Zion and Bryce Canyon (April 24-April 29, 2021)
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going” - Beverly Sills
After leaving the Grand Canyon, the next stop on our National Parks tour was Zion National Park. The south rim of the Grand Canyon and Zion are relatively close as the crow flies, only about 100 miles apart but since traversing the canyon with a camper in tow isn’t possible, our trip was nearly triple that at about 275 miles and 5 hours of travel time. We actually had to drive around the canyon, cross the Colorado River and then make our way to Zion from the area of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This took us through Northern Arizona and Southern Utah, some of the most rural parts of the country that we’ve been in yet. Much of the area that we drove through was Indian reservations that were completely shut down due to Covid or BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. Nonetheless, it was a relatively easy drive with smooth roads and very little wind, two things we’ve come to appreciate on travel days.
Once again our camping reservations were in the National Park. Watchman Campground is conveniently located right next to the visitor’s center and very close to the entrance to the park and this time electric hookups were provided. The tricky thing about Zion National Park is that much of the park is accessible by shuttle only. With people flocking to National Parks due to Covid, scoring shuttle tickets has become super competitive. One would think that because we were actually staying in the park, we’d get shuttle tickets automatically but that’s not the case. We had to compete for shuttle tickets along with everyone else who wanted to visit. Shuttle tickets must be purchased online, are good for one day only, and go on sale at 5 pm the day before your intended visit. Charley and I arrived on Saturday afternoon and decided we’d try to get shuttle tickets for Sunday and if we were unsuccessful we’d continue to try for the duration of our stay. I don’t know how he managed it, because I was trying (unsuccessfully) at the same time, but Charley was able to get two shuttle tickets for Sunday morning at 7 am. Charley said that scoring camping reservations in the park and then successfully getting our hands on two shuttle tickets felt like we won the lottery twice. And to top it all off, Sunday was an absolutely beautiful weather day, the nicest of our stay. Now that I think about it, maybe we should have gambled a little more in Vegas.
Other than being incredibly beautiful, Zion is probably best known for its Angel’s Landing hike, a very strenuous and somewhat dangerous hike, and a bucket list item for Charley. With only one day guaranteed in the park, Charley and I had to prioritize how we’d best spend that day. Since the Angel’s Landing hike can take several hours, we decided to see as much of the rest of the park as we could and consider hiking Angel’s Landing if we were able to get shuttle tickets for a second day. We started our day by stopping at every shuttle stop that we were able to (some shuttle stops were closed), seeing the sites, and then ended up hiking the more moderate Lower, Middle, and Upper Emerald Pools trails. All three trails provided spectacular views of the park and, after hearing about how crowded Angel’s Landing was, we were satisfied with our decision to skip it. We knew that rain was in the forecast so we ultimately decided that we wouldn’t pursue shuttle tickets for a second day.
I know this is going to sound absolutely insane, but constant travel and site seeing can get exhausting, especially for Charley who has done all of the driving. Our second day in Zion was a complete washout and we were 100 percent ok with that. It gave us an excuse to take it easy, bake cookies, watch some tv (thanks to electricity and great wifi), and catch up on our blog. It was the perfect amount of relaxation needed to prepare us for our third and final day in the area - a day trip from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park about an hour and forty-five minute drive via the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, the portion of Zion that is accessible by private vehicle. It was along this drive that we began to realize just how beautiful Utah is, both inside and outside the National Parks. Of the fifteen states that we’ve visited so far, Charley and I agreed that Utah is the first state that we could actually see ourselves relocating to.
By the time we arrived in Bryce Canyon, the weather had changed from a little rainy to a little snowy. Because of elevation changes, the temperature had dropped quite a bit and you could tell that the rain we had gotten in Zion the day before was mostly snow in the Bryce Canyon area. I was glad that we had dressed somewhat appropriately, although I wished I had a pair of gloves. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time at Bryce but we did hop on and off their shuttle (no tickets required) at several stops to view the canyons and hoodoos, the rock formations that make Bryce Canyon unique. We were there just long enough to decide that we definitely want to revisit and hike Bryce Canyon.
Our next stop after Zion was a one-night stay at a Harvest Host location about an hour north. It was really windy that day so we were very glad to only be traveling an hour. We also needed to stock up on groceries and supplies and thankfully our short travel day enabled us to take our time with that. Brad, our host at Parowan Gap Farm couldn’t have been nicer! We had a lovely conversation with him and he answered a lot of our questions about the area. We hadn’t planned on unhooking the trailer but Brad insisted that we visit the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs, located about ten miles down the road so we unhooked and took a drive. On the way, we saw pronghorns and prairie dogs, which was very exciting for me. I’m not sure if everyone gets excited to see a new animal in the wild for the first time but I tend to get a little giddy. The Petroglyphs were carved into the rocky mountainside by Native Americans traveling through and/or living in the area several hundred years ago. This was another amazing yet unexpected experience. As much as we’ve read and watched other people’s travel tips for this trip, we’ve realized that we get some of the best information from the locals.
We have more National Park visits and other fun stops planned for Utah. I haven’t actually counted the days but I think we’ll end up spending more time in Utah than any other state we visit. It’s a good thing we like it so much!
