Zion National Park
Personal Notes
This page contains links to our personal notes on our visits to Zion National Park in Utah.
Since 1971 I have visited Zion many times. Over the years Anne and I have hiked nearly every trail within the Park. It is one of our favorites, even though it has become so crowded that its pleasures are vanishing. During the warmer months there is not much solitude within the main canyon, and less and less in the backcountry. Since the Park Service instituted the shuttle system our visits have become more enjoyable, though there are people everywhere.
One of the problems had been the limited parking near trailheads. The shuttle has alleviated that situation. Now you can park in one of the big lots, or leave your car at a campground or in Springdale, and take the shuttle to the desired destination. One little perk is that the tourists seem to get a kick out of the hikers and their equipment, especially when you are returning and obviously sweaty and dusty from the trail.
The notes here are from some of our more recent trips. In the early days I didn't keep detailed notes, and for some reason, some of my notes on more recent hikes are missing.
Friday, February 9, 1996
Winter Shortcut
This morning we left Grand Canyon Village, on the south rim, heading out before dawn. We drove through fog and along icy roads, until we broke out into the clear somewhere west of Cameron. We ate breakfast at a great little restaurant in Page, Arizona, then crossed over the bridge in front of Glen Canyon Dam. We again ran into rain and snow east of Kanab. On the spur of the moment we decided to make a side trip. We drove through Zion National Park, from Mount Carmel Junction, to see what it looked like in Winter. We made a quick drive up the canyon to the Temple of Sinawava, then drove back and through the West Entrance and Springdale. It was wonderful without all of the tourists around. We took I-15 north, and headed home.
Monday, August 4, 1997
Quick Trip Through
We were staying in our trailer at Bryce Canyon Pines near Bryce Canyon National Park. It had rained all night and into the morning, dampening our hopes for a nice local hike. So instead of sitting in the trailer all day, we decided to drive down to Zion and look around. As expected, there were lots of tourists and we had to wait in a long line to drive through the tunnel from the East Entrance. The main canyon was packed, but we did find a parking place at the Weeping Rock Trailhead.
By then the sun had come out and it was hot and very humid. We drove back down the canyon to Springdale, where we ate a late lunch at the Bumbleberry Inn. We drove back to our campsite through Cedar City and Cedar Breaks National Monument. On the way we stopped in the Kolob Section of Zion to look around the Visitor Center there.
May 25, 2001
Scout Lookout Hike
We were staying in St. George, and exploring that area of Utah. On one of the days we drove down to the Toroweap section of Grand Canyon National Park and visited Pipe Springs Monument on the way back. The next day we drove into Zion National Park and hiked up to Scout Landing and along the West Rim Trail a ways.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Backcountry Permits Online and The Narrows Prep
After breakfast we drove into the Park. At the South Entrance station we bought our $65.00 Golden Eagle Pass. This pass allows us to enter all national parks and monuments, plus many of the Forest Service and BLM locations without having to pay additional fees. It does not cover camping fees. This is the second year in a row that we bought our annual pass at this entrance station.
From there we drove to the Visitor Center and talked to the two young rangers working the Backcountry Office. If you watch a ten minute video and fill out a backcountry permit form the Park Service issues you a password that allows you to obtain backcountry permits for Zion National Park online. This is a great new service, which means that we can sit in the comfort of our home, determine when we would like to do a backpacking trip or hike down The Narrows, go online, check out the availability of the permits for those dates, apply online, and actually print off our permit. All without having to stop at the Backcountry Office on the day of the hike. Very convenient.
Not all destinations within the Park are covered, and only a limited number of permits are available online, but if you plan ahead and check on your permit on the first day allowed for your desired dates, you have a good chance of getting the dates you want. If not, you can either take your chances at the Backcountry Office (like it has been for years) or you can pick another date. The online permit password is good for three years, then you must return to the Backcountry Office to review the video and complete a new Backcountry Permit form. Darn! Another excuse to have to visit Zion. That's tough.
