Elevations
| Feet | |
| Cedar City | 5,750 |
| Rim of Great Basin | 5,500 |
| Pine Valley Mountains | 10,250 |
| Toquerville | 3,100 |
| Floor of Zion Canyon | 4,100 |
| Summit of West Temple | 7,650 |
| Cedar Breaks (Rim) | 10,300 |
| Brian Head | 11,300 |
| Navajo Lake | 9,500 |
| Cedar Breaks Junction | 7,000 |
| Bryce Canyon (Rim) | 8,000 |
| Pipe Spring | 5,000 |
| Fredonia | 4,700 |
| V. T. Park Tourist Ranch | 8,700 |
| Bright Angel Camp (North Rim, Grand Canyon) | 8,300 |
| Bright Angel Point (North Rim, Grand Canyon) | 8,153 |
| Point Imperial (North Rim, Grand Canyon) | 9,000 |
| Cape Royal (North Rim, Grand Canyon) | 7,876 |
| Cape Final (North Rim, Grand Canyon) | 7,919 |
| Point Sublime (North Rim, Grand Canyon) | 7,464 |
| Kanab | 4,925 |
Lodge Center at Bryce Canyon and (Inset) Typical Guest Lodge
Table of Distances
BY RAILROAD
| Miles | |
| Salt Lake City, Utah, to Cedar City, Utah | 275 |
| Los Angeles, Calif., to Cedar City, Utah | 574 |
| Lund, Utah, to Cedar City, Utah | 32.5 |
BY HIGHWAY
| Cedar City to Toquerville | 36.2 |
| Cedar City to Zion National Park (Entrance) | 62.1 |
| Cedar City to Zion Lodge | 64.8 |
| Cedar City to Midway | 19.9 |
| Cedar City to Cedar Breaks Jctn | 45 |
| Cedar City to Cedar Breaks | 23 |
| Cedar City to Bryce Canyon National Monument | 89 |
| Cedar City to Pipe Spring National Monument | 94.6 |
| Cedar City to Fredonia | 109.7 |
| Cedar City to V. T. Park Tourist Ranch | 165 |
| Cedar City to Bright Angel Point (North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, via Zion National Park) | 200.8 |
| Zion National Park to Pipe Spring | 45 |
| Zion National Park to Fredonia | 60 |
| Zion National Park to Bright Angel Point (North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park) | 136 |
| Cedar Breaks to Midway | 3.1 |
| Cedar Breaks to Navajo Lake | 10.1 |
| Cedar Breaks to Cedar Breaks Junction | 28 |
| Cedar Breaks to Red Canyon | 56 |
| Cedar Breaks to Bryce Canyon National Monument | 70 |
| Bright Angel Point (North Rim, Grand Canyon) to V. T. Park Tourist Ranch | 18 |
| Bright Angel Point to Fredonia | 75.6 |
| Bright Angel Point to Kanab | 82.4 |
| Bright Angel Point Cedar Breaks Jctn | 123 |
| Bright Angel Point to Bryce Canyon National Monument | 164.2 |
BY TRAIL
| Zion Lodge to Great White Throne | 2 |
| Zion Lodge to The Narrows | 6 |
| Zion Lodge to Summit of Angels Landing | 2.5 |
| Zion Lodge to Observation Point | 12 |
| Zion Lodge to West Rim | 12 |
| Zion Lodge to Ranger Station | 5 |
| Zion Lodge to Summit of Lady Mountain | 2 |
| Bryce Canyon Lodge to floor of Canyon and return | 1 |
| Bryce Canyon Lodge to Tropic | 11 |
| Bright Angel Camp to Bright Angel Point | .5 |
| Bright Angel Camp to Point Imperial | 9 |
| Bright Angel Camp to Cape Final | 12 |
| Bright Angel Camp to Cliff Spring | 15 |
| Bright Angel Camp to Cape Royal | 16 |
| Bright Angel Camp to Cliff Dweller Spring | 1 |
| Bright Angel Camp to Point Sublime | 35 |
| V. T. Park Tourist Ranch to Point Imperial | 22 |
| V. T. Park Tourist Ranch to Cape Final | 25 |
| V. T. Park Tourist Ranch to Point Sublime | 23 |
Interior of Guest Lodge, Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon
Stratified Rocks of Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon, Grand Canyon and Intermediate Regions
Rearranged and visualized principally from unpublished studies of Willis T. Lee, by courtesy of the National Parks Association.
