Zion Canyon, USA
We approached the Zion national park late afternoon from the east looking for somewhere to stay the night before exploring the park the following day. We had driven through a few towns en-route from Bryce Canyon and hadn’t been inspired, so headed for the town Springdale which seemed to be within the park itself.
Our twilight drive into the park was quite an adventure in itself! We drove on the Mount Carmel Highway which took us through the Checkerboard Mesa. Strange interlocking hills that seemed to have a huge irregular chessboard etched into them purely by the forces of nature. The road winds its way around the bottom of them and enters a couple of tunnels. The first was relatively short, but the second was over a mile long. As we progressed through the second tunnel there was a kind of window cut into the rock that enabled us to get a glimpse of the stunning scenery. There appeared to be a huge ravine falling below us with large rock formations across the other side.
It was really getting dusky when we emerged from the tunnel to find we were a couple of thousand feet up. The road meandered down to the canyon floor through many switch-backs and bends. It had precipitous drops and very little by way of crash barriers that wouldn’t do much to prevent a vehicle going over the side, and barely space for oncoming vehicles to pass. Even the speed limits were extreme – I seem to remember the limit was stated as 5mph on one bend! I think the whole experience was heightened by the fact that we were going down hill. When we finally got to the bottom (it seemed to take an eternity) my partner who had been driving stated he would like to go back up in the morning to get a better look at the scenery in daylight. Whilst the Checkerboard Mesa certainly looked interesting and I would have liked to take some photo’s I didn’t fancy coming back down the road again – I felt going up it would be infinitely preferable!
Springdale has a good selection of restaurants and places to stay. I believe there are also some good shops but we didn’t have time to explore them. Due to the parks popularity that led to severe congestion and the threat of pollution private cars are now prohibited from going along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. Instead courtesy shuttle buses will take you along the route (approx 40 minute drive) with quite a few stop-off points to take a number of trails.
On the bus our driver pointed out quite a number of landmarks and that on one rock face a group of climbers were approximately 2 days up. They had been ‘camping’ out on what appeared to be a sheer vertical drop! Not for me thanks.
We took the bus to the furthest stop and took the short trail (about 30 minutes) at the end to ‘the narrows’. Because we had my mother-in-law (late 60’s) in tow, and because we weren’t prepared (didn’t know about their existence before we got to the park), we could hike them, but I have vowed to return and do them justice. The narrows are an amazing gorge some 2000 feet deep that narrow to only 20 or so feet wide. To hike them you have to get wet, very wet because you have to hike actually in the river. You’ll need to have the right sort of footwear and clothes, and a walking stick is highly recommended. The water is cold and the rocks slippery but from photographs I’ve seen, the scenery a couple of hours walk in is spectacular. Also, hikers are strongly advised to get a weather forecast before setting off because flash floods can occur – more frequently in mid summer and early autumn. From November to May wet or dry suits are recommended.
We then took a couple of additional fairly gentle, but scenic, walks to a small waterfall (weeping rock) and the lower emerald pools. In the bus on the journey back we overheard some ‘serious hikers’ discussing their previous day’s adventure, I believe they’d been to angels landing and described that the trail narrowed to about 3 feet wide with 2000 ft drop-offs either side! Even the park’s literature states it is not a hike for those fearful of heights!
We didn’t have time to visit the Kolob Canyons region of the park but from what we did see Zion national park offers a great diversity of scenery with as much / little adrenaline as you can handle. And when you’ve finished exploring you can kick your feet up in your choice of Jacuzzi followed by a hearty meal.
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