The Visitor Center is near the two main campgrounds. We were surprised by the number of campers this early in the year. The campgrounds were nowhere near full, but there were a good number of tenters and an few pop-ups The nighttime air would still be a bit too chilly for us at this point in our lives. But if you bundled up, had a nice campfire and something warm to drink, one could probably do alright. As long as it didn't rain. That can make any camping trip miserable, but especially in the cold months.
After we got signed up for our online permits, we drove back into Springdale and visited the Narrows Outfitters, right across the street from the Quality Inn, where we were staying. They have two locations in town, and this is the smaller of the two stores. This is also the pick up point for the various commercial shuttles that they run. We bought our river boots from these folks the previous fall, and we wanted to make our reservations for the shuttle to Chamberlain's Ranch (where the hike down The Narrows begins). Our intended hike date isn't until mid-September, but we didn't want to make sure we had a spot on the earliest shuttle.
We reserved a spot, then talked to the young woman working the shop. We had spoken to her and her husband last autumn. They are both very friendly and helpful. She gave us some good detailed tips on the hike through The Narrows and passed on some informative printed materials. We had also picked up some information at the Backcountry Office in the Park.
With that done, we went back to our motel to prepare for our hike up to Observation Point.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Petroglyph Canyon Trip
On this trip our main objective was to locate and photograph petroglyphs within Zion National Park. Over the years we'd visited Zion on many occasions, but we never knew (or, early on, perhaps did not care) that there was rock art within the boundaries of the Park. Even with its smooth, prominent cliff faces I didn't associate rock art with this part of the state. A major error on my part.
On the way down I-15 we stopped in the Kolob Canyons section of the park (at Exit 40), where we stopped briefly at the small Visitor Center there, then drove up the Kolob Canyon Road. We'd visited this area a couple of times before, and on one occasion backpacked to the Kolob Arch area for an overnight stay. This was our first trip to this section in the cold months, and we were a bit disappointed due to the solid cloud cover. But, we viewed the sights as best we could, and I got several really nice photograph. The other advantage to this time of the year was the small number of other tourists along the road and at the view points.
From there we drove on down through Toquervill and La Verkin and on into the main part of the Park. We stopped in Springdale and ate lunch at Blondies for burgers. It's new to us, since our last visit here. The burgers were okay, but not great, and were a bit on the expensive side. The restaurant is located in an old house, which promised a homey atmosphere, but it turned out to be a disappointment. It was like they tore out the normal household furniture, then replaced it with old tables and chairs, leaving the old pint job, flooring, and lots of the old junk on the walls. We sat in a back room that was no doubt once a small bedroom. The closet door had been removed, and the space was used for storage. It just seemed messy and we were a bit uncomfortable. But, at least we tried for some local atmosphere.
Our first stop inside the Park was to see Sacrifice Rock. On the left side of the road as you enter, there is a slight bit of a pull out with a narrow foot path leading through the tall grass. A few yards off of the road there is a prominent group of fallen boulders and sandstone slabs. On one surface of the largest slab there are a few small petroglyphs, one of which is a spiral, which may have been used as some sort of a solar calendar. We explored the area for a few minutes, took a few photos, then drove on to the Visitor Center.
There we were pleased to find easy parking. During tourist season parking spaces are few and far between. In the Visitor Center we talked to rangers in the Backcountry Office about locating the Cave Valley rock art locations, as well as how to find the Petroglyph Canyon panels. The directions to Petroglyph Canyon were easy, but the instructions on how to find the Cave Valley site were a bit less defined.
Anne also adopted a big horn sheep and got a stuffed version as a reminder.
On this trip we were staying in one of the cabins at the lodge. We had stayed at the lodge before, but in the hotel part. This time we had a nice, cozy cabin with its own fireplace, a spacious room, large bed, rustic furniture, a clean, large bathroom as well as a separate dressing room. It was very nice.
On this first night we ate dinner in town at the Pioneer Cafe. We'd eaten there several times before, but on this trip it was a disappointment. It seemed to take too long for the food to arrive, and the usually good home-style cooking just wasn't up to what we'd come to expect.
On the way through the Park in the dark we saw some small mammal, like a rodent of some sort, dash across the road. But it really didn't look like a mouse or a rat.
