Our second stop of the trip brought us to Zion National Park. I hadn’t honestly read too much about this one, so I was excited to see what we would find. We stayed in the local KOA in Ceder City, just a short highway drive up north from the Park. As our fist experience at a KOA, it was a fairly nice experience. They have some small amenities like hot showers and hookups for the RV.
The trip into the park was really beautiful. Utah offers some amazing sights as that whole part of the state is geologically fantastic. I was able to fit in a quick drone flight before we entered the park area. It’s illegal to fly drones in any National Park, so had to find a spot that would give me a good vantage point for the landscape. I was not disappointed.
Mavic 2 Pro, Stitched Panoramic, Click for higher-res preview
Driving in we past the town of Springdale. Nice little town that was mostly shops and a few vacation homes it seemed like.
Once we entered the park entrance, you were already introduced to why this park is so world renown. It was literally like the sky opened up once we reached the parking lot.
Travel Type: If you’re coming to Zion National Park with an RV, be prepared to have to park and take the shuttle in. They don’t allow RV’s inside the park, so you’ll have to leave everything behind and wait for the shuttle. It wasn’t too long of a wait however so it’s actually the best way to get around.
The shuttle itself was fairly aired out, but it was very hard to see anything from the windows. One thing to note about this park is it’s very much a hiking park. The main road just gets you to the trail heads which vary in length to each destination. Our first stop, which we randomly picked, was Weeping Rock.
Sony A7iii, Zeiss Batis 40mm, Vertical Stitched Panoramic
We chose this one in particular so that Naeiri wouldn’t have to hike so far. Being 8 months pregnant isn’t the best time to go on a major hike 😉
The hike up was relatively easy. Wouldn’t even need hiking shoes as the path is very well maintained. It had a few small vista points as well that would open up to the sky as you walked up. Once you reach the edge of the cliff, it’s very obvious how the trail got its name. Water and mineral deposits stream down the side of the cliff. There is actually a spot to walk up to the man view point, but be prepared with a raincoat, it’s dripping water over you the whole time. But the view is worth it.
The main viewing area was worth the trek up. It had a nearly 180 degree panoramic view of the valley. The clouds were coming in and out of the area the whole day too, so it helped to cast some great shadows over the cliffs on the surrounding valley.
Sony A7iii, Canon 20mm f2.8, Stitched Panoramic
Once we started making our way back to the shuttle landing, the rain clouds started making their way in. Realizing that most of the other trails were much more difficult than this last one, plus the added pressure of needing to press on to the next stop in our trip helped us decide that it was time to head back to the RV.
The was a little bit more it see from the shuttle in this area, but still fairly dense.
Our last stop to change shuttles to go back in the other direction was at the foot of The Narrows. Nice view but was getting rained on trying to take the shot.
Had to get some last shots of the most majestic parking lot I’ve ever been to I’m my life. 😱
As we were leaving town and heading back to the highway, we decided to stop and grab something to eat. Springdale didn’t have the best options for parking a massive RV, so we continued on and found this awesome spot just before entering the park called Virgin Trading Post. It had this amazing ghost town setup in the front. It was a fee to get into the ghost town, so we passed that but found an interesting burger joint inside.
Parking was a little bit better here, plus it gave me an opportunity to the fly the drone before we got back on the highway.
The burger joint here was great! The had all kinds of meat to choose from. I went with the Bison meat this time, but maybe next time I’ll try one of the more exotic ones 😳
All in all this was a great first stop, and definitely need the chance to come back when I’m prepared to take some long hikes. But the road called us and we had a long drive ahead of us to get to Bear Lake KOA before it was too late.