A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to take Booker on his first road trip! He had a week off of school, and I took a week off of work. Minhan couldn’t get the time off, and Bode still had school, so it was just the two of us. We decided to go to the Valley of Fire State Park, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. What a great 5-day trip! Below is our 2-day Zion National Park itinerary.
Why Zion in February?
We decided on Zion National Park in February for a few reasons:
- Less crowds
- Ability to drive a car into Zion Canyon (normally most cars are not allowed. Visitors must walk, bike, or take a shuttle to explore the park)
- Chance to see unique snow-dusted rock formations
It was so much fun! Just take a look at this view of the Virgin River flowing through Zion Canyon from West Rim Trail:
I love the depth of this shot, and how the Virgin River almost looks like it’s glowing as it winds through the canyon. The snowcapped views were magical, and I love how the dormant trees in the center are surrounded by lush greenery. One of my favorite photos of Zion!
Zion National Park in 2 Days
The next few posts will go into more depth regarding our trek to Angels Landing and The Narrows, but here was our 2-day itinerary for Zion National Park:
- Day 1
- Zion Canyon Visitor Center
- Court of the Patriarchs Viewpoint
- The Grotto
- West Rim Trail to Angels Landing – we got permits!
- Lunch at Zion Lodge (Red Rock Grill) – tasty, but slow service
- Kayenta Trail to Middle Emerald Pool
- Day 2
- Riverside Walk to The Narrows
- Lunch at Oscar’s Cafe – rushed and heavy food
- Canyon Overlook
- Zion-Mount Carmel Highway (around Pine Creek area)
Day 1 was delightfully tiring. I wasn’t sure if we were going to get permits, but we tried the lottery system the night before and got lucky! Our legs were tired after making it almost all the way to the end of Angels Landing (such a feat for a 5-year-old without help!), but Booker got a second wind after lunch, so we went to see the Emerald Pools. Lunch at Red Rock Grill was pretty good, but the initial service was really slow.
We also started keeping track of all of the deer – we saw 24 over two days!
Day 2 was sort of a recovery day. Initially, I had a few more hikes planned, but our legs were still pretty rubbery from Angels Landing, so we shortened it quite a bit and took the day more leisurely. Riverside Walk was pretty easy, and really cold. We didn’t rent drysuits (which we could have at Zion Outfitter), but the water level wasn’t too high so we were able to go a little bit into The Narrows without getting wet.
Lunch at Oscar’s Cafe was okay. I probably wouldn’t go there again. But we spent the afternoon driving through the tunnels on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway and doing some exploration at a few of the turnouts. Super fun!
We also finished the requirements to earn Booker the Junior Ranger badge for Zion National Park!
Weather and Lodging
Now, you might be wondering why Booker is only in a T-shirt in February. Temperatures at Zion can swing pretty widely from the morning to the evening, and after some hikes out in the sun, we got pretty warm!
For lodging, we stayed at Bumbleberry Inn, which is a super cute place just a few minutes from the entrance of the park. We loved it here! They have a bakery and a pretty big gift shop. In addition, they have complimentary breakfast, though we didn’t take advantage of it since we were inside the park pretty early. Each room has a patio, minifridge, and microwave. The only negative thing was that the walls are so paper thin – we could hear people a couple doors down, and when someone went up the stairs, it sounded like thunder was in our room!
Booker loved how there were farm animals at the inn, and there are signs that guide people on what the animals like to eat. Booker had such a blast feeding bananas and grapes to them! They’ve got goats, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and more.
I can’t wait to dive into this trip in more detail!
A Bit of History of Zion National Park
As I dug into the history, I couldn’t help but wonder if part of the history is tied to the fossil beds in Nevada. Around 12,000 years ago, people in the Zion area tracked huge animals like the mammoth, Shasta ground sloth, and camels. During our trip, we also visited Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument and learned about the camelops, the predecessor to modern-day camels. In addition, mammoth fossils were excavated in the area, and the ground sloth was also found around there as well. Since the climate around Zion changed and the bigger animals moved on, I wonder if they found their way to Tule Springs?
Anyway, several thousand years later, the Virgin Branch Puebloan and Fremont Indian groups settled in the area, and the Southern Paiute named this place “Mukuntuweap”, meaning “straight canyon.” In the 1700s-1800s, various fur trappers and pioneers passed through the area and named it “Zion” meaning “sanctuary” or “refuge” in ancient Hebrew. A man named Issac Behunin constructed the first homestead in the area in 1863 near the present-day location of Zion Lodge. But because of environmental factors leading to flash floods and drought, people abandoned this area.
In 1909, President William Taft designated the canyon as the Mukuntuweap National Monument. The monument was renamed to Zion National Monument in 1918, then to Zion National Park one year later. There’s actually another area of Zion called Kolob Canyons. Originally called Zion National Monument (yes, there were two areas that held the name), Kolob Canyons was incorporated into Zion National Park in 1956 by President Roosevelt. We didn’t get a chance to visit Kolob Canyons, but have heard that it’s a whole different landscape with even less visitors and its own visitor center. We’ll have to check it out next time!