Zion National Park

This pandemic has been really tough for me, as I’m sure it has been for most of you as well. All of my exciting trips have been postponed until who knows when and life is a lot slower than I’m used to. I was really upset about it for a while but I’m starting to accept how things are right now and adapting to it. If it wasn’t for this pandemic, I wouldn’t have been forced to sit with myself and do some deep digging on what I want in life.

I also probably wouldn’t have gotten back to national park trips this year, because I have a huge list of parks I want to visit anyway. So overall, I am grateful for the way life forces us to calm down and pushes us on our own paths. Sometimes we aren’t in favor of the way things are going, but in the end we’re always where we’re supposed to be! Anyways, here’s why we decided to go to Utah last minute:

On Friday morning I texted Vic telling him how bad I wanted to go back to Zion National Park, and we decided right there and then we were going for the weekend. The last time we were in Zion was 2016. As soon as he was off work, we packed our bags and headed out around 9pm. From Arizona, the drive is only about 6 hours, equivalent to driving to LA, so it’s not too bad! We were pretty exhausted on the way though, so when we finally got to Zion, it was like 4am! We drove into the pitch black park and napped until sunrise, since our hotel check-in was at 3.

Saturday morning, running on just a nap, we drove around and finally began to embrace the beauty of the park. I love Zion National Park so much, it reminds me of a much bigger Sedona. The scenery is beautiful, filled with huge red cliffs and a ton of wildlife! We saw so many deer, coyotes, huge birds, and a bobcat. Also, the highway is straight through the scenery so the drive through the park was amazing.

Here are some tips that can save you:

Ask for a map if they don’t give you one when entering Zion. This will have all park closures, parking, shuttle information, and hikes listed as well.
The weather is comparable to Sedona, Arizona so stock up on water, sunscreen, hats, and light clothing but also take a sweater for early morning and nighttime.
Speaking of weather, before you do ANY activities, check Zion’s weather for flash flood warnings, storms, snow, heat wave warnings, etc. There have been people who’ve gotten stuck in The Narrows during big flash floods, be safe!
Phone connections are vague in nature. Research information ahead of time and let family/friends know plans before you leave on vacation.
Don’t be like me-book everything you can in advance to avoid unnecessary stress.
Get to your hikes early to avoid major crowds!

Things To Do:

My goal was to solely hike The Narrows and either Angel’s Landing or one of the Emerald Pools trails. Since we didn’t have anything planned in advance, we were also too late to book a shuttle to The Narrows or any other hikes the same day. It’s important to note that you must have a shuttle booked at least a day in advance to get to the hikes right now! All the parking lots by the hikes are closed and only accessible by the shuttles due to the pandemic.

So here’s what you need to do, go to www.recreation.gov to book a shuttle, the tickets become available at 9am for the next day. They sell out super fast and they’re $1, so set an alarm to purchase them! We slept on it and didn’t get tickets from here for Sunday either, so if you’re like us, there are still several options thankfully.

In Zion, it’s all about adventure and enjoying nature. You have so many options! One thing I love about Zion, and national parks in general, is how kid and family friendly it is. You see people of all walks of life here. We saw toddlers in their piggyback riding gear and older kids hiking The Narrows and it melted my heart! You’re free to drive around, go through the iconic Zion-Mt Carmel tunnel and stop at all the pull-out spots along the scenic drive, or get active. Since we stayed in Springdale, which is the small town literally right outside the Zion entrance, we walked around and visited different shops. There are a variety of crystal shops, souvenir shops, coffee shops, and restaurants in Springdale.

Here's a quick list of what you can do in Zion:

Bicycling
Have A Picnic
Hiking
Climbing
Canyoneering
Kayaking
Swimming
Shopping
Stargazing

The most popular thing to do in Zion really is hiking, there are a variety of hikes for all people. This is a list of the most popular hikes:

Angel's Landing

This hike is one of the most difficult and sought after! It is dangerous and strenuous, it’s not recommended for kids or people who are afraid of heights. The hike is a steep trail up and through a very narrow ridge where you have to hold on to chains. Some points of the trail are wide enough for only one-way traffic with steep drop-offs on both sides, so it’s important to be safe and cautious of others. Take your time and enjoy the journey!

