Zion National Park (Part 1)

ZION OVERVIEW:

Official NPS Site: Here

Travel distance from McCarran Int'l Airport: 171 miles (2 hrs 42 mins)

Where to Stay: Springdale, UT

Popular Hikes: Angels Landing, The Narrows, Upper/Lower Emerald Pools, Riverwalk Trail, Weeping Rock

Crowd Level: 5 - Very Crowded

ZION WITH JINEROUS:

Looking at my itinerary (here), you can see that we began and ended our Utah trip with Zion. For the purpose of this blog, however, I will be writing about both halves of our time in Zion as if they were same visit.

SHUTTLES TO & IN THE PARK

Zion is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, national parks in Utah. There are parking spaces all along the main road leading to the park entrance as well as some parking inside the actual park. However, these can fill up quickly. If you get a later start in the day or if you just don't want to deal with the hassles of parking, the Springdale Shuttle might be an excellent and convenient option. The shuttles are free and have multiple pick-up/drop-off points throughout Springdale, arriving about every 10 minutes. 

Once you are in the park, it's recommended that you also take a shuttle if you want to travel through the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, which is where a lot of the most popular hikes and points of interests are located. This shuttle is free as well. You can find the shuttle schedule and some general shuttle info here. I quite liked riding the shuttle as they played different commentary and stories through the speakers, which made the ride a bit more interesting (not that all the beautiful scenery isn't already interesting enough).

HIKES

We got to the park pretty late on Day 1 (around 5pm), so we only had time for two stops: Temple of Sinawava (Riverwalk Trail) and Zion Lodge (Upper/Lower Emerald Pools). 

Riverwalk Trail @ Temple of Sinawava

The Riverwalk Trail (~2 miles) also serves as the gateway to The Narrows. It was paved and offered a leisurely walk through the deep canyons alongside a river. At various points on the trail, you can access the river through small side paths. We saw a lot of families with young children playing by the river banks and in the water. Very scenic with the multi-colored cliffs and the river that's running through it all. We were able to hike to the end and back in about an hour. 

Waterfall @ the Emerald Pools (Photo taken between the Lower and Middle pools)

The Upper/Lower Emerald Pools (~2 miles combined) - Great and quick hike to the Emerald Pools as our last Day 1 activity. Surrounded by trees, cliffs, waterfalls, and glistening pools, this hike truly is a lovely way to end the day. The Lower Emerald Pool is pretty easy with only moderate inclines and seemed flat enough for young kids. You can even walk behind the waterfall, which is always fun. Keep going to access the Middle Emerald Pool. From here, more strenuous climbing is required. As you start your climb, don't forget to look back to take in different view points of the lower pool and its waterfalls! Once you reach the middle pool, you are rewarded with a fantastic view of the canyon. There are chains that restrict you from getting too close to the edge of the cliff (with the lower pool directly below), but there is still enough room to experience the feeling of standing directly above a waterfall. During different times of the year, the waterfall changes in strength, so the experience will likely vary as a result of that as well. The Upper Emerald Pool can be reached via an even steeper trail. Due to time constraints, we decided not to proceed to the upper pool for our trip, but based on reviews and photos I've seen online, the upper pool is larger with a high waterfall. The trail leading to it also offers nice canyon views. Would recommend if you feel up to the challenge of a somewhat more strenuous hike and are not in a time crunch.

View of the Canyon from the Middle Emerald Pools

In the next post, I will be featuring the Angels Landing hike, Kolob Canyon, and recommendations for your stay in Zion. Stay tuned!