Utah Family Trip – Zion National Park

Zion National Park at Sunset

We just got back from a spring break vacation to Utah. It was a wonderful time to explore and adventure with our little family. While in Utah, we explored Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. We also spent a few days in Salt Lake City. Our first stop was Zion National Park.

We spent 3 nights in Zion. The first night we stayed at the Desert Pearl Inn, and the next two we camped at the Watchman Campground in the park. We decided to stay the first night in a hotel because we knew we would be coming in from a very early and long flight, followed by an almost 5 hour drive to Zion. So having a comfortable bed and place to just collapse into was important. The Desert Pearl is awesome, and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Zion National Park. If we would have stayed there when it was a teeny bit warmer, we definitely would have jumped into their amazing pool. There were a bunch of other options that looked great too. And they were all on the main drive that lead into the park. Everything is pretty much walking distance and on one main drag in that little town of Springdale that is at the entrance of Zion.

After that first night, we set up camp at the Watchman Campground in the park. Why did we camp? Because Brian insists 🙂 He brought all of the gear in one giant duffel bag – tent, sleeping bags, Thermarests, etc. Was it worth all the work? If you ask him, yes. Don’t ask me. Just kidding. The campground had a great location. Very close to the visitor’s center, a river the boys could throw rocks into, and was surrounded by the mountains. The bathroom was super close to us and CLEAN. No showers, which is fine by me.

Watchman River by our campground. The boys could spend all day throwing rocks and sand in there.

Being that Zion is basically a desert and we come from the land of heat and humidity, camping weather in early April was extremely comfortable. During the day when the sun was high, it did warm up quite a bit. But as soon as the sun would drop behind the mountains it would cool off significantly. The wind seemed to pick up in the very wee hours of the morning and that is what made morning time even colder. Plus, it made it tough to build the campfire. Luckily, we found a great little cafe for breakfast that we liked to go to.

We didn’t have enough room in our luggage to bring the camp stove. Don’t think that Brian didn’t try to bring it, but we had to draw the line somewhere. So all we had was a little propane burner that heated up water. We brought dehydrated camp packets for a few dinners. Meh – not the best, but not the worst.

Dinner at the campsite.

The boys are extremely comfortable with camping pretty much anywhere, and this was no exception. The only things they brought with them on the trip was a stuffed animal and a sticker book. Besides that, they pretty much spent their time scouting for rocks. Rocks which they then used to build stacks from, smash, or throw into rivers.

Our campsite at Watchman Campground.

Waiting for the fire to build up because it got cold quickly.

On our first official full day at Zion, we went on a guided family canyoneering trip with Zion Adventure Company. This was one of several in the area, but the largest and most established. This was a great way to start our time in Zion because we got a half day with an expert in this area. He told us all about the area and we discussed all the pros and cons of the different hikes we planned to take. He then took us out to this big canyon where we had to hike, climb, rappel, squeeze and slide to make our way through. It was awesome! Highly, highly recommend doing one of their trips if you go to Zion.

After that, we  pretty much spent our time doing various hikes. We did the Hidden Canyon hike which Brian failed to mention was marked Strenuous/Dangerous. You start at the bottom and go up these switchbacks that take you up about 1000 feet up the mountain on a rocky path that is about 3 feet wide with a vertical dropoff to one side that gets higher and higher. By myself, this would be no problem. With two distracted kids? It was nerve-wracking. No matter how often I would tell them to walk in the middle of the path, they seemed to always wander off to the edge. Which put me on edge. After about 1,000 feet up the side of the mountain, it got worse. The path became narrower and steeper as we were headed into the canyon. The point when I said we were done is when the path was about 12 inches wide with a vertical dropoff and only a chain to cling onto if you needed to grab something. As soon as we got past that, an older gentleman came in the opposite direction and said it got a lot worse after that point and he was turning back. That was it for me.

The shuttle system in the park is so convenient. They make stops at all the major trails, the lodge, the museum and the visitor’s center, so that is the way you get around.  There is one coming by every 5 minutes or so. We headed over to the Zion Lodge after that to relax and grab lunch. They have a beautiful lawn in front where you can picnic and kids run and play. All surrounded by the majestic beauty of these mountains. We noticed that about this time (lunchtime), tour buses started coming in and dropping off people. That is when it started getting crowded. So if you go to Zion, I would recommend going on your hikes early (7-8am) or later (after 4pm). Leave the middle of the day for lunch and relaxing while everything is crowded. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like my hikes feeling like I am in a line at Disney World.

Resting up in the lawn at the lodge while we waited for our lunch.

Emerald Pools Trail right in front of the lodge. Super easy, but crowded.

Next up was Junior Ranger Badge time! The National Parks all have Junior Ranger programs for children. To participate, you just have to go to a visitor’s center of that park to pick up your activity booklet. We did this in Rocky Mountain National Park 2 years ago and it was a big hit. There are different plants and animals you have to seek out, trails to go on, and lessons about the geology of the park. After the booklet is completed, you have to go back to the visitor’s center to talk to a park ranger, receive your badge and get sworn in.

The questioning each child gets differs depending on the ranger. Lucky for us, this one was super relaxed.

So happy they earned their Zion badge.

Two other hikes we really enjoyed were the Labyrinth Trail & the Watchman Trail. The Labyrinth Trail is a lesser known trail right outside of the park that our guide had told us about. It was a great spot to see the sun set and turn the mountains a golden orange. When you get to the top, there is a big labyrinth up there and a picnic table. It was tranquil and serene. We had it all to ourselves.

The Watchman Trailhead was right in our campground. It was so beautiful, not crowded and we even saw some some deer on our hike. This was probably our favorite hike in Zion.

Morning hike on the Watchman Trail.

Playing in the Watchman River after the hike.

Heading out of Zion on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park, the drive is just out of this world with jaw-dropping scenery. We even had to stop a bit to take it all in.

As you can probably tell, we loved Zion National Park! It is such and impressive display of the power of what water can do. There are countless ways to explore this amazing place. These are our tips for anyone going to Zion:

• Try to stay at least 2 nights.
• Take advantage of the trails early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid peak crowds
• Definitely book an excursion with an adventure company if you can.
• Be prepared for big swings in temperature. You might be in the 40’s in the morning, but in the 80’s by afternoon.

Next stop, Bryce Canyon!

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