Hard Truths:
- Lodging books up early & fast for Zion during its high season
- Narrows hike closes if river is too strong (flow rate over 150 cubic feet/second) or flash flood warnings are in effect
- Angel’s Landing can get way too overcrowded
- Canyoneering can be daunting even if you’re not afraid of heights
- There are some tight squeezes when canyoneering, not for the claustrophobic either
- Kanab is a pretty desolate town
- Utah has one of the US’s strictest alcohol limits, which can make booze hard to come by
Can’t Miss:
- Canyoneering (if you’re not afraid of heights/small spaces!)
- Slot Canyons
- Hiking, hiking & more hiking
The western part of the United States has some of the most beautiful National Parks in the world. The state of Utah alone is home to 5 of them so definitely worth a visit. The state itself isn’t too big so you could see them all in one trip if you have some time (Check out my itinerary for a full list and route).
My last trip out there included a stop in Zion National Park which is one of my favorites. It’s in the southern part of the state which also houses over 1,000 slot canyons, the most in the world! This whole area has so many natural wonders to see. You could easily do an entire trip here.
The best way to get here and around is by renting a car, and who doesn’t love a good road trip! Driving long open roads out in western US warranted a car to fit the bill so I went with a Ford Mustang convertible, which was well worth it. My friend and I flew into Las Vegas and picked the car up there to head straight out (and no, we didn’t stop for any Vegas debauchery, lol). Vegas to Zion is a pretty quick, easy drive, taking around 2.5 hours.
Zion has a lot of options to see the park but not so many for where to stay. There are three campgrounds in the park itself and only one hotel, Zion Lodge, which all book up fast. The closest town to the park entrance near the visitor center is Springdale which has a bunch of lodging options (my favs listed in Don’t Forget).
The next and most difficult decision is what to see/do. There is everything from hiking and biking to canyoneering and rock climbing as well as tubing or even just hopping on the free shuttle and checking out all the stops. Most of these options are easy to do on your own but there are also lots of tour companies around to arrange whatever you’d like.
I had always wanted to try canyoneering and thought it would be fun to mix that with some biking and hiking so booked the Weekend Warrior package with Zion Rock Guides which is 4 days.
The package is pretty all-inclusive, just check which hotel they book you in. They advertised the Zion Mountain Ranch and even though we had booked a few months in advance it was already booked so they found us a ‘comparable’ hotel, The Pioneer Lodge. It was fine, still had good views of the park but the ranch definitely looked much nicer!
Day 1 is for planning and settling in. We settled into the hotel and met our weekend guide for dinner. It’s a private trip so the itinerary and activities are very flexible. You can do canyoneering, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking and even a jeep tour. We decided to go for canyoneering, biking and hiking.
Day 2 was our canyoneering expedition and our first foray into the park. We started on a practice wall which still looked daunting. You hike to the top and get suited up in your harness. Then, you hang over the edge with your feet planted on the rim of the canyon and basically sit back into thin air. I’d advise not to look down if you’re wary of heights at all! It’s an amazing rush for the first drop and then you basically walk down the canyon wall or swing as most of the newbies (me!!) do.
The experience, as a first timer, was a little a scary. You really need to “trust the ropes” as the guide kept reminding us over and over again. But the more and more canyons we did the fear lessened and I became overtaken with excitement.
Each canyon was different so you never get bored of the red sandstone rock backdrop surrounding you. Some of the canyons looked so deep from the top you couldn’t even see the dark depths of the bottom. Some were such tiny crevices, I didn’t think we would fit. It’s definitely not for the claustrophobic. At one point we got to the bottom and had to literally squeeze through a space between the rocks that felt like it was only a foot wide to get out!
It was well worth it if you can handle the heights and small spaces. And since you needed to hike to the top of them there were some amazing views of the park along the way.
Day 3 was hiking and mountain biking. We did a quick morning hike, Watchman trail, which is right at the start of the park. We rode bikes into the park and left them slightly hidden a bit into the trail. It’s an easy trail, ~3miles, and it takes you to the edge of the park with sweeping views.
Neither of us had been mountain biking before so our guide recommended doing more road biking throughout Zion Park instead of off-roading which is a pretty tough terrain. The park is stunning. Seeing the steep red cliffs tower above us with the wind blowing as we sped by was so impressive. We got to see the infamous Angel’s Landing hike from down below. It was so packed. It looked like a line of tiny people on the edge of the earth! It was a real turn off so we decided to skip it. I think it would be better to try it during the off-season. There are lots of other hikes to try, check out the Don’t Forget section for some good ones!
Our last day was more hiking. We had wanted to do the other infamous hike, The Narrows, (which would’ve also played into my obsession with slot canyons!) but were faced with the hard truth of the trail closing due to flash flood warnings. Our guide suggested a hike outside the park as an alternative. So we drove to the Water Canyon Trail. It was a pretty cool trail through a canyon but there are so many to offer within the park I would’ve rather done another on there.
One interesting part of the venture outside the park was driving through Hildale which is home to the small sect of Mormon fundamentalists (FLDS) that still practice polygamy. It’s like being transported back in time. The women were covered from neck to ankles in traditional prairie dresses reminiscent of the 19th century.
The next stop was to see one of these amazing slot canyons I had read about. The most famous ones, and therefore overcrowded, are the Upper and Lower Antelope canyons near Lake Powell. So I looked for alternatives. Buckskin Gulch and Peek-A-Boo Canyon both came up as good options. They looked a bit difficult to get to so thought going with a tour company would be the best way to see one. The companies I found picked up from Kanab, so we stayed there a night and even that was too long! We stayed at the Canyons Boutique Hotel which was very cute and homey but the town was pretty desolate. There is pretty much nothing to do in the town itself and we would soon learn about Utah’s liquor laws. We arrived on a Sunday so the state liquor stores were closed and with barely any bar/restaurant options in town the only options were the low alcohol beers sold in the grocery stores (which were even lower when I went, the laws changed in Nov 2019 to increase them slightly).
Looking back I think it’s better to do the canyons on your own. I went with a photography tour that took us to Peek-A-Boo and was 6 hours, probably 5 hours too long! It was a lot of driving and some stops seemed unnecessary. And of course, as with any tour, you are at the mercy of the group who can spend much longer than you want in each spot. The canyon itself was amazing though and worth it. It was pretty empty so we were able to roam through it undisturbed. The landscape was similar to the canyons we saw in Zion but this was much longer. It felt like a maze going on forever as you wind through the towering red walls. It was a perfect ending to our landscapes of Utah tour.
Don’t Forget:
- Zion Hotels – Cliffrose Lodge & Gardens, Zion Lodge, Zion Mountain Ranch, SpringHill Suites
- Zion Hikes – The Narrows, Angel’s Landing (offseason), Canyon Overlook, Observation Point, The Subway, Hidden Canyon, Taylor Creek, La Verkin Creek Trail, Pine Creek Waterfall, Clear Creek Trail
- Slot Canyons – Buckskin Gulch, Zebra, Peek-A-Boo, Willis Creek, Beartrap, Orderville, Kolob Creek, Echo, Wire Pass