I just returned from a trip that took years to finally happen. One of my closest friends and I came up with the idea to ONE day, travel across the country and hike at the beautiful Zion National Park. The only problem with our trip was the fact that our summers were spent traveling and camping with our children. So we waited, and we waited. We would talk about and dream of the trip each summer around the campfire.
Finally, after MOST of the kids were in college/teenagers.. we actually saw our dream trip becoming a reality. And we were beyond excited!
We booked an Air BnB about 5 or 6 months out. We tried to save as much money as possible. We also wanted ample amount of space with access to a fridge, washer and dryer. We decided to stay in Orderville, UT. This was about half-way between Zion and Bryce Canyon. My other area I considered to stay in was Kanab, UT. I have stayed in this town before when hiking the grand canyon and fell in love with it. But, ultimately- the price was right in Orderville (only $500 for the week!) Ok, now- onto the trip!
Three of us ended up on a late night flight that didn't arrive in Vegas until midnight. The price was right.. so that's what we went with. Got a hotel near the airport with a free shuttle and free breakfast for very cheap, which worked out well. I took the shuttle to airport the next morning to pick up the rental car and go get the other 2 members of our group. I booked our flights on Delta and used skylines for a couple tickets. We booked the car with Priceline and got a great deal on a 4x4 Jeep Cherokee.
I picked everyone up and we headed out of Vegas and toward Zion. I wanted to make the most of our trip so we made several stops along the way.
Our first stop, Valley of Fire State Park. Located in Nevada, this state park was really a neat place. The rock outcroppings were splattered about in fiery red, and looked as though they were literally on fire. After a short 1 mile hike on Mouse Tank trail... we also felt as though we were literally on fire 🤣. The trail had lots of petroglyphs (which are ancient writing on the rocks). It was sandy and rocky and insanely hot. The entry fee was $15 , and we drove through the park and did 1 hike before making our way back out to highway to carry on with our adventure! Last week we saw where most of the trails in the park are closed until September for heat.
Looking high and low for refuge from the sun!
The next stop, St. George, Utah. Here we spent another $15 to enter Snow Canyon State Park. This place was incredible. We hiked a 3 mile loop that encompassed 3 different trails and it did not disappoint! The trail descended down to a lava tube in the first half mile. The lava tube are basically big holes into the ground! They are dark and about 30 degrees cooler than the temperature above. We used headlamps to look around and then continued on. The last mile of the loop went way up and over the petrified dunes. They were absolutely amazing. The scenery on this hike was incredible. I would love to go back and see more of what Snow Canyon has to offer. After our hike we kept moving right along to Kanab. We needed to get groceries and we decided to get them at Honey's Market. We ate dinner in Kanab as well at a wonderful little restaurant that had great service and delicious food called Wild Thyme Cafe. We barely had time to get groceries, as the store closed at 10 and we were cutting it really close. We finally journeyed to our rental about 1030 pm. We needed to get some sleep.. the next day was Zion and we needed an early start.
We hiked the Butterfly/Lava Tube/Petrified Dune trail. This hike was incredible. You could climb down into the lava tubes and explore. .
The petrified dune trails up and over the dunes will blow your mind! I highly recommend this hike
The most amazing dinner at Wild Thyme in Kanab!
The rental was located in Orderville, about 45 min from the visitor center parking. The road we traveled to get there took us through the park and we were all in awe of this magical place. The beauty of Zion brought tears to our eyes. Totally indescribable. We arrived at the visitor about 745 am and we were able to get a parking spot with no problems. There are 2 reasons you want to get to Zion early. One is so that you can get a parking spot at the visitors center to board the trolleys that shuttle you through the park (8 miles of Zion are trolley bus access only). The second reason to get there early is because it gets real hot, real quick!
Angel's Landing was a hike we wanted to do. The hike became permitted a few months before we left. We were lucky enough to get in and grab a permit to go up. Some of our crew wanted to stop at Scouts Landing... which is where it levels out a bit before climbing .5 mile up a tiny ledge with trails about 3 feet wide, chains to hold on where you can pull yourself up, and steep drop offs on both sides. NOT a trail for the faint of heart. Or even for thrill seekers. This last .5 mile will blow your mind. One wrong step and down you fall... almost 6,000 feet.
The hike climbed very quickly. Before you know it you are looking down at the world so small.
This section of the trail is known as Walter's Wiggles. It is a steep section of switch backs before you get to Scout's Lookout.
The view from here was incredible.
