I went to Utah for the first time in August of 2011. It has been favorite state ever since. I fell in love with Zion National Park. The Virgin River runs right through the park and it has some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. It's a truly magnificent place. If you have never visited Zion add it to your list of places to go.
Earlier this this year we were able to take a quick trip out west to visit Zion and Bryce. Thank you Frontier Airlines for cheap flights to Vegas! We got into Vegas at about midnight, picked up our rental car, and went straight to our hotel so we could get up early the next day. It's about a two and half hour drive to Hurricane Utah where we stayed at the Days Inn. This is a nice and inexpensive place to stay and only about a 30 minute drive to Zion. I would have liked to have camped but being from Texas we are wimps about cold weather.
Our visit was early in March right before the shuttle started running during the week and was only running on Saturdays. From mid March until November you cannot drive on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. You have to use the shuttle to get around. I prefer the shuttle because you can just look out the windows and listen to the information about the park. We arrived on a Thursday had to drive ourselves around. It was a week before "season" and the park wasn't very crowded which was pretty nice.
The first hike we did was the Hidden Canyon trail. This one is similar to Angel's Landing but not quite as strenuous. It's 3.2 miles out and back and there are some dangerous parts where you must use extreme caution. If you are really scared of heights it's probably not a good idea to do this hike. There are drop offs of about 1000 feet on some parts of it. Hold on to the chains and be careful. There are a lot of people who hike this and good trail etiquette is a must. Don't get impatient and try to pass people. Take your time and enjoy the spectacular views. The day we hiked this it was very windy. Every time the wind blew we got sand in our eyes and mouths. We weren't prepared for this and should have had bandannas with us. It was an awesome hike and one of my favorites. Next time we go I want to be able to do the entire hike and see the free standing arch.
After Hidden Canyon we went to the riverside walk. This is probably my favorite place in the park. It's 2.2 miles and is a paved trail that is wheel chair accessible most of way. It's also how you can get to Narrows hike without a permit. We didn't have time to rent the equipment needed to hike the narrows but still had a great time on the riverside walk.
The next day we went to Bryce Canyon and I will have to write a separate blog about that. On our 3rd and final day we came back to Zion. We debated about what we should do in the time we had left and finally decided to hike Angel's Landing. We hiked it in 2011 and it's still probably my #1 favorite hike with Emory Peak in Big Bend being a very close 2nd. Angel's Landing is a strenuous but beautiful hike. The views from the top are amazing! Like Hidden Canyon it's not not for people who are very fearful of heights. The last mile is steep and kind of narrow to the top. A lot of people turn around at Scout's Landing. That's a good idea if you want do an amazing hike but don't want to risk the dangerous parts. The trail is very popular and gets crowded. You have to patient and wait to go up and down because it's narrow and you don't want to rush. Be careful!