The payoff will be so worth it because when you get to the summit, you’re standing at 5,790 feet and the views are amazing! I can’t wait to cross this hike off of my bucket list, it was closed for some repairs this past weekend so look out for the reopening.

I use the app called AllTrails for my hikes, it has reviews and updated information so it’s very useful! Hopefully I’ll go back by the end of the year and get to share my own experience and photos with you. But since I don’t have my own photos to share yet, this video can give you a quick idea of what this hike is like.

The Narrows

This hike is a very popular one for a reason! This hike is through flowing water over slippery rocks. You can see The Narrows from the paved walkway which is about a 20 minute walk from the parking lot, or you can hike through the Virgin River into The Narrows, which is what we did.

We looked around at several shuttles and went with Zion Adventures, which is who we rented from for our winter hike in 2016! The shuttle tickets were $55 and it included the gear for the hike. You have the option to use their gear which, in summertime was boots, Neoprene socks, and a hiking stick. We only used the stick since we had our own water shoes, but the boots would’ve probably been super useful, so I recommend it.

Vic and I started our hike at 9am and I think it was a perfect time. By the time we were at the most exciting part of the hike called Wall Street, it was about 11 and the crowds were way behind us. We went a total of 6 miles roundtrip, by the end of the hike I was exhausted and my knees up to my hip flexors were in pain!

Despite looking like I peed myself all day, this hike is one of my favorites of all time. You spend most of the time hiking through the river with some areas walking through rocks and dirt. It’s such a fun experience overall! The water comes up to your waist and some parts of the hike are deep enough to swim in. The water wasn’t too cold, the weather was beautiful, and the views made the blisters and soreness worth it.

Back in 2016, we visited Zion in February when it was freezing and snowy. We hiked The Narrows in bodysuit winter gear from Zion Adventures and this was definitely a fun experience! I prefer summer over winter but I recommend everyone to try a winter hike at least once. The walls along the hike are frozen and there is little to no crowd which I appreciated! When we visited in winter, we did more hiking and this time, we explored town more.

This was our winter 2016 experience, huge jumpsuits and all:

Emerald Pools

This hike has three different parts to it. There’s the lower, middle, and upper pools. We did the lower pools back in 2016 and it really is a quick walk up to the rock formations where water runs down like a small waterfall. It’s usually full of luscious greenery & is easy for all ages.

If you go past Lower Emerald Pool, you’ll find steps that lead to a more difficult hike where the end result is the top of these waterfalls. This hike is a little more steep and goes from paved walkways to rock and dirt. The Middle Emerald Pool trail is marked closed for repairs but you’ll still get a glimpse of it on the way to the upper pools. This hike all the way up to the Upper Emerald Pool is about 2-3 miles total (depending on the route you take), offering beautiful views of the park at a moderate level of difficulty.

The Subway

This hike is one like you’ve never seen before! While it takes all day, around 7 to 9 hours long and 9.5 miles, you’ll be hiking through water and boulders kind of like The Narrows. This hike requires a permit which you can get online here and must be reserved 3 months in advance. It’s very intense and most people prefer hiking from the top down. Also, there is some swimming and rappelling required, so this is considered a canyoneering tour. I recommend going with someone who has done it before or maybe finding some type of guide. On AllTrails, there are hundreds of reviews from people who have done it with pictures as well. It’s definitely on my bucket list!

The Watchman Trail

This easy hike starts at the Visitor’s Center and leads to a beautiful viewpoint. It’s only 3 miles roundtrip, making it easy for kids and families. The Watchman Trail is a simple scenic hike and doesn’t usually have a lot of tourism, thankfully. It usually takes about an hour to walk through so I recommend this hike if you have kids or just time to kill. The pic below is from wintertime 2016.

Other things to do:

Go swimming at Pine Creek Waterfall.
Rent bikes or e-bikes (Zion Adventures had some).
Visit the Canyon Overlook Trail off of route 9.
Go Climbing through the iconic park (check spots and closures here).
Go Horseback Riding.