This is where we left Denise, Laura and Stacy. Tammie and I would continue on to the top pf Angel's Landing.
The squirrels here are everywhere, and rather aggressive taking food. They were even at the top of the landing looking for hungry hikers picnic lunch crumbs
The hike was full of people, even little kids. There were 2 in particular that were unsupervised and making dangerous moves up the chains. At this point Tammie decided her knee wasn't going to be able to tolerate the climb so she turned and headed back. She met up with the others and they hiked around the rim a bit.
I have never been so terrified in my whole life. This hike is the craziest, scariest thing I have ever experienced. The chain sections were very welcomed!
The top of that is where I was headed.
One of the sections WITHOUT chains to hold on to. Just hold your breath and go!
As I climbed higher- the road got smaller.
I finally made it to the top of the landing. It is hard to see how high up you are from this picture.
If you squint and zoom, you can see the road below. This gives a better idea of the height.
There were sections going up and down where you had to wait for others to pass. This is a one way street and with a 3 foot walkway- it required a lot of patience and trust in your fellow hikers.
After the hike to Angel's Landing, I caught back up with everyone on the way back down. When we finally reached the canyon floor, we were all spent! We decided to take off our socks and boots and cool our feet in the creek and have a little snack/picnic lunch.
After lunch we headed to the Emerald Pool trail. There are 3 pools to visit on this trail. We only stopped at one. The trail connects the Angel's Landing trail to the lodge down the road.
Walking under the falls was beautiful.
At the end of the trail we found a very inviting swim hole. Laura and I couldn't resist jumping in to cool off.
We made our way across the road to the beautiful Zion Lodge. It was a nice oasis with a beautiful green grassy courtyard, a gift shop and snack shop. We all rested a bit in the courtyard area on the soft grass and refueled with sodas and snacks. We knew we needed to head into the town of Springdale at some point to rent gear for hiking the Narrows the next morning. Some of brought waterproof boots and poles for the hike, but some didn't. Springdale is right outside the park and a cozy little town with restaurants and shops as well as hotels.
We were able to grab the rental gear and do a little souvenir shopping in town. We ate dinner at a little Mexican café called Oscar's. It was so good! I don't have any pictures in Springdale, and this is all I can find for dinner pics... dessert! After dinner we headed back toward our rental in Orderville. We decided to do a little hike close to the house on the ride back. The Belly of the Dragon is a short hike under a huge tunnel. It wasn't very long and I would not really consider it a hike, but definitely a cool roadside attraction located in Mt. Carmel, Utah.
Dessert at Oscar's
Walking through the "belly"
We made it home in time to get some sleep and pack lunches for another long eventful day full of hiking and exploring! We knew we once again had to get up very early to park and ride the shuttle to the very last stop and hike The Narrows. Tammie got a little car sick on the way in, but it wasn't too long before she was feeling much better and we were enjoying our day. When we got to the approach trail for the Narrows, we found this cute little guy. Like I said, this place is full of overly friendly squirrels. The hike into the Narrows is mesmerizing. I have never seen anything so beautiful. Big, huge rock walls close in on you as you dredge your way through the rock filled gorge. The Virgin River runs through the gorge and you spend most of this hike right in the middle of it. This was definitely a bucket list hike, an out and back that can be up to 10 miles if you so fancy. I would love to go back and hike this one again- it was truly breathtaking and had a way of making my feel so small.
He posed for the camera!
I could of taken 100's of pictures here, it was just beautiful every where you looked.
We found this waterfall about 1 mile into the hike
Denise saw this swim hole and just had to jump in!
It is very easy to see why it is called the Narrows, as the gorge closes in on you the further you go.
After an amazing hike through the Narrows, we ate our picnic lunches and made our way out of the main section of Zion. We returned the gear used back to the rental store in town and headed back in the direction of Orderville. On the way out of the park, we decided to hike the Canyon Overlook Trail. It was a short 1 mile hike with some of the most amazing views of Zion.
We encountered big horn sheep a couple of times in the park, but only from the roadside.