Friday, November 12, 2010
At 9:00 a.m. it was 30 degrees outside, but the sun was shining. We initially walked over to the lodge to have breakfast, but the place was packed, so we decided to have breakfast as we drove through Springdale. The junction where the Zion Canyon Road meets the main road through the park had heavy construction underway, so we had to sit and wait until they moved some heavy equipment before we could make it through.
Just before we got to the road construction we'd seen a flock of turkeys at one of the bus tops. Even though we've seen wild turkeys all over, it's always fun to see a new group in the wild. We also spotted a bunch of mule deer browsing along the side of the road, as well as racoon.
We ate breakfast at the Pioneer Cafe, having had good experiences there before, but, like the night before, the meal just was not quite right. I'd ordered my eggs over medium and they took forever and when they came they were hardly cooked at all. I sent them back, but by then the rest of my meal was cold. Everything was just off a bit with the Pioneer on this trip.
After breakfast we drove on out of town toward the west, then turned north in the small town of Virgin, and took the Kolob Terrace Road up to Cave Valley, where we parked along the side of the road and scoped out the rock faces in the area. Going by the instructions we'd received the day before at the Visitor Center, we thought we'd spotted the correct route across a broad meadow. We followed a worn path and relatively fresh footprints up to the most prominent rock face in the area. As expected, we found some rock formations that formed what could be thought of as a cave, and began our search for rock art from there. But nothing. So ... thinking that we'd missed the main outcrop, we tromped across a wide field of grass and pinyon to the next outcrop to the north. We worked our way around that set of cliffs, but, again, nothing. Not sure where to look next, we headed back to the truck, figuring we'd have to do more research before we could get to the correct location. According to our GPS, we'd hiked 2.3 miles.
Even though we didn't locate any rock art, we did enjoy the hike and the rocky outcrops in the area were interesting. It's always fun to explore.
We drove back into Springdale, had a late lunch at a small, newish cafe. Another of those that has taken over a former household. This time the place was fixed up much nicer, and has a mostly health food oriented menu. What we ordered was excellent, and the owner was friendly. We had a quiet meal then drove back to the lodge and relaxed in our snug little cabin.
That night we ate dinner at the lodge, and had a very good meal. On earlier visits we'd tried the lodge for lunch and dinner and weren't impressed. Friends who had eaten there tried to convince us to avoid eating there, but on this visit the food was tasty, prepared as expected, and delivered by friendly waiters. After dinner we turned in for the night, after a pleasant stroll through the quiet and calm and cold of the dark November evening.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
On this morning we got to the lodge restaurant early and were able to get a seat. The meal was very good and it left us wondering what kind of experience we had before that would have cause us to be so hesitant.
After breakfast we headed up the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, through the tunnels, and just after the last tunnel we pulled out into an unmarked parking area with split rail fencing, as per the Ranger's instructions. We quickly found the trail and walked down into the dry stream bed, turned north, walked through a foot tunnel beneath the road, and then after a short distance we came to the the petroglyphs in Petroglyph Canyon. The long panels are hidden behind a shallow grove of trees, that would make them difficult to spot during the summer months, but easy to see at this time, because the leaves had fallen from the trees.
The panels are protected by a split rail fence, but they are easy to observe and photograph. We spent some time exploring and photographing each panel, then went on up the canyon a ways just to see where it went. Then we returned down the stream bed to the truck.
From there we drove back into the main part of the Park and left the Tacoma in the Visitor Center parking area. From there we hiked along the Pa'rus Trail, which skirts the South Campground and the Virgin River for 3.5 miles. The day was sunny and cool, and we were able to take our time and enjoy the amazing views of the surrounding cliffs. I was able to get some great photos along the way. We almost reached the Canyon Junction before we turned back.
After that we drove back to our cabin, where we showered and relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon. That night we drove into Springdale for dinner at a fancy restaurant there. The food was excellent, but a little steeply priced. Location, location, location.
After dinner we drove back to our cabin and turned in for the night.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
We got up, packed, walked over to the lodge for breakfast, then checked out and headed on home to Sandy. It was a pleasant weekend that we wished, as usual, didn't have to end.
