The Subway Canyon of the Virgin River in Zion

The subway with its wedged tree trunk is a uniquely shaped slot canyon in the Left Fork of the North Creek in Utah’s Zion Wilderness. Its remoteness and the difficulty of reaching this place is a metaphor for its spectacular beauty.
The Virgin River of Zion cut into the Colorado Plateau to a depth of 1000 m (3300 ft). The anabranches of this river additionally cut the Zion area into three regions by forming deep and narrow canyons. Here, the walls form a subway-shaped slot canyon tunnel. Around noon and shortly before the sunlight enters the canyon, the indirect reflected light vividly scatters on the walls of the slot canyon. For this fleeting moment the yellow and red color in the rocks seem to liquefy and the canyon transforms into a mystical place of magical light.
The red sandstone is of Jurassic age and contains trace fossils of dinosaurs. The Left Fork of the North Creek is not only the most beautiful anabranch of the Virgin River but also the most difficult part to reach in the Zion Wilderness.
This barely reachable log is deeply hidden within the twists of the Subway Canyon.