Zion National Park

Zion National Park is located in southwestern Utah about 4 hours south of Salt Lake City, Utah and 3 hours to the northeast from Las Vegas, Nevada.  Springdale, Utah is the closest city to the south entrance where there is best access to the canyon and bus shuttle service to the trails.   There are accommodations, campgrounds and the Zion Lodge, that are located in the park proper, but there are also many hotels located just outside the south entrance in Springdale.  There is a Springdale shuttle that picks up at 9 stops along the road and drops off at the entrance to Zion NP which give you easy access to the park from the Springdale hotels.  When you arrive at stop 1, you go through the pedestrian entrance to the park and ride the park shuttle up into the canyon with 9 stops along the way from the park entrance to the Temple of Sinowava.  No cars are allowed in the canyon beyond the branch off of the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway and the Temple of Sinawava.  If you wish to stay in the Zion Lodge (as with many other national parks), plan well in advance as the rooms are sold out sometimes up to a year in advance.

Just how many national parks are there in the United States? 

-- There are 63 National Parks, as of August 2024.  

How many have you visited?  

 *This month we visited Zion National Park which is our 15th national park.

 The National Park service, as we know it, was originally created by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916.  The National Park Service now operates 431 protected sites, including the 63 national parks, as well as, national seashores, national lakeshores and national monuments just to name a few.

Zion was established as a national park by congress on November 19, 1919.  It is known for its tall sandstone cliffs of red and cream and every color in between.  The Virgin River runs through the network of cliffs forming in some areas narrow slot canyons.  The rich red rocks of the main canyon are absolutely amazing.

What is there to do in Zion?  Well Hike of course!

There are several well established trails within Zion NP, one of the most famous is The Narrows.  There are two ways to hike The Narrows:  Bottom up (1-10 miles) and Top down (16 mile hike from Chamberlain's Ranch to The Temple of Sinawava).  The Narrows top down requires a wilderness permit, however, for the bottom up route no permit is needed.  

This hike is considered a strenuous hike and is not for the faint of heart or unprepared hiker.  This is warning was copied directly from the National Park Service website: 

     "When hiking through the Virgin River Narrows, at least 80% of the route is spent wading, walking, and swimming sections of the river. There is no maintained trail; the river is the route. The river current is swift, the water is cold, and the rocks underfoot are slippery. Flash flooding and hypothermia are constant dangers."

The Narrows - starts like a relatively wide canyon with the Virgin River flowing through

The Narrows bottom up trail is an out and back day hike and can range from 1-8 hours depending on how far you travel up the Virgin River.  Yes, I said travel UP the Virgin River.  The narrows is considered a strenuous hike, so it is not for everyone, but we had to try!  The trailhead begins at the Temple of Sinowava and the first mile is a paved Riverside Walk along the Virgin River.  At the end of the paved section, there is a set of stairs leading down into the river.  For the next 4 miles up to Big Springs, hikers walk in the river through the canyon which progressively narrows as you get closer to Big Springs. 

 The hike is challenging for sure as the water varies in depth from ankle deep to chest high and as it travels through a narrow canyon, paying attention to the weather is critical for a safe hike.  If the weather is calling for rain, it is best to save this hike for another day as flooding can occur rapidly without much warning.  

I had seen pictures on social media and knew this was a hike we had to do during our visit to Zion.  It does, however, come with many challenges, from walking in cold water (55-59 F in late September) at times up to my chest and walking on slippery uneven and wobbly rocks in a stiff current.  We are not experienced hikers so I did a lot of research to prepare for our hike including what to wear on our feet, whether we needed waiters/waterproof pants, what to bring with us as far as food and first aid.  Now, I will be the first to admit, I like to research my hikes to be sure of a safe and enjoyable time; but there were people out there in bare feet and flip flops!  That is just crazy!  I am sure those barefoot or in flipflops were not intending to hike very far, just wanted the experience.  I am, however, of the philosophy be prepared.  We did not make it all the way to Big Springs, but we hiked about 4 miles up the canyon before turning around, which took us 7 hours.  We took our time and stopped for photos along the way.  So here are some of the photos John took of the narrows hike.

So, would we do it a gain?  YES!!!  Next time we will leave a little earlier to make it all the way to Big Springs.  Knowing what we know from our experience, the way back was much faster than the way up.  Plan ahead, wear waterproof boots to protect your feet and ankles, take food with you because you will need the energy if you plan to go all the way to Big Springs and take a sturdy hiking stick or pole.  We decided we probably didn't need the waiters that we wore, but it was chilly in the morning (50 F) when we started so we decided to wear them.  Be sure to take layers that you can put on and take off, as the temperature will change as the day progresses.  Also remember, that it is cooler in the canyon than it is elsewhere in the park due to the cool temperatures of the river and the lack of direct sunlight that gets into the canyon.  We also noticed there were far fewer people the further up the canyon you went. 

The narrows, however, is not the only hike worth taking.   There were several others that we took including the emerald pools and the Canyon Overlook.  To hike the Emerald Pools you will need to take the park shuttle to stop 6, the Grotto, as the bridge between the Zion Lodge (Stop 5) and the Lower Emerald Pool trail is out due to a rock slide.  The upper, middle and lower emerald pool trails can be reached using the Kayenta Trail.  There is a bit of an elevation change getting up to the Upper Emerald Pool and coming back up from the Lower Emerald Pool.  The pools themselves were not super pretty, but the surroundings and overlooks were definitely worth the effort.

Lower Emerald Pool Trail

Lower Emerald Pool Trail

John even found some tadpoles in the Middle Emerald Pool.  This guy was out crawling around, no longer a tadpole, but not yet a frog.

Upper Emerald Pool

The other named trail we took was the Canyon Overlook Trail.  There is no shuttle to this trail, you will need enter the south gate and then travel through the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel by car.  This tunnel was  hand carved in the 1930s.  It is a narrow tunnel and 2 way traffic has be stopped if a bus or large motor home wants to travel through this pass.  

Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel

The Canyon Overlook trailhead is just past the tunnel toward the east entrance, however, it is important to note that there is very limited parking.  This trail is relatively short and the end provides beautiful views of the canyon below.  We went for sunset and it was beautiful.

After the Canyon Overlook Trail, if you continue along Zion-Mt Carmel Highway towards the east entrance of the park, there are scattered paved pullouts at which you could pull your car off the road and hike down into the washes and can find several entrances to small stretches of slot canyon to explore.  There are no designated trails, you just pull off and walk wherever you like.

 

On the last night we were in Zion, John took advantage of the dark skies and did some astrophotography.  He captured the core of the Milky Way beyond the cliffs of Zion.

Coming soon...

POSTS FROM OUR VIKING MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE. Was it worth the money?  Will we be the youngest on the ship?