Zion Is Truly Gods Land

• November 23, 2009
• Rated 5 of 5 by Autumnrose2008 from fort Collins, Colorado

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A Park Named After Heaven

• October 11, 2009
• Rated 5 of 5 by airynfaerie from St. Augustine, Florida

One of the most breathtaking national parks has to be Zion National Park, with the colorful, looming rocks, hanging gardens, emerald pools, and pristine rivers.

We visited Zion as a day trip from Las Vegas, and I can honestly say that I'd rather have stayed in this lovely park for a few extra days. It was quite easy navigating through the roads to the entrance and parking lot. We paid the entrance fee and were greeted by knowledgeable and courteous staff at the lodge where we read a bit about the history of the park and the sites within it. Be sure to pick up some literature there which will guide you through the must-see spots in this massive park.

The staff told us about three of the main paths that we could take, that would take us past the main sites. We walked most of the paths, but also took advantage of the park Shuttle Bus system which can help you get around a little faster. Take your time and enjoy viewing the many observation points, pools, and rock formations.

Bring plenty of water and sunscreen, and wear comfortable shoes. Overall it's not a very difficult hike, as there are clearly marked paths, mostly on level ground. At the end of the hike, take a stop at the lodge restaurant or cafe for some lovely regional food. Or grab a few items to-go and enjoy a picnic on the grassy lawn out front under a large shade tree.

You won't regret visiting this unique destination in the West! A must-see!

http://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm
Entrance Fees: Private Vehicles/RVs - $25 per vehicle for a 7 day pass
Open: Daily
Closed: December 25
Spring: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Summer: 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.
Fall: 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Winter: 8:00 am. to 5:00 pm.

From journal Exciting Day-Trips from Vegas

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Our Favorite National Park

• June 4, 2009
• Rated 5 of 5 by Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah

From journal Free visits to the National Parks

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The Not to Be Missed National Park

• May 27, 2009
• Rated 5 of 5 by Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah

Zion National Park is one of 18 National Parks within a one day drive of our home in Northern Utah. We have been to them all several times, but Zion is where we go most often. Attendance figures for Utah’s National Parks show that Zion has as many visitors as the other four combined. At first view, Zion impresses, but not as much as Bryce Canyon or the Grand Canyon. But Zion grows on you until you realize that there is nowhere better to be, if its not too hot.

Although set in a desert, the diverse topography of Zion supports a remarkable range of life. Over 800 different species have been identified, more than in the Hawaiian Islands. You are likely to see deer and wild turkeys near Zion Lodge and lizards on the trails. The most spectacular wildflowers are cactus in bloom and Indian Paint Brush(see photo).

There are several motels in Springdale, right at the entrance to the park and one lodge inside the park. Since Zion Canyon extends through Springdale, the setting is much the same. From May-November, a free shuttle bus runs thorough Springdale to take visitors to the park entrance.

Springdale offers choices of places to eat while there is only one restaurant and one fast food place at Zion Park Lodge inside the park. Don’t miss trying a buffalo meat burger at the Sol Market, located at the transfer point between the Springdale shuttle bus and the park shuttle bus just outside the pedestrian entrance to Zion National Park. Eat on the terrace behind the Sol Market.

Zion has five distinct areas: 1] Kolob Canyons, on the west side of the park off I-15, about 80km from Zion Canyon. An 8 km (one way) scenic road. leads into the heart of the Kolob Canyons region. The road and its many pullovers provide endless views of great the red rock cliffs lining several side canyons, sometimes topped with a frosting of fresh snow, and almost always crowned the bluest blue sky we have ever seen.

2] Kolob Terrace high country encompasses most of the park’s area. One road, mostly paved, provides access to the park’s long trails atop the plateau 600m above Zion Canyon, but the scenery from the road itself, while it would make a grand sight most anywhere else, is third class for Zion.

3] The rim country, accessible by a long hike from Kolob Terrace or by climbing 600-950m straight up from Zion Canyon, has grand views of the Canyon and of the high country. The easiest access to the rim is from the Canyon Overlook Trail which starts just. outside the uphill end of the -tunnel on UT Rt 9. There is no bus parking and limited car parking.

4] Zion Canyon, a 14 km long road (one way) along the Virgin River is what Zion is the hear of the park. The canyon is a great gash in the white, yellow, and red sandstone carved by the river. Widening to ½ mile at Zion Lodge, the canyon closes in to only 30 yards wide at The Start of the Narrows. Since 5,000 cars a day compete for the 420 canyon parking spaces in summer, everybody has to ride shuttle busses from the park entrance at Springdale, from April 1 to November. The road is open from November thru March, which is a great time to visit because the climate is at its best. The average high temperature for June, July, and August is 39C. The best way to beat the heat is to get out early in the morning when the temperature will be 10-15 degrees cooler (the coolest time of the day comes about one hour after sun rise).

