It is only a two and half hour drive from Las Vegas to the stunning Zion Canyon. Along the way through eastern Nevada and western Utah the geography changes from mile to mile.
Coming from the west, most people exit Interstate 15 to route #9. Along the way you will come across a town called “Hurricane,” pronounced as “Her-ah-kun.” Apparently, a settler had a top of a buggy blow off. The area was then known as “Hurricane Hill.”
The life-blood of the community was a canal that was built circa 1900.
If you book a year in advance, you may get a chance to stay in the Zion Lodge inside Zion National Park. Good time to visit is in the cooler months of March and April. It can get quite hot in the summer.
We found cell phone service to be lacking in the canyon. Ironically, if you were by the lodge flag pole (which acted like an antenna), you could make and send out calls.
Various Indian tribes lived in the canyon for 8000 years. The Mormons moved in the canyon circa 1860. In 1909, Howard Taft named the area “Mukuntuweap National Monument.” This name did not settle too well for the Mormons.
Eventually, Mukuntuweap was changed to “Zion” and made into a National Park by Woodrow Wilson in 1919. The word “Zion” means “the Promised Land,” and “the highest point.”
In 1968, I remember our family going through Zion coming eastward through Mt. Carmel Junction. I was 13 at the time and still remember seeing “The Checkerboard Mesa.”
Kathie and I stopped there in 2013 to take this picture.
Sometimes you can spot sheep along the road.
I was not very impressed with Zion at the time in 1968. I actually questioned why we even went there? In 2007, I found the answer. My dad never turned down the famous Valley Road which has many of the wonders of Zion like Patriarchs, Emerald Pools, Angles Landing and a view of the Narrows.
We completely missed the turn-off and continued on our journey westward. Our goal, eventually, was to reach our cousins in California.
Kathie and I stayed in our three visits to Zion in a small community west of the National Park called Springdale at the “Best Western Zion Park Inn.”
We found this hotel comfortable. There was even AC unlike the park’s lodge rooms. There is a decent size pool overlooking Johnson Mountain–my pic though a dirty window.
In our third visit in 2013, there was an elaborate breakfast that went along with the stay.
In 2007 there wasn’t much to choose from. Since then, there is now a Hampton Inn, a SpringHill Suites and a Holiday Inn Express. There is camping at the beginning of the National Park.
Our favorite restaurant in Springdale dating back to 2007 is Oscar’s Café. It has delicious hamburgers and Mexican food. What I like most is “Kathy’s Carrot Cake.” So moist, so good.
To help sustain the park ecologically from all the cars, a shuttle system has been set-up from April through October. These shuttles run in the summer almost every ten minutes. Due to Covid, one must now go-on-line to schedule a ticket. The cost is a dollar.
The famous Zion Canyon and surrounding areas are impressive.
We did walk up to Angels Landing. I remember the trail had plenty of “switchbacks.” Kathie did not like the heights.
To go out on the ridge, though, is a precarious rope to hold yourself. It was a risk we did not dare take. A week before, a man fell to his death attempting to go all the way out to Angels Landing.
We took the hike to Emerald Pools. In June, it was hot.
One late afternoon, I set out by myself to walk the “Narrow’s.” This famous canyon trail has the Virgin River running through it. Walking the Narrows is a popular activity.
I was lucky to find a walking-stick (people leave them by the trail-head). I almost fell in the river several times–saving my camera–with all the small river boulders. Having good river shoes is a must.
There are a number of pools along the way good for swimming and cooling off. For large treks in the Narrows, I was by myself. It was late afternoon in early June. There are warnings about flash floods that have killed people in the Narrows. Luckily, there was no rain in sight when I walked through the canyon.
It seemed I went about a mile or so in–maybe more, maybe less. Some people start at the beginning of Chamberlain’s Ranch and do the entire route of 16 miles. I met three “older” seniors trekking down. These people were brave hardy souls. I passed them going back. I made it back to the beginning at 10:30 at night. I caught the last bus out. I still wonder to this day how those people ever made it out.
Two and a half hours later—not counting a quick stop in the community of St. George, we would be back to “Viva Las Vegas” the next day. It is rather surreal to think that there I was trekking the Narrow one night, and the next night walking the Las Vegas Strip.
