Zion National Park
The View
While only a few hours from Las Vegas and the sun-soaked Mars-scape of Valley of Fire, Zion NP was a world away. The noble and dramatic formations viewed from the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive were astounding and humbling, and overwhelmed even a Colorado native like me.
We tend to avoid super popular spots like Zion, but by planning ahead and focusing on the early morning hours, we were able to truly enjoy this amazing place.
Zion has several regions to explore; however, some areas and trails were closed to us related to winter weather damage and the potential for flash floods, including the Kolob Canyons area, as well as the famous Narrows and Angel’s Landing trails. Because of the popularity of all trails accessed by the Scenic Drive, travel in the canyon is by the park shuttle only, starting in April. I loved the shuttle because it allowed us to view the majesty of the canyon, without the stresses of driving in a long line of RVs and motorcycles or fighting for parking.
The first park shuttle of the day departed at 7. We decided to drive to the visitor center, rather than take the Springdale shuttle, since it didn’t start running until 8. We arrived at the park by 7:30, and found plenty of people there already. Even so, we were able to walk directly to a shuttle and enjoy a quiet and stunning early morning trip up the canyon. We headed to the popular Emerald Pools trails. Most visitors approach these trails from the Zion Lodge (stop #5), but we chose the Grotto (stop #6), which allowed a solitary and scenic trek on the Kayenta Trail (below center) to the Middle and Upper Emerald Pools. By mid-morning, the Upper Pool area was busy, so we made our way down to the lower pool and took the trail back to the Zion Lodge stop.
We hopped on the shuttle and rode to the final stop for a riverside walk (including incredible views from the shuttle) and then down to Court of the Patriarchs (stop #4, see above), and back to the visitor center. It was early afternoon at that point, and we observed there was now a 90-minute wait to get on a shuttle, so we felt pretty good about our early morning start. The weather was getting chilly and quite windy, so we headed back to our cabin to rest and consider our next steps.
We awoke the next morning to a dusting of spring snow and temperatures in the 20s. Even so, it was sunny, dry and beautiful. We were moving on to our next destination that day, and planned to drive the fantastic Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway (a winding 2-lane road) through the eastern portion of the park. We opted to enjoy a hot breakfast and allow time for the park roads to thaw prior to heading out on the drive.
Right after the switchbacks and the famous Mt. Carmel tunnel, we managed to snag a parking spot and access the Canyon Overlook Trail. It was mid-morning, and the short trail was already busy, but the foot traffic and increasing sun had taken care of most of the ice that must have covered the trail earlier in the day. We were rewarded with an amazing panorama of the park.
We made several shorter stops on our way to the east entrance, through this enchanting but much less-crowded region of Zion. After exiting the park, we took a lunch break in the town of Kanab and enjoyed a visit to the Toadstool Hoodoos, both described in my next post, on our route to Page, AZ.
The Room
Zion is accessed by driving through the small town of Springdale, which is scenic, charming and convenient, but somewhat pricey. Still, the premium location was important to us, so I booked early to secure an affordable, but special, place to stay. Nama-Stay offers well-designed, minimalistic studio-style cabins and larger family suites a few hundred yards off the main road in Springdale and a short walk to great restaurants, a market and the Springdale shuttle to the park. We stayed in Cabin 8, which I recommend as being more private than the others, and with the best view of the surrounding vistas. We woke up our first morning to a beautiful Zion sunrise view (below left).
Our cabin, suitable for 1 or 2 travelers, was perfectly clean and included a vintage-style refrigerator, teapot, nice shower and a front porch. While it’s not possible to cook in these cabins, we were able to purchase snacks, drinks and food for breakfast at Sol Foods (5 minutes away on foot), so that we could head into the park as early the next morning as possible.
I note I considered booking a room at the park lodge, but reservations were hard to come by and the reviews are mixed. I highly recommend Namastay for those choosing to enjoy Zion from a Springdale home base. It took us less than 10 minutes to arrive at Zion, which would also be accessible by the free Springdale shuttle.
Great Meals in Springdale
There were multiple casual and well-reviewed spots within a 10-minute walk from our cabin, and we opted for these:
We enjoyed our first dinner so much at Oscar’s, that we ate there the second night as well. I had a great grilled chicken salad, and an enormous enchilada the next day (definitely shareable). I recommend an early dinner to avoid the crowds, but the short wait was worth it for us.
Breakfast at busy Porter’s was hearty and satisfying. The biscuits and gravy, eggs and pancakes were all great, and the servers friendly and efficient. As with everything in and around Zion, timing matters. If you are hoping for a quick meal before heading out on the day’s adventure, I recommend arriving before they open the door to ensure you are among the first group to be seated.
