Zion National Park: The Wide and Narrow Of It

Each of the National Parks of Utah’s Mighty 5 have their own uniqueness, which is certainly true of our last stop, Zion National Park. From the wide openness of Zion main and its upper counterpart, Kolab Canyon, to the challenging Angels Landing and The Narrows, Zion NP offers something special for all. 

Starting Out

Coming from Bryce National Park, through Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel, in the dark the night before, we did not see much between the parks. We also didn’t realize the beautiful setting of our hotel until the next morning when we met for breakfast and left for Zion.

Park Shuttle Busses

Cars are not allowed to drive Zion Canyon Scenic Drive (through the main part of Zion NP) and parking completely fills up (we tried) at the Visitor Center, so we caught the Springdale Shuttle into the park. Luckily it picks up just outside of our hotel and takes us to the Visitor Center to catch the in-park Zion shuttle to explore the park. It’s a hop on hop off system transporting visitors to each site on clean shuttle busses with sunroofs. 

There are lots of buses, usually 2 are connected, and sometimes they are even lined up at popular stops to load visitors quickly. 

Emerald Pools Trail 

Our first hike was Emerald Pools Trail which was a pretty hike, but because of the recent rain, the pools were definitely not emerald colored. As you move around the cliff trail, you will be able to look down to the Emerald pools. Also there was water cascading down the cliff, creating a mist to cool us off on this July hike. As we started back, we heard loud crashing behind us. A rock had fallen from above! How scary. Very thankful no one was injured. The Rangers had to close the trail for a bit afterwards to access the situation. We were finished with that hike anyway, so we headed over to check out the Lodge. 

Zion Lodge

This looks like an awesome place to stay if you are going to spend several days here exploring the park. Zion Lodge is directly across from Emerald Pools Trailheads (there are 3-upper, middle and lower) and was bustling. There were people relaxing and playing on the beautiful lawn out front, others were eating inside at the restaurant or cafe and shopping at the gift shop. To fully enjoy this property, I would love to stay in one of their 75 rooms or 40 cabins the next time we visit Zion National Park. 

Grotto Trail

Our second hike on Grada Trail was a very short half mile one-way hike from Zion Lodge to the Grotto,  nice picnic area and shuttle bus stop. We saw a deer laying really close to the path while we were hiking here and also big beautiful Datura plants. The large white flowers on bloom at nite, so we didn’t see any of them in bloom.  I bet the Zion Lodge guests do!

Riverside Walk

The next hike, the Riverside Walk, was the most amazing! This was a couple of miles roundtrip that follows the Virgin River and leads to The Narrows.  We waded upstream through the Virgin River on the uneven, but smooth-rock lined River bed towards start of The Narrows. Even with my hiking pole, me and my unbalanced self, felt the challenge of not falling face first into the river. Good thing Bud held onto me! It was an awesome experience.  Such a beautiful spot at Zion NP, even if you don’t go on to do the The Narrows full hike. 

The Narrows

We did not continue the next 7 or 8 mile roundtrip section through the slot canyon. The Narrows Hike is a very popular and strenuous hike that is one of the main draws to Zion National Park though. With slot canyons narrowing down to just 25 feet wide in places and canyon walls at 1000 feet, there is extreme danger with flash flooding. Make sure to check on the wreathed and the gear needed before you attempt this section. 

Court of the Patriarchs

This was our last stop on the shuttle bus before heading back to the Visitors Center. Court of the Patriarchs stop is an overlook and although it’s short and paved, it’s steep. At the top, you’ll have a flat landing to view the 3 sandstone cliffs that were named by a Methodist minister in 1916. Frederick Vining Fisher named the 3 peaks after the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

Oscars Cafe

After a full morning of hiking and site seeing, we decided to go to the recommended Oscar’s Café in Springdale for lunch. 

Back at the Visitor Center, we caught the Springdale Shuttle for a very short ride. The shuttle bus broke down just as we turned on the main road. It was hot so we hopped off of the dead shuttle sitting in the middle of the road and Bud decided he would just run get the car for us so we could go to lunch. We waited roadside, near some businesses across from Zion NP entrance, and very soon Bud was picking us up for a delicious lunch at Oscar’s. We highly recommend this restaurant too. 

Kolab Canyons Zion NP

On another recommendation, we decided to drive to the Kolab Canyons area of Zion NP for one more hike. This is a more remote and less popular (much less crowded) area of the park, but nice to explore. We did one moderate hike here. 

Taylor Creek Trail

This 5 mile round trip hike ends at the huge Double Arch Alcove. Along the way you will eventually pass two 1930s homestead cabins and cross the creek several times. We met some returning hikers on the trail that warned us they had seen a rattlesnake on the path. We kept a watch out as we hiked ahead, but luckily didn’t encounter any snakes ourselves. The other thing to be warned of is that this hike begins with a 100 or so steps down, which means you end the 5 mile hike with 100 or so steep steps up!! This was the most challenging section of the hike to me. 

Adventure Ends

Sad to see our Utah tour and Mighty 5 adventure end, we are thankful for all of the time we had together and all of the beautiful creation we were able to see. We thoroughly enjoyed traveling with Bud’s cousin, Ted, and his wife Cathy! Hoping for many more adventures with them in the future. For now we head to St George to stay one night at The Advenire, Autograph Collection then fly home to Texas. 

#Mighty4DoesTheMighty5

We highly recommend visiting Utah, the Mighty 5 National Parks and as many State Parks and other sites as you can fit into your trip. Also, be sure to check out our posts on all of the Mighty 4’s other stops, from flying into Salt Lake City and starting with Bonneville Salt Flats, to ending up in St George to fly out.  #Mighty4DoesTheMighty5

This post may contain affiliate links and we may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.