1. Interesting fact: The word "Zion" is Hebrew. It means "a place of peace and relaxation."
2. Fun fact: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was filmed at the ghost town of Grafton near Zion.
3. Cool fact: Endangered California condors and peregrine falcons are among the 288 bird species seen in Zion.
4. At its dedication July 4,1930, the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel was the world's longest at 1.1 mile.
5. Interesting fact: Kolob Arch in Zion's backcountry is one of the word's largest freestanding natural arches. It measures about 287 feet in length.
6. Weird fact: Some of Zion's many canyons are so well hidden that early surveyors missed a few that were twenty miles long.
7. Zion has over 900 species of plant groupings, one of the most diverse in Utah.
8. Fun fact: Zion's Virgin River has four native fish species: Virgin River Spinedace, Speckled Dace, Flannelmouth Sucker, and Desert Sucker.
9. Cool fact: In March 2009, over 124,000 acres of Zion were declared wilderness, which means they are even more protected against any future development.
10. Weird fact: At Weeping Rock, the water that emerges took 1,000 years to travel through the rock from a spring.
11. Humans have been around Zion Canyon for at least 8,000 years.
12. The Olympic Torch passed through Zion on its way to Salt Lake City for the 2002 Games.