Checkerboard Mesa
Checkerboard Mesa is an iconic 6,520+ ft elevation Navajo Sandstone summit located in Zion National Park, in Kane County of southwest Utah, United States. Checkerboard Mesa is situated immediately southwest of the park's east entrance, towering 900 feet above the Zion – Mount Carmel Highway. Its nearest neighbor is Crazy Quilt Mesa, one-half mile immediately west, and separated by Checkerboard Mesa Canyon. This canyon holds pools of rainwater which provide a vital source of water for resident bighorn sheep. This peak was originally named Checkerboard Mountain by the park's third superintendent, Preston P. Patraw. The landform's toponym was officially adopted in 1935 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The descriptive name stems from the cliff's distinctive multitudinous check lines in cross-bedded white sandstone which give the impression of a checkerboard. The horizontal lines are caused by cross-bedding, a remnant of ancient sand dunes. The vertical and sub-vertical lines formed by the contraction and expansion of the sandstone caused by temperature changes, freezing and thawing cycles, in combination with wetting and drying. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains into tributaries of the Virgin River.
From Wikipedia →Drive to Checkerboard Mesa with Byway
Byway plans the scenic way there — real places along Zion Park Scenic Byway, real weather, zero hallucinations — and hands the turns to the navigation you already use.
Byways with this lookout
Locals make it Verified.
Checkerboard Mesa — confirmed, rated, and photographed by people who actually pulled over. A local confirmation is what upgrades a lookout from Discovered to Verified. Zero hallucinations.
Confirmed by locals
No local confirmations yet. Stood here? Yours is the one that upgrades this lookout to Verified.
Ratings
No ratings yet. Stood at this lookout? Be the first to rate it.
No written reviews yet.
Field notes
No field notes yet. Know the gate hours or the best pull-in? Leave the note you wish you'd had.
Photos
No photos yet.
Sign in to confirm this lookout, rate it, add photos, and leave field notes.