” As readers learn about the plants, animals, geology, history, and people of Zion Canyon, they will discover unfamiliar corners of the park and see favorite hikes in a new light. 

Genres: Nature, History, Nonfiction, Science

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2014

Reviews

[Juan Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating is based on my experience with the book and may be different for other people. I have read other books on other parks, cities and mountains. Other books may have had boring sections, but this book had chapters that just wouldn't stay in my head. Each chapter is written by different people and so I think not all chapters are easy or comfortable reads, many have an excess of detail that just leaves me disconnected. If I'm gonna read that much detail I would want it to be instructional so I can get value out of it. This was not the case for me and close to half the book was empty to me.
The latter half was much better written, boring or not. It could very well be the way people write/communicate is different in the past early chapters compared to the more recent later chapters.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

While no book could ever fully capture Zion, I loved reading all the different perspectives on one of my favorite places.

[Damian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The descriptive passages are OK, but they are hard to read because they make me miss the place and they aren't encapsulating of the beauty as writing can never achieve that, even good writing, and some of the passages are good (like Stegner's). I liked the early history/passages - the difficulties that Powell and others had doing things we take for granted, for example. The only downside is that Powell will say "it was with great difficulty that we made progress" without telling us the details which I wanted to know. We can imagine, of course. Powell's passage made me wish I had explored the Parunuweap canyon more when I was there, as did the other mention of that canyon. Surprisingly, no one mentions the Subway in this book.
The story of the trip down Orderville during a flood was great, although the link to the reminiscing kid's recap doesn't work anymore. (Karin Leperi, “Return to Zion Canyon,” Country Extra Magazine)

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really neat! If you are a lover of Zion NP or even just a lover of the National Parks in general, then I think you will find something in here for you. There are many short stories, most 10 pages or less. They are broken into sections so if there is a section you find not interesting at all you can skip to another area of the book. I loved learning how the national park began in general. The railroads are a great reason that this park is even easily accessible to the general public now. I appreciate that some of these stories go back probably as far as the author could, with stories of the native of peoples; early explorers; early tourism through today.

I didn’t enjoy or even read every story in this book, but I enjoyed enough stories that I would highly recommend it.

[Samantha Sainsbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up to accompany a trip to Zion. I was really interested in the natural history and history of development, less interested in numerous accounts that felt like the same euro-american perspective in sections 2 and 3. Since it's a series of essays, I just skimmed over those 90 pages. Otherwise there's a lot to like and learn about how the park came to be.

[Diana Beckham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this since I l work in Zion as a shuttle driver. The first couple of stories were a bit hard to get through but I stayed with ot and it got better. I really enjoyed seeing that over the 100+ years zion still awes visitors.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a big fan of zion I would highly recommend. This book summarizes basically everything you'd want to know about the park. Some of the sections were superb.

[Jkiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good range of readings. I would have liked more maps.

[Joshua Kreitzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expansive set of short writings on Zion National Park, this is a great introduction to the geology, fauna, history, and current issues facing one of the world's most beautiful places.

[Michelle Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

QUICK PITCH: A collection of writing about Zion Canyon specifically and canyon country generally. The pieces cover a wide range, from science and nature writing about the canyon's formation through historical writing from the late 1800s and early 1900s, into more recent pieces about continued development at Zion and in the National Parks System generally.

VERDICT: Waite and Reid did an excellent job selecting and excerpting pieces for this collection, and I recommend it for any soon-to-be or recent Zion visitor. I was worried about some of the materials from the turn of the century, especially because I ended up reading a bunch of them on the plane, but I found them very approachable (and, fortunately, not sleep-inducing).

A note: When I saw "Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks" by Edward Abbey on the table of contents, I wasn't super pumped. The first time I encountered that piece, it was a big part of the reason that I didn't finish Abbey's collection, Desert Solitaire . Now, though, I think that maybe I just shouldn't read too much Edward Abbey all at once. In this setting (and also, probably, having just visited Zion and Bryce Canyon), I found myself nodding along to pieces of "Polemic," and Abbey's crotchetiness was much easier to stomach in a smaller dose.

In the back of this book, the authors include a list for further reading. I would add Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer.

[Mickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a visit to Zion National Park, I picked up this book as a souvenir, hoping that words could capture some of the awesome beauty I'd seen on my trip. Well, these words, while interesting and well said, don't do the views justice. You really need to go see the sights instead of reading about them in a book.

The book is comprised of essays written in the last century or so by the first visitors/discoverers of the area, professional outdoors people, all the way down to regular tourists. A couple of gripes: there's a lot, particularly in the early chapters, about rocks. The geologic description of rocks has never really interested me. I'm SLIGHTLY interested in how these rocks got that way, prehistorically, but my interest wanes after a paragraph or so. Also, there were some interesting essays describing hikes through the park. A map or two indicating the points of interest described would have been helpful.

The essay on the family that got trapped in the Narrows during a flash flood was pretty exciting!

I don't want this review to tend towards the negative. The book was actually inspiring. The testimony from early settlers who farmed the area was very interesting. Zion is one of God's wonders, and these words probably come closest to describing the glorious scenery there. I'm glad I bought the book.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful anthology of writing about Zion canyon, ranging from its geological origins, Native American inhabitants, Mormon settlement and American explorations, its transition from a place of adventure tourism to the creation of the national park and the differing interpretations and perspectives of its use.
I loved the compilation of information that allowed me to gain a more comprehensive perspective on all the history, uses and schools of thought regarding this pristine and beautiful corner of the world. It definitely has enhanced my love, appreciation and understanding of a place in my own backyard and has opened my understanding to more of its potential outside of the shuttlebus stops known to the masses.
My one complaint about the book was that it didn't have an index. It would be nice to be able to look up all the references to Grafton, for example, and be able to contrast and compare what the different authors wrote about the now-defunct town.