Day 6 of our 30-day Southwest Grand Circle Caravan – Zion National Park

Our campsite at Hi-Road Campground, was less than 1-mile from the east entrance to Zion National Park. After you left the park, you turned north on Route 9 and the roadway changed to a reddish hue then you saw the “entering Zion National Park” sign. All the roads in Zion have that reddish brown hue to them. We were excited to learn that our “America the Beautiful” pass worked at Lake Powell, we were ecstatic here! The entrance fee to Zion is $30 per vehicle! Needless to say, our passes got plenty of action at this park! Route 9 is known as the Zion – Mt Carmel Highway through the park. It is a 12 mile stretch to the Visitor Center. The Visitor Center is actually closer to the more commercialized town of Springdale, at the south end of the park.

Zion – Mt Carmel Highway is a scenic drive through the eastern portion of the park. The first feature you come to in the park is the Checkerboard Mesa. The formations in this area look just like a checkerboard, not necessarily the black and red boxes, but the rock is scored with both a horizontal and vertical grooves in the Navajo Sandstone. The horizontal lines are common in the rock, but the vertical lines are stress cracks and less common. 

The formations on this side of the park are mostly tan sandstone with some pinks and a few oranges. The formations are smoother with ridges and swirls at varying angles. 

You pass through a small tunnel and then a few miles later into the historic Zion – Mt Carmel tunnel, which is over a mile long. When they wanted to build the tunnel, everyone thought it could not be done! 

After the tunnel, you drive down steep switchbacks, with a spectacular view of the Zion Arch and into Zion Canyon. The rock formations on this side of the tunnel are very different than the east side of the park, it is almost like you are in a completely different area, than just on the other side of a mountain!

The park shuttle bus offers 9 stops.

1 – Visitor Center is the main hub for all the shuttle busses. It is also where they have several rangers providing information and helpful advice. There is a gift shop and book store. We were lucky the one time we parked here and caught the bus, it was later in the afternoon and we got right on the bus. Some other members of our group tried to catch a shuttle bus early in the morning and had to wait an hour!

2 – Zion Human History Museum & Zion Nature Center is the location of a small theatre that shows a 22 minute film on Zion. It plays on the hour and the half hour. We saw the movie after our first day of riding the shuttle bus to see what each stop had to offer. At the museum you have great views of the Towers of the Virgin and Bridge Mountain. If hiking is your thing, you can access the Pa’rus Trail (which is named after the local Indian Tribe.) We hiked this trail one day from here, back to the visitor center. Our second day in the park, after the hour long wait for the shuttle at the Visitor’s Center we took a chance and tried to park here. There are many less parking spots than the Visitor’s Center, but we were lucky and found a man pulling out and we got that spot. Getting on the shuttle was a breeze for us!

3 – Canyon Junction, this is where Zion – Mt Carmel Highway and Zion Canyon Scenic Highway meet. This location offers you views of the Virgin River and Zion Canyon. There was a great swimming hole here, but none of us took advantage of it.

4 – Court of the Patriarchs offers you a view of the three peaks in the park, named by the first Mormon settlers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As well as Mount Moroni and the Sentinel.

5 – Zion Lodge is the only place in the park to purchase food or drinks. This location offers you views of Lady Mountain, Heaps Canyon, and the Virgin River. You can access the Emerald Pools Trails, the Grotto Trail, and the Sand Beach Trail. One day, we took our break at the historic lodge and enjoyed lunch with a few of the other caravaners. We were pleasantly surprised with the prices, they were not too bad. Two pieces of pizza and a salad with a scoop of tuna fish was less than $20. 

From the Zion Lodge you can hike the Lower Emerald Pool Trail. It is just what you think, an Emerald looking pool ending at a small waterfalls. It is listed as an easy trail. If you are more adventurous, you can continue onto the Upper Emerald Pool Trail, which is a moderate trail. We did not venture onto the Upper Trail, but some of our friends, Cindy & Brian did. They wish they hadn’t … they said climbing over rocks and stuff they wanted to stop … but there was a blind boy with his family ahead of them and they were inspired by him to continue!

6 – The Grotto is a location in Zion National Park that offers a shaded picnic area under the Cottonwood trees. It offers you a scenic view of the Virgin River and Angels Landing. From this location you can see the people as they are beginning their climb to Angel’s Landing. Charlie’s financial guy, Vincent, told us we had to do Angel’s Landing in Zion. He said it was a spectacular view! Okay, form all I have read it would be an awesome view! But it is listed as a “strenuous” climb of 5.4 miles with long drop-offs with the last section of the route being along a steep narrow ridge to the summit with an elevation change of 1,500 feet. We meet a young couple from Albany New York that climbed it, she stopped a mile from the top and he finished the hike along and he told us the last portion of the trail is a metal chain you use to pull yourself up … no, definitely not for us!

7 – Weeping Rock, at this area, the dripping rocks create hanging gardens of water thirsty vegetation. We took this hike, because it was a ½ mile round trip … the ranger told us it had a grade … but she never mentioned that it was a consistent grade! But, the view and the cool water was well worth the steep climb!

8 – Big Bend is just what it sounds like, a sweeping bend in the Virgin River. From this area in the park, you can also see Angel’s Landing, and the Great White Throne.

9 – Temple of Sinawava is the gateway to the Narrows via the Riverside Trail and the Virgin River. We took the 2-mile round trip hike on the Riverside Trail to the start of the Narrows. The Narrows are where the canyons come closer and closer together. The only way to access these spectacular views is a hike through the Virgin River. 

We are not steady enough to be hiking on wet rocks, plus the thought of having wet feet for hours, no longer appeals to me! So, I settled for removing my hiking boots and dipping my feet in the Virgin River … that appears to be a tradition of mine, when I am at a body of water!

Everywhere in Zion you feel dwarfed by the massive formations of sheer sandstone with a gradient of white, cream, coral and orange rock, dotted with the greens of trees growing right out of the rock. There are so many steep divots and narrow canyons to peak into. We often saw people stop in the pull-offs and start to climb these rocks, not on any marked trail … Yikes, not for me!

We have three days at Zion, but we are using the third day to explore a few towns close by Zion. The best or worst thing, depending on your perspective, about Zion is the lack of cell signals. We were three days with limited or no cell phones or internet. It was kind of peaceful, but you could see some people really missing the technology. We hope you enjoyed Zion National Park as much as we did!