Day 2 of our REI Adventure in Zion took us to the Sand Bench Trail. I still read this as a beach trail, but no beaches were to be found during this trip.
One of the factors that caused the formation of Zion Canyon (home of Zion National Park), is the Virgin River. Like the relationship between the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon, the Virgin River has slowly eroded the area by carrying away sediment, forming the canyon.
Remember when Chris and I hiked the Narrows? Well, this is the narrowest part of Zion Canyon and is where the Virgin River enters the area you probably picture when you think of Zion National Park. After the Narrows, at the Temple of Sinawava, the canyon starts to get much wider.
According to people far smarter than I, roughly 4800 years ago, there was a huge landslide that completely blocked the canyon. It caused the river to back up and form a lake. When the river eventually wore the landslide down, the lake drained and the river returned more or less to its previous state, but it left a much wider and flatter canyon as a result.
The Sand Bench Trail wanders along the Virgin River and on the remnants of the landslide. The hike was roughly 7 miles long and was fine. The views weren’t the amazing vistas I remember from our previous trip to Zion but it was fun to learn about the different nuances of canyon-making.
Gorgeous!! Love the photos and I totally kept reading it as Sand Beach too!!!