Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks

After a long 9 hour drive, we made our way from Southern California to Utah and had to cross over 3 state lines to get there! After a full month on this trip, we finally welcomed some rain on our vacation when we arrived in Zion!

Trip Details:

Where: Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Campsite: WillowWind RV Park, site 142

Length: 5 days

Itinerary:

Day 1: Relax Day/Rain Day!

Day 2: Zion National Park

Day 3: Zion National Park

Day 4; Zion National Park

Day 5: Bryce Canyon National Park

Zion:

Charlotte’s Highlights: Hiking though the Narrows and into Wall Street

Paige’s Highlights: Walking though the river

Adult’s Highlights: Hiking the Narrows and to Scout Lookout

Bryce Canyon:

Charlotte’s Highlights: Hiking Wall Street

Paige’s Highlights: Seeing the Hoodoos

Adult’s Highlights: Hiking Queen's Garden and Wall Street

Let me just start off to say, Zion is probably my favorite national park of this trip. The views were absolutely gorgeous and the hikes were out of this world.

On our first day at Zion National Park, we opted to go up to see the views! We took their shuttle service to stop 6 (The Grotto) to hike the West Rim Trail to Scouts Lookout. This is a 3.5 mile out and back trail which was very strenuous 1,000 foot elevation and near Angel's Landing. Angel's Landing is one of the main things to do in Zion. Zion itself didn't need a permit to get in, but you needed a permit to do Angel's Landing. Did we have a permit? No ... no we didn't. Wait, Mary didn't plan well enough to get one? Pleeeeease! A few months ago, Aaron and I looked into Angel's Landing to see if we wanted to get one. After watching a YouTube video, we opted against it, due to it being a strenuous, narrow route with cliff exposures and we didn't think it was a good idea with our kids. But the views at Scouts Lookout was breathtaking!

After that hike, we hopped in the car for a scenic drive down the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway into the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel which had occasional large holes that allowed for some scenic views while in the tunnel. It was cool!

And of course Aaron took some hero photos of us! Warning, staged photos ahead. Haha!

The second day was dedicated to the Narrows. The Narrows is the other main thing to do in Zion! And after experiencing it, we understand why! The Narrows hike is in the river and and subject to dangerous flash floods, so knowing it was going to rain later that afternoon, we got up early! We got to Zion at 6am for the shuttle to stop 9 (Temple of Sinawava) drop off. Since we got there early, we pretty much got the place to ourselves. We had to take Riverside Walk (2 mile round trip) hike to get to the Narrows (which can be up to an 8 mile hike round trip). Then it was all river from there and the river got as deep as our waists in some points! We also rented canyoneering boots, neoprene socks and walking sticks and we're so glad we did - it was a lifesaver on those slippery rocks! The views were something we've never experienced, and we were so glad that we were able to do it.

The girls were troopers until poor Paige hurt herself. Charlotte really wanted to go farther, so Aaron and Paige headed back while Charlotte and I ventured on a little farther to get into the Wall Street portion of the Narrows. These pictures don't do this hike justice. The cliffs were hundreds of feet high, and we were trapped in the narrow crevices of the Narrows.

After sleeping in a little since the Narrows wore us out, we finally made it into Zion for the last day of visiting this beautiful national park. We hiked a little more and visited the Upper and Lower Emerald Pools. The hike to the upper pools gave us some gorgeous vistas, but the pool left much to be desired. There was no "emerald" and must have been due to all the rain that made it more of a muddy pool vs. a clear pool. But then we hiked down to the lower pools and got to walk behind a refreshing waterfall. It was beautiful.

Before heading back to the camper, we got our obligatory Junior Ranger badges! This is #10 of the 14 the girls have collected! Oh, and Paige has decided she wants to be a Ranger when she grows up! :)

We sadly said goodbye to Zion, and headed to Bryce Canyon National Park the next day. It was a 2 hour drive to the park from where Emmie was parked.

As we entered the Bryce Canyon, it was surrounded by more alpine features than we expected. There were pine trees everywhere. But when we parked and walked up to the canyons edge to look down, we were amazed.

It turns out that Bryce Canyon was the top of the Grand Staircase, which is a series of terraces which step all the way down to the Grand Canyon, which is about a 100 miles away.

We also learned Bryce Canyon is one of the darkest places in the Continental US - which makes it one of the best Dark Sky Parks, so we obviously planned to stay until late into the night! However, the weather had different plans. Since we've been in Utah, we've enjoyed their afternoon monsoons each day. I guess that means we'll have to come back someday to visit when it's not cloudy.

Since we only had the day, we asked the Ranger what was the must do activity at the park. This was probably the most common question asked, since the Ranger didn't hesitate when she told us to drive to Sunrise Point and hike down Queen's Garden. On this hike, we were surrounded by Hoodoos. Hoodoos are rock that are formed from the weather of ice and rain and make a spire! On this hike we were surrounded by hoodoos!

The hike then turned into either Navajo Loop or Wall Street. Navajo Loop was a more direct walk to the end, but the Ranger recommended Wall Street instead. Wall Street was really incredible. It was not a long slot canyon, but impressive with massive walls and light pouring in during the middle of the day. Then to get out of the canyon, we had to take multiple steep switchbacks to get to then end of the hike at Sunset Point.

We drove down a little father to check out Inspiration Point and Bryce Point before heading back to get the girls their Junior Ranger badges.

A note from Charlotte:

Hi, I'm Charlotte, Mary and Aaron’s oldest daughter. We recently went to Bryce Canyon. It was one of those places that you didn't expect, like a desert, with trees and grass. What do you call that? Bryce Canyon! It was so beautiful. The hikes were pretty hot and sweaty but the views were definitely worth it. You probably saw in the pictures, but it is so amazing how the hoodoos (which are the tall spires) and all the land around them ombre from white to pink to yellow to brown. You know another cool thing about Bryce Canyon is that prairie dogs and mountain lions are very important to the rangers and everyone who works at Bryce Canyon but we didn't see any sadly. But at least we still saw some deer and some chipmunks.

All in all, Zion and Bryce Canyon were gorgeous parks. They both had their own form of beauty and awe. We realize we are nearing the end of our epic adventure, with only a week left and 3 national parks to go. Onward to Capitol Reef National Park! Thanks for coming on our adventure! Until next time….

~ Mary