Zion National Park

We moved our home 100 miles south from Panguitch to Hurricane, Utah. We made WillowWind RV Park our home base for the week. Hurricane is about 30 miles from the West Entrance to Zion. Zion is so large we spent three days touring all the areas. Access to the Park has changed since we were here in 1995. The Visitor Center parking lot now fills up very early in the morning, so this time we paid to park in the nearby town of Springdale and took a tram to the Visitor Center. The eight mile Scenic Drive can only be accessed via National Park Tram from the Visitor Center.

Fortunately there are many trams, so the wait is never more than 15 minutes.

 

STOP 9 - RIVERSIDE WALK INTO THE NARROWS

The Zion Canyon Scenic Drive follows the North Fork of the Virgin River.

The hike up the Narrows Slot Canyon eventually requires wet feet to continue. This was our turn around spot. 

Fat friendly squirrel waiting for a treat.

 

STOP 8 - BIG BEND

Staring up at Angels Landing Trail

 

STOP 5 - ZION LODGE EMERALD POOLS TRAIL

Zion National Park Lodge

To reach the Emerald Pools trail you must first cross the Virgin River.

The trail ended at a small waterfall and pools. The trail beyond was closed due to a rockslide. 

 

STOP 4 - COURT OF THE PATRIARCHS

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

 

KOLOB TERRACE - ZION NATIONAL PARK

Running up steep inclines and switchbacks, this relatively untraveled road begins in Virgin, outside of park boundaries, and rises to elevations of 8,000 feet at Lava Point within the narrow neck of the park.

Kolob Reservoir is reached at the end of the 24 miles of paved road.

Lunch at Lava Point Overlook

On this particular day, visibility was well over 100 miles.

Views along the Kolob Terrace Road

 

KOLOB CANYON - ZION NATIONAL PARK

Here in the northwest corner of the park is a lightly used area of Zion National Park. The beautiful five mile scenic drive ends at Timber Creek Overlook Trail.

Kolob Canyon was closed to visitors for 10 months in 2018 due to road reconstruction. Now this is a very beautiful, uncrowded drive on perfect roads.

The Timber Creek Overlook Trail ends at this point overlooking Zion NP and beyond, all the way to the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

 

ZION - MOUNT CARMEL HIGHWAY

Checkerboard Mesa

There are two tunnels on this route, Highway 9 through Zion.

 

Zion - Canyon Overlook Trail

This one mile round trip trail ends at a beautiful overlook of Zion Canyon. This is a must do for all visitors to Zion.

Interesting views appeared at every turn in of the trail.

We made it to the end.

The view is unforgettable.

Most of the trail was carved into rock, some with railings and some not.

So ends our visit to Zion National Park.