If you are just getting started on what we lovingly call our “Epic Trip Out West,” where our family of four drove from Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, hitting all the parks we could in between, start with our FAQs and full itinerary here. Otherwise, here’s the low down on what we learned touring Zion National Park with the family…
DAY EIGHT: Zion National Park
The Watchman Hike
Lodging: The Ranch House Air BnB
We made a mistake this day. All things considered, it was nice that this was our only big one (the no-gas thing could have been disastrous but turned out okay). But if we could go back and change one day, this is probably it.
Over breakfast, we went back and forth about where to go and what to do. Did we have time to cover both Bryce and Zion? Probably not. Zion was on the way to Grand Canyon but was also the one we were most excited to explore. We were tired of spending hours in parks and feeling like we had barely scratched the surface. We were ready to really get to know a park well, to feel like we could build a summer home there. So, we picked Zion.
We were nearly completely thwarted, and it ended up being a very frustrating day. Knowing what we know now, we would have made a different decision,
It was a Saturday during a gorgeous fall in Utah so the crowds were crushing. It felt more like an amusement park experience than a quiet slice of wilderness. The entire back third of the park is only accessible by shuttle – and it was over 90 minutes to get on the shuttle, let alone travel time to get to any of the trails! If we did that, we would be stuck at the back of the park with our tired kids waiting in how-long-of-a-line there?
There was barely any parking inside the park. People parked illegally because of the lack, and tickets being given. Explorers walked on the busy, single lane parkway that shot through the park; cars whizzed by them at 40 miles per hour.
The complication is that Zion is down inside a canyon, not on top. This gives it its remarkable views, but also means that physical space is limited. Further congesting the situation, Zion has two tunnels from the South Entrance. One is short, the other is 1.1 miles. However, any larger-sized vehicles (like a camper) require one-way traffic control so they can make it through (which was an extra $15 fee for them, see our FAQs about why we did not rent an RV) and a 30 minute back up for everyone else.
After accidentally driving straight out of the park into the town of Springdale because of the confusion, traffic and bad signage (thanks to our pass we weren’t worried) we illegally parked at the Visitors Center and worked our way inside to get information. When asked for recommendations to plan our day, the park ranger tersely replied, “Start earlier in the day.” We asked for information on a hike, her response was, “I suggest you go to the bookstore and look in a guidebook.”
Without help, we decided to picnic at the tables next to the parking lot and to NOT move our car. So we did the hike right off the parking lot: the Watchman Trail.
It was a brutal straight up, and at times the drop off the side where railings didn’t exist made me grab my children’s shirts. But overall it was a 3.5-mile round trip wonder (and our kids did great as we had cracked the mystery of how to get kids to hike). While the view from the top wasn’t jaw-dropping (well, based on what we’d seen so far – it is remarkable how quickly a human being’s expectations can change), the ability to walk around and experience the park in its glory, feet in the red dirt, was the best part.
We finished the hike and dipped our toes in the liquid icy depths of the Virgin River (not me being poetic, the actual name).
As we drove back to the Ranch House we were pleased we had salvaged the day, but also frustrated. We had done so much research and felt poorly equipped to handle Zion. We did not know about the shuttles or the road closures, the lack of parking, the limited access. But even knowing I am not sure what it would have helped. The basic issue is that Zion has too little space for the number of visitors pouring in. Shuttles may help some but they certainly don’t fix the problem.
Back at the house, we watched the sunset while our boys bounced on the trampoline. Then we grilled sausages while watching a rancher taking his daughter out for an evening ride on their palomino.
DAY NINE: Zion Take Two; Drive to Grand Canyon; stop at Navajo Bridge
Shelf Canyon hike in Zion
Drive Hatch to South Rim, Grand Canyon (more in a later article on Grand Canyon)
Lodging: Yavapi Lodge (more in a later article)
We were so disappointed and frustrated with our Zion experience the day before that we had a long discussion: flight or fight? Bryce was, at this point, the opposite direction from the way our minivan needed to go and didn’t seem practical (although, if we were real with ourselves, we would have admitted that “practical” flew the coop a while ago on this trip). But Zion had been so overwhelming that we were feeling burned.
After more extensive research, we found where the entrance to the Shelf Canyon hike my friends had told us about was. We downloaded screenshots to our phones (no cell service in most of these parks) and left a hair earlier than we had yesterday.
We grabbed the first road spot we could find and started to scramble our way down into Shelf Canyon. Well, we thought we were. It wasn’t exactly marked or named but we were pretty sure we had found it. Either way, it was a successful hike.
And thus, we started our brave new canyoneering adventure.
I see why people become addicted to this hobby, but I also knew it wasn’t going to be me.
The first few yards of the trip had us scrambling over rock faces that obviously discouraged human feet and traffic. I held my kids’ hands as they bravely followed their dad’s footsteps. We walked over boulders where I reminded myself that it was probably too cold for rattlesnakes to be active enough to spring out and gouge our eyes. Then we went further into the canyon where I had to explain to my head that flash floods were decidedly not on the day’s menu.
But for all of my mom worries and unfounded anxieties (I probably need to read less), this was an extraordinary hiking moment for our family. Overall, we did just over 2 miles out and in, but this was awesome! Here we were, just the 4 of us, simultaneously conquering rugged nature while basking in what she had to offer. We found our own place in Zion, a place that made us realize how tenuous life is but how worth it the journey can be.
After we climbed out, safe and pleased, we popped into the car and got out of the park immediately. We were not to be lured in again by Zion’s massive walls and teeny parking lots.
We began the long drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, what was to be the last trip on our Epic Trip Out West.