The West Temple

The West Temple is the highest point in Zion Canyon at 7,810 feet, a Navajo sandstone monolith standing about two miles northwest of Springdale and visible from much of the main canyon. The Paiute name for it translates to "Mountain Without a Trail" — an accurate description that still holds today.

John Wesley Powell applied the current name during his 1872 surveys; local Mormon settlers had called it Steamboat Mountain before the USGS made "West Temple" official in 1934. It wasn't climbed until 1933, and the standard route remains a serious undertaking: steep, loose scrambling, exposed 4th-class terrain, and stretches of 5th-class climbing and bouldering near the top.

For nearly everyone who sees it, though, The West Temple is a skyline feature rather than an objective — one of the defining peaks visible from Zion Canyon's shuttle road, Springdale's main street, and many of the park's easier trails.