These strata presumably were once continuous over the entire Plateau Region and the Grand Canyon. Many were much thicker than now, having been eroded during long periods when the surface was temporarily lifted above sea level. Altogether they may cover a creative period exceeding ninety million years. Strata are said to be unconformable when they do not lie in regular, parallel sequence.
Read table from bottom upward for historical sequence.
1.—FROM BRYCE CANYON TO THE GRAND CANYON RIM
Cedar Breaks, some 2,000 feet higher than Bryce Canyon, is eroded from similar formation to that at Bryce Canyon.
| FORMATION | PRESENT DEPTH (Feet) | GEOLOGICAL AGE | DESCRIPTION | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basalt | Bryce | Sheets of very dark lava, resting unconformably upon the Pink Cliff below. | ||
| Pink Cliff | 500 | Eocene | Richly colored shales, limestones and conglomerates, most of them red, and containing fossils. | |
| Cretaceous Rocks | 3000 | Upper Cretaceous | Gray to buff sandstone and drab shales, alternating with occasional coal beds. | |
| McElmo Formation | 800 | Lower Cretaceous | Shales and sandstones of many colors. | |
| Jurassic Rocks | 600 | Jurassic | Drab shale, chocolate colored limestone and occasional gray gypsum beds. | |
| White Cliff | 1000 | Jurassic | Zion | White, cross-bedded sandstone. Modern geology considers the White and Vermilion Cliffs part of the same formation, but scenically they will always be distinguished. |
| Vermilion Cliff | 2000 | Jurassic | Brilliant red, variegated, massive sandstone. | |
| Chinle Formation | 350 | Late Triassic | Mauve sandstone above, purple and red shale below. | |
| Shinarump Conglomerate | 100 | Late Triassic | Brown, yellow and gray conglomerate and sandstone, celebrated for its petrified trees. | |
| Moenkopi Formation | 1600 | Early Triassic | Purple, yellowish-gray, dull red and coffee-brown sandstones, in a great body of rich red shale. Contains a few layers of hard red, brown and gray limestone and some light-colored gypsum beds. Known also as the Belted Shales. | |
| Kaibab Limestone | 1800 | Late Carboniferous | The same gray, massive limestone seen on the Rim of the Grand Canyon. The road from Cedar City to Zion Canyon runs over it for several miles. |
II.—FROM THE GRAND CANYON RIM TO THE GRANITE GORGE
| Kaibab Limestone | 800 | Late Carboniferous | Grand Canyon | Gray limestone formed in the sea, as indicated by many Carboniferous fossil shells. At the Grand Canyon it is the surface rock. In the Plateau Country to the north, it lies at the bottom of the series. |
| Coconino | 300 | Carboniferous | Very massive, cross-bedded yellow sandstone. | |
| Supai Formation | 1100 | Carboniferous | Alternating red shale and red and brown sandstone, the latter forming low cliffs. This constitutes the greatest red body of the Canyon wall. | |
| Redwall Limestone | 600 | Carboniferous | Extremely hard blue or gray limestone, forming the greatest cliff of the Grand Canyon. It is stained a vivid red by the wash of the red Supai shales above. The cliff is a conspicuous feature of the Canyon everywhere. | |
| Missing Strata | Devonian Silurian Ordovician | During Devonian, Silurian and Ordovician times, extensive strata were deposited upon the Cambrian rocks below, but were wholly eroded away during a long uplift period and the limestone known as the Red Wall was deposited on the Tonto during a succeeding period. | ||
| Tonto Group | 950 | Cambrian | Olive green shale and limestone, forming the broad green floor of the Grand Canyon, through which winds the Granite Gorge. | |
| Unkar and Chuar Groups known as the Grand Canyon Series | Algonkian | Greenish sandstones, fine quartzites and vividly red shales, once 13,000 feet thick, but here eroded away till they appear only in places. | ||
| Granite Gorge | 1200 | Archean | Schists metamorphosed from sedentary rocks, and intruded igneous rocks. |
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