Hike the Canyon Overlook Trail.
Do a Photography Excursion.
Drive up to Bryce Canyon National Park 2 hours away.
Visit Kolob Canyon 40 minutes away.

Where To Stay:

We stayed at the Historic Pioneer Lodge the first time we visited in 2016 and this time we stayed at the Hampton Inn. Both are nice places to stay, the Hampton Inn included a really great breakfast and had great amenities. As always, unless I’m camping, staying a while somewhere, or I’m at an all-inclusive hotel, I rarely utilize hotel amenities. I won’t spend much time wherever I’m staying because I’d rather be out exploring of course!

Also, it’s important to note that inside of Zion National Park itself, there aren’t too many places to stay. The outside town, Springdale, is where most lodging is located. That’s where most dining and stores are as well. Aside from camping and hotels etc. I’d also look into Airbnb and thi s website for fun ways to camp!

Camping

So, in Zion there are two places to camp-Watchman Campground and South Campground. For these two campgrounds, you’ll have to go to www.recreation.gov again and also book your dates but availability is limited, especially during peak season. Their pricing ranges from anywhere between $20-$130, depending on the amount of people per campsite, time of year, etc. As for the Lava Point Campground, it’s first come, first serve but it is about an hour away from Zion’s entrance.

Hotels, Motels, Lodges

Inside of Zion National Park, there is only one place to book and it’s Zion National Park Lodge. This is close to all the hikes including The Narrows. It’s a popular lodge with cabins, hotel rooms, and suites. It also has two restaurants, Red Rock Grill and Castle Dome Café. This lodge is very popular and is always booked up so if you’re interested in booking here, you’ll want to book in advance. We drove by it on the way to our hike and it’s beautiful!

If you drive about 10 minutes from the Zion Lodge, you’ll enter Springdale and have a wide variety of places to stay. I really enjoyed staying in Springdale because while it’s still extremely close to the Zion entrance, it’s lively and full of places to eat and other travelers. I’m going to list some places below to look into, these prices are listed as of August 2020.

Hotels with free breakfast

SpringHill Suites ($250+)
Holiday Inn Express ($120+)
Hampton Inn & Suites ($120+)
La Quinta Inn & Suites ($150+)
Best Western Plus & Suites ($150+)
Quality Inn & Suites ($120+)
Harvest House Bed & Breakfast ($150+)

Other Popular Places

Driftwood Lodge ($140+)
Desert Pearl Inn ($250+)
Historic Pioneer Lodge ($120+)
Majestic View Lodge ($150+)
Bumbleberry Inn ($120+)
Flanigan’s Inn ($200+)
Zion Park Motel ($120+)

Eat + Shop:

Most of the restaurants and places to shop are, again, in Springdale. On Saturday morning, we explored town for a few hours and grabbed coffee and breakfast before we left to Bryce Canyon National Park. There were so many cute shops including crystal shops and souvenirs shops. I found the cutest t-shirts at Canyon Outfitters and Bumbleberry Gift Shop and Bakery. I also recommend going to Sol Foods Supermarket for snacks and waters for hikes, we bought a ton of good food here.

As for coffee, my favorite place was from Deep Creek Coffee Company! They have a huge menu with breakfast, pastries, and desserts as well. They also have teas and smoothies if you don’t drink coffee. This cafe opens early and was super busy, I highly recommend coming here.

For breakfast, we were recommended Blondie’s Diner and MeMe’s Café. Blondie’s wasn’t open so we went to MeMe’s, I wasn’t the biggest fan but Vic enjoyed it. As for lunch and dinner, my favorite place was Oscar’s Café. They had the best burgers and fries, I actually had the Impossible Burger which was plant based and delicious!

Then, our last stop on Sunday evening before we headed home was in Zion itself at Perks! Coffee, Espresso, & Smoothies and Zion Canyon Brew Pub. The brewery has the best beers and really good food too. We also visited Zion Outfitter for some souvenirs and they had great stuff as well.