Floor of the Valley Road, scenic drive in Zion Canyon, Zion National Park, Washington County, Utah, United States
Floor of the Valley Road, also called the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, is a nine-mile dead-end road along the North Fork of the Virgin River. It starts at the park's south entrance and ends at the Temple of Sinawava. Built on a new alignment in 1931 and 1932, it uses red sandstone and rustic detailing, and its surface is coated with red aggregate.
The first road here was a single-lane dirt track built in 1916 by Park Service engineer W.O. Tufts, reaching only the Weeping Rock parking area. In 1925 a gravel-surfaced road called the Government Road replaced it and ran all the way to the Temple of Sinawava. The present road was built on a new alignment in 1931 and 1932 as a Depression-era public works project, with further work by Civilian Conservation Corps labor from 1933 to 1942. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 16 February 1996.
The name comes from the flat floor of Zion Canyon, which the nine-mile road follows from the park's south entrance to the Temple of Sinawava. The National Park Service's Branch of Plans and Designs laid out the route to open up views of the valley's rock walls while keeping the built work in local red sandstone. The asphalt is tinted with red aggregate so the surface matches the surrounding rock.
The road follows the river through the narrow canyon with several pullouts where you can stop and walk to nearby trails. During peak season from April to October, private cars are not permitted; visitors use propane-powered shuttle buses to avoid congestion.
The road's red surface is not natural rock but red aggregate applied to match the local sandstone, part of the 1930s naturalistic design policy. The Cable Creek Bridge, separately listed on the National Register in 1996, is cited as a particularly prominent example of that rustic style.
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