Zion National Park
Our trip to Zion National Park was great. We had one full day of sightseeing in Zion. I highly recommend spending more than one day at Zion, but we made the most out of the time we had.
Springdale, Utah is where Zion is located and we stayed in an adorable hotel called the Bumbleberry Inn. We stayed at the Bumbleberry 2 nights and it was centrally located in Springdale.
One of the best things about staying at the Bumbleberry Inn was that their parking lot was a shuttle stop for Zion National Park (the Springdale Line). The Zion Canyon Scenic Drive is closed to private vehicles during the shuttle season, but shuttles run constantly throughout Springdale as well as throughout the park. This made our trip in and out of the park very easy.
We entered the park by using my America the Beautiful Pass. To read about the America the Beautiful Pass, click here. We stopped at the visitors center and I got my Zion National Park ink stamp in my National Park Passport Book. To read about the National Park Passport Book, click here.
After stopping at the visitors center, we took the shuttle (Zion Canyon Line) to Stop 9, Temple of Sinawava. Stop 9 is the last stop on the Zion Canyon Line and we thought it would be good to start there and work our way back. The Temple of Sinawava shuttle stop is where the Riverside Walk begins.
The Riverside Walk is a relatively flat and paved 2.2 mile round trip trail and follows the Virgin River. It’s an easy walk and the scenery is beautiful. This trail also leads to a popular hike called The Narrows. We weren’t planning on hiking The Narrows, but due to all the snow this area had in the winter and the snow melting, the trail was closed.
After we did the Riverside Walk, we were hungry so we got back on the Zion shuttle and went to Stop 5, Zion Lodge. Zion Lodge is the only hotel inside the park and if you’re interested in staying there on your trip to Zion, you will need to book more than a year in advance.
Two restaurants are located at Zion Lodge: Red Rock Grill and Castle Dome Cafe. The Red Rock Grill is in the main lodge and you must have a reservation to eat there. The Castle Dome Cafe is adjacent to the lodge and is more like a snack bar where you can get pizza, drinks, burgers, hotdogs, french fries and coffee. We ordered pizza and it was really good. There is an outdoor seating area next to the Castle Dome Cafe.
From Zion Lodge we had planned to hike to the Lower Emerald Pool, but due to heavy snow melt, the bridge was out that you have to cross to get to Lower Emerald Pool. We changed our plans and got back on the Zion shuttle and went to Stop 7, Weeping Rock.
Weeping Rock is a short, but steep, walk from the shuttle stop.
From Weeping Rock, you will have an incredible view of Angel’s Landing. We did not hike Angel’s Landing, but if you plan on doing the hike, you must get a timed entry pass at Recreation. gov. Angel’s Landing is the only timed entry pass you need in Zion National Park. Angel’s Landing is very popular, but also very steep and narrow and the pass from Recreation.gov helps to limit how many hikers are on the trail at one time.
Weeping Rock was beautiful and is definitely worth visiting. We got back on the shuttle and went to Stop 4, Court of the Patriarchs. It is a 2 minute walk to the best view and the peaks are named after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from the Old Testament.
Even though I was disappointed we couldn’t hike to the Lower Emerald Pool, we called it a day and took the shuttle back to the park entrance. At the entrance is where you can rent bikes or water gear to hike the Narrows.
The Zion Brewery restaurant, beer garden, and gift shop are also available just outside the entrance to the park.
We spent one full day in Zion and if we had more time, we could have easily spent several days there. Zion National Park was one of our favorite parks we visited.
