Mountain of the Sun

Mountain of the Sun is the 6,722-foot Navajo sandstone summit that towers roughly 2,500 feet above Zion Lodge, just east of the Court of the Patriarchs. It earned its name because it's one of the first peaks in the canyon to catch morning light, a designation officially adopted in 1934. Most visitors know it only as the wall they're looking up at from the canyon floor.

If you're a climber

• There is no maintained trail to the summit. The route is unmarked, off-trail, and involves loose rock and technical scrambling, suited only to experienced climbers comfortable with route-finding.
• Exposure is serious in places, and a fall in this terrain could be fatal, with rescue slow given the remoteness.
• Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons; summer heat on this exposed sandstone is severe.