We tried our best to squeeze out every last drop we could on this trip. And against our better judgement, we decided to set out on a 7 mile hike to Observation Point via the East Mesa Trail (the easier trail access has been closed for several years due to a rock slide- so it was this way or NO way). This route required us to drive a muddy, bumpy dirt road out past the Ponderosa Ranch.. out in the middle of no where land, and pray there were parking spots (as we had missed the last shuttle that we paid for). Much to our luck, we were able to grab a spot and our tired, weary feet set out on another hike. It was pretty flat at the beginning and we moved quickly enough. The end had more climbing, but the views were worth it. I don't have many pictures of after the hike, but the memories will always be in my mind. We were sooo hungry. Literally all starving. There was no sign of civilization for miles, except at this Ranch. The Ponderosa Ranch was really cool and had cabins and activities for guests to stay and participate. We drove into the ranch in hopes of dinner. Much to our surprise we found a wonderful place to eat and everyone filled up on pizza, burgers and cinnamon rolls. Denise was unable to get her dessert unfortunately, they were out, but I will forever remember her falling on the floor, crying, when they told her Dole Whips were unavailable. 🤣 We finally made it back to the house, just in time to sleep a bit before another adventure... the next day would be a visit to Bryce Canyon National Park.
We loved seeing the wild flowers on this trail!
The reason we ended up in Zion, on this very trail, at this very overlook.
An absolutely incredible view of Zion Park and Angles landing.
I was super excited to get to see a rattle snake.
We got up early the next day to drive over to Bryce Canyon. This was about a 45 min drive from our rental. We really enjoyed the drive over, everything in Utah is scenic I swear. We were supposed to ride horses later on in the afternoon- I had "thought" I made reservations for 3 pm that day. We wouldn't find out until later that I made reservations the wrong day and that we would have to find something else to do instead. Everyone was pretty bummed, but we re-cooped and came up with a plan B- we would ride ATV's instead! This is very out of the box for us, but we had a blast. Especially the last bit when we would fly through the river at the end. We spent the first part of the day in the canyon and we hiked the 3 mile Navajo/Queen's Garden loop. It was such a cool place, we felt like we were on another planet.
Some cool encounters on the drive in.
Overlooking the canyon from the top
Looking down into Wall Street
Once again, the canyon has a way of making you feel very small.
The "Hoo-doos's" and the folklore that went them were incredible.
The cutest little boy scouts took our photo on the way out of the canyon.
We went into town for lunch/dessert. We had a mediocre lunch at Canyon Diner, which I do not recommend. Later on we had Hoo-Doo ice cram sundae's at Ruby's Inn ice cream. We joked around about how Ruby's Inn owned the whole town. And they indeed had their name on every store in Bryce!
When horseback riding was a no-go, we jumped on an ATV. We ended up having a great time. We decided to stay in the area and watch the sunset over the canyon. We did NOT do a great job planning this out, because we were on the WRONG side of the canyon for sunset.. but it made for some great memories none the less. We had dinner just outside of town at "i.d.k. BBQ" and it was delicious. We sat outside at the picnic tables gobbling down food and debating whether or not we would go watch the sunset over the canyon or the rodeo in town. We visited Mossy Cave and did the short hike to the top. We drove back into Bryce and watched the Prairie Dogs for a bit before heading to "sunset point". Sunset point is right beside Sunrise Point, so I'm not sure what we were thinking. But soon we realized that our location was less than ideal and headed over to another area of the canyon.
Mossy Cave Hike
The view from behind the waterfall
Prairie Dogs were everywhere in this field!
The sun setting over the canyon.
Our new found location to watch the stars come out.
We took the dark drive home, which was also memorable.. like the part where I wanted to see the stars and everyone had to pee, so we pulled over in a random field and we accomplished both. We knew we had to get up early in the morning and make our way back to Vegas to fly home. We had reservations at the Indian Reserve to hike Antelope Canyon before we flew home. We got out of the house and drove several hours to Arizona. We went to check in for our Antelope Canyon tour and found out that a tourist had been airlifted from the canyon and all trips were canceled for the morning. We did not have enough time to wait, or we would have missed our flight. So, we decided to detour and see Horseshoe Bend instead. It was so pretty, although windy, dusty and hot. I was disappointed in not getting the Antelope Canyon tour but was in awe of all the beautiful things I had experienced already, so I focused on that. All the riding in the car got a bit nerve wracking. Specifically for Denise... who sat in the middle of the back seat bench for many, many hours. 😂
Denise in the back seat of the Jeep after several hundred miles of travel!
I had never been to Vegas before this trip and we had a little time to kill, so we decided to visit the Bellagio and see what Vegas was about. We wandered around through the hotel and pool area. It was so busy and the hotel was so very big! We very much enjoyed the botanical gardens in the hotel and we also watched the fountain display out front. After we had enough Vegas, we headed back to the airport to fly home.
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