Best of Zion National Park

Can the views get more stunning than Zion National Park?  It’s like you’re immersed in a scene out of Jurassic Park!  We hit Utah’s Mighty 5 National Parks during spring break and Zion was our first of the five.  It’s funny how all of the parks are equally unique and beautiful, but every one of us had a favorite.  Zion was mine!

Utah’s Mighty 5

If you read our first post, you’ll know that we started in Salt Lake City, prior to heading to Zion.  I would have preferred to start in Las Vegas, but because it was significantly cheaper for us to fly in and out of Salt Lake City and rent our car, we decided to do one big loop as we hit each of the parks.

Salt Lake City

Our spring break began on Good Friday so we decided to fly out Thursday evening.  With flights being so inconsistent, I was worried about it being canceled!  Thankfully, we left on-time!  We did have a layover in Chicago that was delayed, but we finally made it to Utah around 1am. 

We stayed at the Tru by Hilton Salt Lake City Airport.  The hotel offered a free shuttle so we used it to get from the airport to the hotel and then again in the morning to get back to the airport to pick up our rental car.

We are Hilton Honors members and typically stick with that brand of hotels.  Service is pretty consistent so we know what we’ll get!  Our kids want two things—free breakfast and a pool.  Our hotels typically end up being either Hampton Inn, Tru or Embassy Suites, mainly for the free breakfast.

Car Rental

We rented our car from Fox rentals and had our car within about 30 minutes of arriving at their facility.  My husband is a car guy so he wanted to make a pit stop at Kindig It Designs to view their showroom and get a T-shirt so we headed there first. If you’re planning to stop, they do offer tours, but kids are not allowed to participate so just be sure to plan for that!

From there, we headed towards St. George, UT for the night.  About 30 minutes into our drive, the tire pressure light came on and we were at 5 PSI.  We pulled into a gas station with a flat tire.  Apparently, Fox plugged the tire in the sidewall and it had popped out.  I immediately called roadside assistance for Fox, while my husband changed the tire.  Thankfully our car had a full-size spare in it and my husband knows how to change a tire!

Our tire was changed and we were already back on the road heading back to Fox before roadside assistance even answered the call—and they suggested we do what we were already doing—driving back.  At this point, we’d already been about an hour behind schedule so we were pretty frustrated about the entire situation.  However, with as much as we have traveled, we know that there are always some bumps.  We’ve learned to shake it off and go with the flow. 

Fortunately, Fox had another car waiting for us—it was the same vehicle we had, but it was pretty much brand new.  They had us in and out pretty quickly, so we headed back towards St. George!  Although we were worried that this may be the start to a not-so-great trip, it ended up turning out to be an amazing one!  Bottom line, be prepared for anything, but don’t let it ruin your trip!

On our drive from Salt Lake City to St. George, we stopped for lunch at Mel’s Diner in Beaver, UT.  It was a quick stop and offered some really good food!  It was just what we needed to fuel us for the last leg of our drive.

St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site

As a mom of boys, I’ve come to love the things they do and dinosaurs are no exception.  We had a planned stop at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site, but with our flat-tire delay, we wouldn’t arrive until nearly closing time.  My youngest was looking forward to going so we decided to head there even if it’d close within an hour of us arriving. 

It’s a fossil site and museum that preserves thousands of dinosaur footprints right at the original site of discovery.  It wasn’t very big, so we were easily able to get through it within an hour.  Plus, it wasn’t expensive ($28 total for our family of 5) so it was a cool experience even if you’re short on time.

St. George, Utah

We checked into our hotel (Hampton Inn St. George) and the kids wanted to hit the pool.  The hotel actually had both an indoor AND outdoor pool and hot tub.  Our kids had a blast going back and forth between both.  The hotel lobby had fresh baked cookies out for a snack and offered a good spread for breakfast.

We decided to grab some dinner and found a pretty awesome playground called Thunder Junction All Abilities Park.  This was a perfect spot to burn off some steam!  Their “splash pad” was super-cool and there were plenty of things to keep all of our kids busy.  If you’re heading to Zion and need a place to stop, consider St. George!