5] UT Rt 9 from US 89 to I-15-- 84 km-- is one of the most scenic roads in the world.

Zion has a wonderful collection of hikes and walks. Some are flat and paved, some involve moderate climbs, and some— well, the Angles Landing Trail climbs 450m in 1.5 km . The last 140m includes a chain for you hang on to. Sometimes it doesn’t work. Boy Scouts seem particularly apt at taking the fatal plunge.

Zion is open all year. Summer is most popular, but summers are the worst time to visit as it is hot, crowded, and the waterfalls are at minimum flow. Fall brings nice colors to the leaves in the canyon floor. Spring is best for waterfalls and wild flowers. Even winter can be stunning. We have hiked in Zion on Dec. 27 wearing shorts and tee shirts after skiing in Northern Utah on Christmas Day. Lucky visitors will experience a rare snowfall frosting the ledges, or low clouds in the canyon shrouding the great cliffs in a aura of mystery.

THE TRAILS OF ZION CANYON FLOOR. Three flat trails, two paved, on the canyon floor are not much more of a strain than walking a city sidewalk. Start of the Narrows and Pa’rus are suitable for wheelchairs. We have also seen wheelchair visitors on the Lower Emerald Pool Trail. 1] The park calls it "River Walk". We call it the trail to The Start of the Narrows. Here, at the upper end of Zion Canyon, the canyon rim is 600m above the trail, but the canyon narrows rapidly to only 9m wide at the end of the paved trail,producing an unmistakable feeling of claustrophobia. The adventurous can continue another 21 km through the narrows, a hike involving considerable wading in the river, and you must arranged for a pick up at the upstream end, or walk back. The Narrows narrows down to a canyon only 3m wide, with 300m cliffs soaring above. There is no exit from start to finish.

2] Pa’rus Trail (walking, bicycles, wheelchairs, and pets) runs up canyon for about 2 km from the the Visitor’s Center to a shuttle bus stop just the other side of where the trail goes under the highway bridge. Walk round trip or ride back. River Walk is in the narrowest part of the canyon, Pa’rus at the widest. We found Pa’rus Trail to be the best place in the Park to see flowering cactus in the spring (May- early June).

3] The Grotto Trail connects Zion Lodge and The Grotto (picnic ground). Unlike most park trails, Grotto Trail runs close to the road, but traffic is sparse.

Moderate Hikes : 1] Emerald Pools. The trip to Middle Emerald Pool, a climb of 50m, is our favorite hike in Zion, especially near sunset and in the spring or fall. Spring, May-June, brings wild flowers to the scree the trail crosses to Lower Emerald Pool. Around the first of November, the fall foliage changes, and the Lower Emerald Pool Trail runs under a canopy of red and yellow leaves.

2] Watchman Trail. 3 km rt. Climbs 300m Excellent open views of the entrance to Zion Canyon. A very gradual climb.

3] Weeping Rock, where water oozes out of the cliff. 1.5 km rt. Climbs 30m. Moderately steep, about like climbing stairs.

4] The Court of the Patriarchs view point. A very short hike climbing about one flight of stairs from the east side of the bus stop to a better view of this side canyon than is seen from the road.

There is one rim trail that is easy to get to, the Canyon Overlook Trial. There is climb of 20m from the road just above the tunnel on Rt 9, then the trail is fairly flat to the overlook on the top of the cliff above the Great Arch of Zion.

From journal Utah for Visitors from Other Lands

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Zion Canyon Covered in Snow is a Rare Sight

• January 30, 2009
• Rated 5 of 5 by Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah

We’ve been to Zion during Christmas week in very different weather conditions. Once we spent the days hiking in tee shirts and shorts with temperatures in the 60s, once with a foot of snow on the ground and temperatures below freezing. At the end of the year, nice hiking temperatures are common but erratic. A foot of snow is very rare, and that is the crown jewel, for adding snow to the red, yellow, and white rocks of Zion, along with the dark green pine trees, makes for one of Mother Nature’s special gems.

Not entirely due to brilliant planning, but more or less intended, we arrived at Zion under optimal conditions, approaching the park from the west late in the afternoon on cloudless day. With the setting sun low in the sky behind us, the great red, white, and black rock mesas and cliffs bordering UT Rt 9 from I-15 to the park were spotlit by the setting sun, revealing views that are otherwise hidden in shadows during the day. About a half hour after we entered the park, the sun set, which was fine because that gave us an hour to explore Zion Canyon with constant lighting.

