We now can say we have completed the Might Five Parks in Utah. Yahoo! Zion was the last one and it was beautiful. We now know why everyone brags about their time there and why this is their favorite. We now think this may be our favorite of the Mighty 5!
Before we get into details, we have to share with you what we did on Sunday the 20th. We were crazy but here is the summary.
We don’t think we have ever walked the many steps in one day or in four hours. However, the walk was worth it. So let’s start with the details. First our drive in captivates you before you even get to the entrance.
The first thing you need to learn about Zion is that you have to park near or at the Visitor’s Center as they have restricted traffic on the Scenic Drive. You have to take the Shuttle that makes many stops. This was breeze for us and made everything easier. You didn’t have to behind other cars or search for parking. The Scenic Drive is basically the main part of the park that you can see without making long hikes on the west side of the park. All compacted in one area. However, as you can see from our first day of 16K steps this alone can be a hike. You can see from the map below all the shuttle stops so they are very convenient.
We entered from the east side and you begin to see this beautiful park before you even get to the entrance gate.
As soon as you enter from the East side after the entrance gate, you get to see the Checkerboard Mesa. It is interesting to see how this mountain formed with this type of layout. (We didn’t see any climbers playing checkers though so guess there were no games going on when we arrived.) The Checkerboard Mesa 6,670′ high so it would be a good challenge to climb it. However, the possibilities may be great – look at all the places you can put your feet and hands.
Before you get further into the park, you are greeted with the Big Horn Sheep on the side of the road.
In addition, on the way into the park from the east side you get to see these beautiful sites.
Coming from the East side will require you to go through two tunnels to get to the Visitor Center. The first one was a very sh0rt tunnel which didn’t need have any special height restrictions so this one was easy.
Then you will enter the mile long tunnel which is known as the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel. This tunnel was not only interesting but required special access for the RVs and Trucks. The rangers would stop traffic on one side so that the RVs and Trucks could drive down the middle of the tunnel. This tunnel is actually a phenomenon as it was started in 1920s and was finished in 1930 as was built to allow direct access to Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon from Zion National Park. (The picture of the entrance was snagged from the Internet because there was no way to get a picture of the entrance as the rangers have you moving quickly.)
Above are two pictures from the east and west entries to the same tunnel. Notice that if you enter from the east you have a height restriction of 13’1″ but if you enter from the west, you have a height restriction of 13’2″. Wonder what happens to that extra inch as you go through the tunnel and if you are going west to east it gets shorter so hopefully you get through easily.
If you are a truck or RV you can only enter from the east or go east between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. (depending on the time of the year) so that the rangers can stop traffic for you to go through. We did not even think about driving our RV through there – even though we have 12’11” height restriction. No way would we let this be a can opener on our RV. Anything over 11’4″ needs to pay an additional $15 extra.
Here are some pictures inside the mile long tunnel. You are not supposed to stop but we were able since we entered in very early in the morning and no one was behind us.
The purpose of these “windows” in the tunnel were not for to have views in the tunnel but these were windows for the workers building the tunnel to pass equipment through the tunnel. You see, the tunnel was started at the middle top and they drilled down and then went out right and left. They didn’t start on one end and drill through to the other end. Fascinating story. Outside of the tunnel on the west side you can see the tunnels. Here is one of the windows from the outside.
Then you get to see the mule deer on the side of the road.
When you come out of the tunnel you get to see this create rock formation. How does a portion of the rock fall and form this arch? So many questions as you see all the formations of the rock.
We also did the Riverside Walk which led us to the Narrows. Unfortunately, we didn’t do the hike through the Narrows but got just outside of it. The hike through the Narrows is walking through the Virgin River and we didn’t have our waterproof shoes on. However the hike to there was beautiful. You can see many hikers in the picture below.
The rock formations and the water running through and over them made for some beautiful rock formations.
Next is the hike to the Weeping Rock. This was interesting to see the rock “crying” and water coming out of the rock. You never realize that a rock has pores to it. Watch the video below. Mike actually caught some of the water and drank it. Filtered by the earth and it was so clean!
We then hiked up the Emerald Pools. There is a Lower Emerald Pool, than a Middle Emerald Pool and then the Upper Emerald Pool. Hike to Lower and Middle is not bad but the hike to Upper was tough.
Upper Emerald Pool walk.
One of the hikes we talked about but didn’t do was the Angel’s Landing Hike. The reason you will see is that the hike takes you up the mountain across skinny ledges so that you can get to the top. Below is the picture of the trio mountains – The Great White Throne, Oregon Peak and Angels Landing. Look at the right mountain before you look at the next pictures.
So the hike to Angel’s Landing is awesome if you make it to the top. We were lucky that a mother who was with us mentioned her daughter just did this and loved looking at our pictures to put in the hike in perspective.
Yep they are up there in the far way picture. This hike takes about 5-6 hours to get to the top at a 2400′ elevation. Fun to see them up there.
So this was our trip through Zion. Based on the pictures, we hope you can appreciate all of the rock formations and hikes you can do.
While at Zion, we stayed at the East Zion RV Park which was run by the Best Western. There were only 11 sites and we were lucky to get Site #9 which was the only one that had 50amp and we definitely needed it to run all 3 air conditioners. Behind us was a river where Cocoa took a quick walk in the water. Obviously the water was not deep. The sites were located on a street across from Best Western and were large enough for Big Rigs like ours as far as depth.
Leaving Zion we headed to Colorado to get our RV tuned up. Here are some pictures of our drive.
So lots of pictures we hoped you enjoyed. Of course, put this one on your bucket list also.