Our round-trip drive from Salt Lake City to all 5 parks and back to Salt Lake City was roughly 17 hours.  This first leg, from Salt Lake City to Zion was the longest jaunt at about five hours.  St. George is about 50 minutes outside of Zion so it was a good place to rest before our first day in the park.  Before heading to Zion, we made sure to fill up our tank and stopped at a local Walmart to pick up some items to pack for lunch. 

Springdale, UT – Zion National Park

We headed out early Saturday morning and went directly to our hotel (Hampton Inn Springdale).  We were able to go into the hotel and grab a parking pass so we didn’t have to worry about paying to park or finding a spot. 

Zion doesn’t allow guests to drive into the park during a good portion of the year.  Instead, they have free shuttles you can use. There are two shuttle loops available, one is for Springdale and the other is a park shuttle.

Springdale is a town just before you hit Zion National Park.  It has a variety of hotels, restaurants and shops.  The good thing is, there are lot of places to eat so if you don’t feel like packing a lunch, you will have plenty of options!

The Zion shuttle stops at various spots throughout the park.  Zion Lodge is the only lodging inside of the park and it has a restaurant and shop in it as well.  The shuttles are a great way to just sit, relax and take in the beautiful scenery! 

Our Zion Agenda

Before we even went to the parks, I carefully constructed an itinerary based on several blogs and groups I am in.  My kids like hiking, but I knew they wouldn’t be up for anything too strenuous or long so I selected very do-able hikes.  Here is how we spent our first day in Zion:

Visitor’s Center

No matter what park you visit, a stop at the Visitor’s Center is always a good start.  This is where you can fill up water bottles, use the restroom, grab a map, visit the shop, talk to a Ranger about what to see/hike and it’s where your kiddos can get their Jr. Ranger workbook.

In Zion, the Visitor’s Center is the last stop on the Springdale shuttle and the first stop on the Zion park shuttle.  This stop also has the Zion Brew Pub as well as Zion Outfitter, which is one of the places that will provide you with gear to hike the Narrows.

All three of my kids participated in the Jr. Ranger Program.  Each kid had a certain number of activities they had to complete in the book in order to earn their badge.  They worked on their books as we waited for the shuttle and drove to our first stop.

Kayenta Trail + Lower Emerald Pools Trail + Grotto Trail

Our first hike actually consisted of three separate trails that come together to make a big loop.  We took the Zion Shuttle to Stop #6 and crossed the street to start on the Kayenta Trail.  This trail was a favorite of mine.  It has some pretty awesome views and wildlife.  It’s considered a moderate hike and does have some steep edges so keep your muchkins close.

This trail led right to the Lower Emerald Pools trail, which is considered “easy.”  It’s relatively flat with some steps as you move from Kayenta to the Lower Emerald Pools.  This portion was cool, although there wasn’t much to see in the “pools.”  Unfortunately, we missed the hike to the Upper Emerald Pools.  I thought I knew where I was going, but another person said they were told to go another way—I should have gone with my gut!

The one downside with Zion is that their trails are not well-labeled.  We were really just hoping we were on the right trails.  Thankfully, we were good to go on most of them just by using our park map.

When we got done with the Kayenta and Emerald Pools Trails, we ended right at the Zion Lodge.  There is a grassy area with benches available, plus there are restrooms nearby in the lodge, making it a perfect spot for our picnic.  If you don’t have a lunch, you can opt to grab lunch here at the restaurant.

After we ate lunch and rested a bit, we continued our loop on the Grotto Trail.  This is another “easy” trail with not too much of an elevation increase.  It’s only a mile and takes about a half-hour to complete.  It’s also in-between Shuttle stop 5 and 6 so you can take the trail from one end to the other and hop on the shuttle to hit your next hike.

Riverwalk

After our Grotto hike, we hopped on the shuttle and got off at Stop #9, which is the last stop on the shuttle circuit.  Everyone is required to get off at this stop (even if you plan to do a loop).  This is another “easy” hike.  It’s a little over two miles and takes about an hour and a half to complete (in and out).  When you get to the end of the trail, you end in the Virgin River.  This is also the start of the Narrows Hike, which is a strenuous hike right through the Virgin River. 

