This is the fourth post in my series about our trip to Utah. If you missed the other posts, click here , here and here.
Last year, after visiting the Grand Canyon’s North Rim and Bryce Canyon, our next destination was Zion Canyon National Park. I knew from my parents’ visit to Utah years before that Zion was a must-see, and I couldn’t wait.
With its deep and narrow gorge created by the Virgin River, Zion Canyon has towering walls of sandstone in shades of red, pink, and cream. The canyon is flat with a paved path along the river, which is the area that we enjoyed on our visit. The park also offers rock-climbing, canyoneering, camping, biking, and much more. (Keep in mind that some activities require permits.) But since we are not serious hikers, we didn’t need permits for anything.
Everyone who visits Zion National Park must ride the shuttle bus, but you don’t need a ticket or a reservation to do so. Because my husband did so much research ahead of time (thank you, Mart!), he knew that we should plan to be at the parking lot early to get a space. After that the parking lot, though sizable, would fill up and we’d have to park off-site. That wouldn’t be the worst thing ever, but rather than deal with the hassle, we all agreed to get up early enough to get there before 8 am.
And thank goodness we did. We were surprised, in fact, by how many people were already there! Some had probably stayed closer to the park than we did, but in spite of our drowsiness, we were happy to be there in time.
We rode the shuttle to different sites throughout the park, stopping first at the Riverwalk. After a few photos, we began walking the path along the river.
To see the river close up, winding its way through the canyon floor in front of us, with the pink chocolate wall behind it, and the top of the cream wall glowing gold like a crown in the rising sun—wow. It was such a beautiful, colorful sight. I couldn’t stop staring.
On the Riverwalk, people were friendly, and we said hi to everyone. Everyone seemed in a good mood, even though it was still so early the sun hadn’t completely cleared the top of the canyon walls. We saw lots of young couples and seniors, and very few families, further evidence that what the server at Bryce Canyon Lodge had said the day before was true: Now that Labor Day had passed, most tourists would be either “newly-weds or nearly-deads.” Families had to be home with their kids in school.
Some people on the path seemed to be seasoned hikers used walking sticks, making me wonder if we should invest in those in the future. In addition, many of them seemed to be wearing the same hiking boots—orange and black—you couldn’t miss them. I wondered if there had been a sale in the gift shop or something? Or maybe it was just a popular brand. At any rate, they must have been waterproof because all of those people ended up hiking into the Narrows, at the end of the Riverwalk. We didn’t join them.
The Narrows is a slot canyon within Zion. The narrowest part of Zion Canyon, it has walls a thousand feet high and the river in some places is only 20-30 feet wide. You can explore it by walking upstream in the Virgin River for just a few minutes or all day. If you want to do this, though, prepare in advance because of flash flooding and other potential dangers. Click here for more info.
There were lots of trees and flowers along the way. We came upon a white flower here and there, which we had also noticed growing in our rental house’s neighborhood. I looked it up and found out that it’s called sacred thorn-apple. A beautiful bloom, its milky white petals seem to signify innocence and purity as white typically does in the language of flowers, but that’s just an illusion—it’s poisonous. In fact, the entire plant is poisonous if ingested, and just touching it should be done wearing gloves. Beauty, yes, but a dangerous and even deadly one.
As we continued, we came upon an area called a swamp with a stand of trees and marshy undergrowth. It struck me as funny that a swamp could exist in the desert. A sign nearby explained why.
On the right side of the pathway, the rock wall was wet with water coming down the rock from the top. Because the rock can’t absorb all the moisture, the thin soil on top of it stays wet, creating a lush area of greenery seemingly growing into the rock and among the cracks. The water must have also flowed under the pathway making the ground marshy over there.
Perhaps it’s nature’s equivalent of “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Water will find a way.
A little further along, a huge rock hung over the pathway. Most adults had to move their heads to keep from being knocked out. As I ducked, I didn’t think too hard about what would happen if the rock decided to move.
We walked along at a good pace, letting faster people go ahead of us, and passing slower ones. We struck up a conversation with a couple from Connecticut behind us and shared stories of what we had seen and where we were going next. Turns out, they were from a very small town where Mart had worked on a short-term project. It was one of those small world/small town moments.
When we got to the river, we decided to stay for a little while. It was cool in the shade and the water was cool too. We stood round river rocks about the size of my hand and stuck our toes in. Stepping stones and large boulders littered the river bed, providing a perfect spot for people to perch and contemplate the beauty or just relax. Or journal, as one young woman did.
We also watched people wade to the other side of the river and enter the slot in the canyon leading to the Narrows.
As I thought about what we’d seen, I realized that we’d been down inside the canyon looking up, whereas the day before, at Bryce Canyon, we’d been on top of the canyon looking down. Zion and Bryce are completely different, but it was interesting to get both perspectives.
On the shuttle, we met a young newlywed couple from Indiana; I remember that the guy had emerald green eyes. At the Cafe, we bought a snack and a drink and talked to the people from Connecticut. A little girl nearby, fascinated by a baby kangaroo rat she’d found in the grass, wanted to show all the passersby, whether they want to see it or not. Her parents had a hard time trying to get her to leave.
The drive into and out of Zion Canyon is amazing. On the way out, I drove so that Mart could enjoy looking at the view of the canyon walls instead of trying to stay on the curvy narrow roadway. Traffic was light so I could drive slowly, stop at several lookouts, and just enjoy the spectacular, up-close view.
All three canyons that we had seen so far on our trip—the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Zion—were all so different. We each had a favorite but we didn’t know at the time that our favorite park on this trip was still to come.
Have you visited any of these canyons in Utah? What has been the most breathtaking place you’ve ever been? I would love to know! Let me know in the comments below.
If you missed the other posts in my series on Utah, click here and here and here.
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