My Amazing 12 Day Trip to: The “Utah Mighty Five” National Parks, Dead Horse Point State Park, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon (South Rim)!!

Now, back to Zion National Park. We usually stay at a hotel in Springdale, UT. It is a beautiful little town, and our hotel is within walking distance of the park entrance on UT 9. Zion has a great (free) shuttle system throughout the park, and Springdale, UT, also has a bus that picks you up on the main road, outside the park, and in front of hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers. Ensure you get a map from your hotel to help with this information or ask where the closest bus stop will take you to the park. So, this means you can leave your car at the hotel! 

You don’t need to drive your vehicle directly into Zion National Park. Once you make it into the park, you can hop on and hop off their free shuttles at the stops you want and then wait for the next shuttle to pick you up when you are ready to move on to another area. Zion’s shuttle takes you to nine (9) different stops within the park. One of the trails we love to hike is the Watchman Trail. It takes you up a mountain to a great viewpoint of the lower Zion Canyon, Towers of the Virgin, and Springdale. It is also a great place to stop and rest briefly. We usually take the time to eat a power bar or two and drink some water while we take in the incredible views all around us. Some other hikes we love in Zion are the Lower Emerald Pool Trail and Upper Emerald Pool Trail. You get to walk on a beautiful trail that hugs the side of a canyon wall, actually, walk under a waterfall area (where seating is available to rest and enjoy the scenery through a cascade of water), and then head up on a trail that leads you to the top of the falls at the Upper Emerald Pool area. It is an easy to moderate trail, depending on your physical condition. 

There are many, many more trails to hike in Zion. So, if you decide to visit the park, do some research and homework before you go on your trip. 

Pull up a map at the National Park website and have fun planning your trip. (I usually start researching our next hiking trip three to six months before our vacation date). Most hiking trail information will indicate the kind of trail it is: easy, moderate, or strenuous. It will also give you the elevation change on the path if it is a loop trail, how many miles it travels, and how long you can expect to be gone. For your information, If you are younger and more robust than us (which you probably are), there is always the rugged and very strenuous Angels Landing Trail or the wet and scenic Narrows. (Just be prepared to get really wet in the Narrows!) I guarantee you will be satisfied by visiting Zion National Park in Utah. And, most importantly, please remember to take your camera with you!! It is, indeed, a very mighty and Majestic park!