If you plan to hike the Narrows, it’s a good idea to visit Zion Outfitter or another similar store that will ensure you’re dressed appropriately.  They will provide you with full dry suits, including bib overalls, hiking boots, neoprene socks and hiking boots.  The water can get pretty deep, so if you’re hiking with kids, depending on their height, it may be over their head.  The water temp when we were there in mid-April was 40 degrees, so you really want to have the right gear before heading on that hike.

If you’re like us and can’t do those strenuous hikes, the kids can play in the Virgin River.  My youngest had a blast playing in the water.  He ended up putting on his neoprene socks that I ordered for him though, which helped keep his feet a little warmer.

After we completed our hike, we hopped back on the Zion Shuttle and headed back to the Visitor’s Center.  By this time, the kids had finished their workbooks and were ready to get sworn in as Junior Rangers.  After that, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and ready for dinner.

Meme’s Cafe

Anytime we go on vacation, I always research restaurants in advance and typically have several options in mind.  Meme’s Café was one of our options.  Their menu had a variety of offerings that sounded good, plus it was within walking distance of our hotel.  And let me tell you, the food was wonderful!

I am a sucker for a good veggie sandwich and they had a Garden Vegetable Grilled Cheese that was delicious!  It had sauteed seasonal vegetables, cheddar, spinach and roasted bell pepper aioli on grilled sourdough.  Yum!  My husband had the Pork Philly Sandwich and my son went with the Teriyaki Burger, which were also really good! Then we got the Momma’s Favorite Crepe for dessert (I probably could have eaten the entire thing by myself)—it was so good!  If you’re looking for a place to eat, definitely give Meme’s Café a try!

Hampton Inn Springdale

Our hotel was beautiful!  We are big fans of Hampton Inn hotels already, but this one was a little more upscale than a typical Hampton.  All Hamptons have the same offerings, but some just step it up and this one did just that!  Not only did they offer a great breakfast, but they also had cookies out in the evening along with hot cocoa and coffee.  Plus, as we were eating breakfast, they were putting out Uncrustables, grapes and carrots to take hiking, which I thought was really sweet!  We grabbed some PB&Js to take with us and didn’t need to worry about lunch for the day!

They also had a nice pool and hot tub, which kept our kids entertained for a good portion of the night.  I would highly recommend this hotel if you’re coming to Zion.  It’s right in the middle of the Springdale shuttle and close to so many shops and restaurants.

Pa’Rus Trail

The next morning, we started our day off by hiking the Pa’Rus Trail.  This trail is considered “easy”—it’s a paved trail with minimum elevation.  It also allows bikes so if you rented bikes for the day you can take this trail, which follows the Virgin River. 

Zion-Mount Carmel Highway

I mentioned that you can’t drive through the park during most months.  However, you CAN drive into the park and take the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway.  You will pass some pretty amazing scenery, go through some cool tunnels and be able to stop along the route.  We had a hike planned that was off this route, but by the time we headed there, it was pretty crowded and there weren’t a ton of places to pull off and park.

As we continued our drive, we did find several pull-offs that we did stop at and took time to explore.  I would definitely make sure this drive is on your list!  If you’re hitting all five parks, this is the way you’ll head to Bryce Canyon (or in our case, Kanab, UT) so it’s not out of your way at all!

Basic Info

It’s important to note that some hikes do require reservations or have a lottery system.  If you want to hike the coveted Angel’s Landing, you’ll need to apply for the lottery.  There are no guarantees that you’ll be able to go on the hike, but it’s better to know that in advance!  You can read the lottery info here.

Entrance fees for this park were $35 for our vehicle and is good for seven days.  Our middle kid, Cohen, is in fourth grade so we were able to get in free with the Every Kid Outdoors Pass.  This is available for all fourth-grade students by simply signing up online.  It’s good for the entire school year and covers the entrance fees to a variety of National Parks and lands.

Have You Been to Zion?

The views in Zion were my favorite, but that’s not to say that the other parks we visited were not just as amazing.  Have you been to Zion?  What was your favorite hike?

Want to check out other parks near Zion? Check out these posts: Kanab, Utah, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches!