The Watchman is a sandstone mountain 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 Washington 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.

Description

The Watchman is located immediately east of Springdale, towering above the town and the floor of

Zion Canyon Zion Canyon (also called Little Zion, Mukuntuweap, Mu-Loon'-Tu-Weap, and Straight Cañon; ''weap'' is Paiute for canyon) is a deep and narrow gorge in southwestern Utah, United States, carved by the North Fork of the Virgin River. Nearly the entir ...

. Zion's park headquarters, the park's south entrance, and Watchman Campground are situated immediately north-northwest of the mountain, which makes it one of the photographic icons of the park. The Watchman is wedged between the North and East Forks 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 ...

which drain 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. Its neighbors include

Mount Kinesava Mount Kinesava is a sandstone mountain summit located in Zion National Park, in Washington County of southwest Utah, United States. Description Mount Kinesava is located immediately west of Springdale, towering above the town and the floor ...

directly across the canyon to the west, Bridge Mountain, to the north-northeast, and

The West Temple The West Temple is a prominent 7,810-foot (2,380 m) mountain summit composed of Navajo Sandstone in Zion National Park in Washington County of Utah, United States. This, the highest feature in Zion Canyon, was originally called "''Temp-o-i-tin-ca ...

is positioned to the northwest. This feature's name was officially adopted in 1934 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 ...

. It is believed to be so named because it stands as a watchman guarding the south entrance to the park. It is unclear where the name may have originated; some believe it was Methodist Minister Frederick Vining Fisher. Early pioneers referred to this peak as Flanigan Peak because the Flanigan family homestead was set at the base of this feature. This mountain is composed of

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 ...

, with a red

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...

ping of the

Kayenta Formation The Kayenta Formation is a geological formation in the Glen Canyon Group that is spread across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Traditionally has been suggested ...

along the lower slopes.

Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit The Watchman. 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:The Watchman, in Zion.jpg File:Watchman and Virgin River.jpg, The Watchman and North Fork Virgin River from the north File:Springdale Utah Skyline.jpg, West aspect seen from Springdale, Johnson Mountain to right. (very large file) File:A fresh blanket of snow at The Watchman.jpg, A dusting of snow at The Watchman File:The Watchman, Zion National Park - Flickr - Joe Parks.jpg, The Watchman and North Fork Virgin River File:The Watchman, Springdale, Utah.jpg File:The Watchman HQ.jpg, from park headquarters File:Utah - Springdale - Cable Mountain Lodge - Pool Area - Panorama.jpg, From Springdale, Watchman (right), Bridge Mountain (left) File:The Watchman at Sunset.jpg, The Watchman at sunset File:The Watchman, Zion.jpg

References

External links

{{stack, {{commons category, The Watchman (Zion National Park)
Zion National Park
National Park Service * Weather
The Watchman
* The Watchman Rock Climbing
mountainproject.com
Mountains of Utah Zion National Park Mountains of Washington County, Utah Climbing areas of the United States Sandstone formations of the United States Landforms of Washington County, Utah

Description

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links