Zion Canyon is six miles long, more or less running north and south and about a half mile wide at the start, then narrowing down to less than 100 ft. wide a mile beyond the end of the road, at the Start of the Narrows (it gets down to 18 ft. wide at the Narrows), with shear colored rock cliffs shooting up 1,100-3,000 ft above both sides of the canyon. When this geography is coupled with the brilliant sunshine of the southwest desert, amazing lighting effects happen to the views from the canyon floor– one side of the canyon is bathed in brilliant light, the other side almost lost in murky shadows. Consequently, the scene looks very different in the morning, when the west wall is illuminated than in the afternoon when the east wall is lit. For 30-60 minunts before sunrise and after sunset, the scene has even lighting in all directions, the only time of the day you can see the details of the setting on all sides. These lighting changes actually turn Zion into three different parks: one with morning light, one with afternoon light, and one with equal lighting. The effects of the changes in lighting are dramatic enough to make it essential to see all three, which we did.

There are 400 parking places in Zion Canyon. In high season, April-October, an average of 3,000 cars a day arrive at Zion. Consequently, cars are not allowed on the Canyon Road– everybody parks at the Visitor’s Center until it fills up, about 10:00am. Then you park in the town of Springdale and take the free shuttle bus to the Visitor’s Center to transfer to the shuttle bus that runs up and down Zion Canyon Road. At Christmas, we could drive right in, all the way to the end of the Canyon Road. Although the dead of winter, the parking lots were packed. At the end of the road parking lot, we had to circle the parking lot twice to wait for somebody leaving to get a space, and that was after sunset.

On entering the park, we were met by impressive views of the cliffs crowned with snow, but no snow on the ground. By the time we reached the Court of the Patriarchies, the first major scenic pullover on Canyon Drive, there was a fair amount of snow on the ground. By Zion Lodge, the ground was well covered, and at the end of the road, the snow on the ground was about a foot deep. Every flat spot and gradual slope on the cliff walls was snow covered, with the deep red rock cliffs for background. In a few places, the walls of the cliffs themselves were snow covered-- some of the vertical walls of the canyon were plastered with snow. This happens when the wind blows wet falling snow against the cold rock wall. It instantly freezes to the surface. If the plastered surface is protected from direct sunlight, it will stay snow covered until the ambient air temperature is warm enough to melt it, and five days after the storm, than had not yet happened.

We drove to the end of Canyon road with the east wall in full sun, and returned after sunset, with equal light all around. We stopped at all the pullovers. There were particularly good winter scenes at the Court of the Patriarchs, Big Bend, the end of the road, and just a little way up canyon from Zion Lodge, where there is a view of the Emerald Pools area. Besides snow, the other unusual sight in Zion that day was the waterfalls. Although the sun protected canyon was well covered with snow, up above on the sun bathed Zion Plateau, plenty of melting was underway which activated some of the intermittent waterfalls indulging the nearly 1,500 ft. high falls at the end of the road, and there was a big enough flow over Upper Emerald Falls to make it easily visible from the road.

On our return from the end of Canyon Drive, we came across several cars stopped out in the street to look at the deer graving on the nearby hill. We stopped at the first bunch of deer, skipped the next two. We regularly see deer in the snow in our yard from our widows at home, so no big deal, deer in snow.

We reached the entrance to the Canyon road just as it got dark, turned around and drove back to Zion Lodge to visit the gift shop. We wanted to get some postcards of Zion covered in snow like we had just seen. There are no such. Little skiffs of snow here and there, yes, but buried in snow, no. It does not happen, but this year it did.

Next day, we returned to Zion and drove up UT Rt. 9 to the Checkerboard Mesa parking lot, which is where the spectacular scenery of Zion park more or less ends. From the junction with Canyon Drive, Rt 9 climbs almost 1,000 ft. up the side of the canyon wall, goes through a tunnel, and emerges on the Zion Plateau, a wonderland of petrified sand dunes in shades of red and yellow and white rock offset by dark green pine trees and brilliant blue sky. This is an entirely different world than Zion Canyon, and both are must see sights when visiting Zion.

Again, we stopped at every view point and a few times in the middle of the road to look at the winter landscape. We returned to Zion Canyon and drove again to the end of the road and back to see the scene in morning/noon light. Thus, we saw Zion in snow under all three essential lightning conditions, afternoon, morning, and without direct sunshine (after sunset). We were most impressed with the after sunset lighting, without the glare of sun light on one side of the canyon while the opposite rock wall was hidden in the gloom of shadows, but we debated why this was. It might have been the lighting, or it might have been the novelty of our first visit to Zion Canyon covered in snow the day before. All in all on this trip, we drove the Canyon road four times, once up canyon in afternoon, light, once down canyon after sunset, and both ways the next morning/noon. This much is clear: seeing Zion Canyon covered in snow is a rare sight well worth seeking out.

From journal Christmas in Las Vegas, Almost

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