Checkerboard Mesa is an iconic elevation

Navajo Sandstone The Navajo Sandstone is a geological formation in the Glen Canyon Group that is spread across the U.S. states of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, and Utah as part of the Colorado Plateau province of the United States.Anonymou ...

summit located in

Zion National Park Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety ...

, in Kane County of southwest

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States. Checkerboard Mesa is situated immediately southwest of the park's east entrance, towering above the

Zion – Mount Carmel Highway The Zion – Mount Carmel Highway is a long road in Washington and Kane counties in southern Utah, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Description The ...

. Its nearest neighbor is

Crazy Quilt Mesa Crazy Quilt Mesa is a elevation white Navajo Sandstone summit located in Zion National Park, in Kane County of southwest Utah, United States. Description Crazy Quilt Mesa is situated southwest of the park's east entrance, towering 1,000-feet (3 ...

, one-half mile immediately west, and separated by Checkerboard Mesa Canyon. This canyon holds pools of rainwater which provide a vital source of water for resident

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

. This peak was originally named Checkerboard Mountain by the park's third superintendent, Preston P. Patraw.National Park Service nps.gov/zion
/ref> The landform's toponym was officially adopted in 1935 by the

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal govern ...

. The descriptive name stems from the cliff's distinctive multitudinous check lines in cross-bedded white sandstone which give the impression of a

checkerboard A checkerboard (American English) or chequerboard (British English; see spelling differences) is a board of checkered pattern on which checkers (also known as English draughts) is played. Most commonly, it consists of 64 squares (8×8) of altern ...

. The horizontal lines are caused by

cross-bedding In geology, cross-bedding, also known as cross-stratification, is layering within a stratum and at an angle to the main bedding plane. The sedimentary structures which result are roughly horizontal units composed of inclined layers. The origina ...

, a remnant of ancient sand dunes. The vertical and sub-vertical lines formed by the contraction and expansion of the sandstone caused by temperature changes, freezing and thawing cycles, in combination with wetting and drying. Precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

from this mountain drains into tributaries of the

Virgin River The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about long.Calculated with Google Maps and Google Earth It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the ...

Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Checkerboard Mesa. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, it is located in a

Cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

zone, which is defined by the coldest month having an average mean temperature below , and at least 50% of the total annual precipitation being received during the spring and summer. This desert climate receives less than of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.

Gallery

File:Checkerboard Mesa detail.jpg, Checkerboard Mesa detail File:Checkerboard Mesa, Zion National Park, Utah (8096074728).jpg, West aspect, viewed from Highway 9 File:Curve Ahead, Zion NP 5-14 (26188424651).jpg File:Cross-bedded Navajo Sandstone (Lower Jurassic) with subvertical expansion-contraction cracks, Checkerboad Mesa, White Cliffs, Zion National Park, sw Utah 5.jpg, Cross-bedded Navajo Sandstone with subvertical expansion-contraction cracks File:Cross-bedded Navajo Sandstone (Lower Jurassic), Checkerboad Mesa, White Cliffs, Zion National Park, sw Utah 2.jpg, West aspect, viewed from Highway 9 File:Zion National Park east entrance.jpg, Zion National Park's East Entrance, Checkerboard Mesa to left File:Checkerboard Mesa and Crazy Quilt Mesa.jpg, Checkerboard Mesa (left) and

(right) File:Parunuweap aspect of Checkerboard Mesa.jpg, The south end of Checkerboard Mesa (Parunuweap Canyon side)

References

{{reflist

External links

Zion National Park
National Park Service * Checkerboard Mesa rock climbing
mountainproject.com
* Weather forecast
National Weather Service
* Media related to Checkerboard Mesa
Wikimedia Commons (category)
Mountains of Utah Zion National Park Sandstone formations of the United States Colorado Plateau Landforms of Kane County, Utah Mesas of Utah

Climate

See also

Gallery

References

External links