Zion National Park

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Zion Lodge

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btwood2
btwood2
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4 out of 5
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Editor Pick

Hiking Zion: Court of the Patriarchs to Zion Lodge

  • September 7, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by callen60 from Ozarks, Missouri
Hiking Zion: Court of the Patriarchs to Zion Lodge

We arrived in Springdale later than we’d anticipated, mostly because I didn’t realize that we’d change time zones between Las Vegas and Utah. After settling our accommodations, we headed to the car for the short drive to the park, anxious to begin our experience in the canyon.

Dropping the car at the visitor center, we raced to catch the waiting shuttle. As we headed north up the canyon, the early evening sun illuminated the east rim, making the sandstone glow nearly golden in color. The three-mile ride to Court of the Patriarchs had us scrambling from one side of the articulated bus to the other, pressing our faces into the half-open windows, looking up the faces of the cliffs to the temples atop them.

It was cool in the canyon when we arrived, a sign that although the mercury soars here during summer daytimes, the humidity is usually low. A 100-yard trail headed east and up the hill away from the bus stop. A few switchbacks raised our elevation, greatly improving the view back across the road. From the small observation area, you then look west to the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—a trio of nearly 7,000’ sandstone peaks towering a half-mile above the canyon floor. Named by Frederick Fisher in 1916, they’re flanked on the right by Mount Moroni. In the early evening, they were silhouetted against the sky, giving them even more grandeur as you stood in their shadow.

Our map showed a trail across the river, heading north to the footbridge across the Virgin to Zion Lodge. Just over a mile long, we decided to end our day with this short hike. After a brief detour down a path along the river’s west edge, we realized we hadn’t hiked far enough west, eventually reaching the T where our spur joined the trail.

We had this path to ourselves. Climbing up and down the remnants of recent and ancient landslides, this trail generally follows the river upstream. We saw wildlife on the trail—for the only time in Zion—quietly following a pair of deer for a few hundred yards, startling a dozen lizards of various types, and watching a bevy of ground squirrels pop back into their underground lodgings.

It wasn’t as easy a hike as we’d anticipated. To the south is the Sand Bench Trail, and not surprisingly, this northern path is nearly all sand—sand that once composed the cliffs on either side of this canyon. And although I thought horses used only the trail south of the T, it was amply clear that they used the northern part, too.

There are better trails in Zion, but no bad ones. This is clearly one of the less popular ones—it’s unnamed on most maps, and called "West Bank Trail" elsewhere—for understandable reasons. But as we ended our hike, the trail returned to the river’s edge, the canyon widened, and beyond the river, the sun was leaving its last traces on the temples of Zion. That view alone was worth the trip.

From journal On the Plateau, Part I: The Canyons of Zion

Editor Pick

Zion Lodge

  • December 7, 2005
  • Rated 3 of 5 by btwood2 from Rodeo, New Mexico
Zion Lodge

Zion Lodge is not the most impressive of national park lodges we’ve visited (that would have to be the Ahwahnee in Yosemite). Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed both the Ahwahnee and Zion Lodges, among other famous national park lodges. Unfortunately, the original Zion Lodge, built in 1927, burned down almost 40 years ago (1966). A work crew using blowtorches to remove old vinyl flooring started the fire. Although the lodge was hurriedly rebuilt in rustic wood and stone, it lacks the beauty of the original. A 1992 remodeling project attempted to restore some of the more attractive features of the original lodge. Some historic rustic cabins were spared from the fire.

Zion Canyon’s first white settler, Isaac Behunin, built his cabin across the river from here in 1862. By 1916, a cluster of tourist tents and dining pavilion was operating in the fledgling national monument at this site.

Today, Xanterra concessionaire operates Zion Lodge. Hotel rooms, cabins and suites accommodate tourists at Zion Lodge, with rates running from $80 for a hotel room in winter to $149 for a suite in peak season (March-November). Xanterra’s Ecologix environmental management system strives to logically integrate ecology and business in its approach. Environmental sustainability is a priority. At Zion Lodge, they’ve installed solar panels on their buildings, and purchase some of their energy from windmills.

Outdoor Castledome Café was buzzing during Halloween weekend, but appeared closed afterwards. Not so Red Rock Grill upstairs at the lodge. We enjoyed soup and salad bar one evening for $9.25 apiece. It seemed a bit steep at that price, for the limited selections. Two kinds of soup were offered: a hearty vegetable-beef and too-thick, bland vegetarian lentil. Warm crusty bread was brought to our table in a basket. Fresh lettuce, Spring blend, and spinach leaves provided a good base for a green salad, with basic veggies to add to it, but only one other type of salad, a three-bean. Dinner entrees range from $13.50 for a vegetarian pasta to $20.95 for New York steak and prime rib. A Zion-themed children’s menu (age 12 and under) has a good choice of selections at reasonable prices (most around $5) for both lunch and dinner.

Phone: 435-772-3213
Website: http://www.zionlodge.com

From journal Mukuntuweap – Splendors of Zion

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