Everything You Need to Know About Visiting Zion National Park
My husband and I packed up and left the Florida heat for a week to go visit a few beautiful national parks out west. A few years ago, we decided that we were going to visit at least one national park every year and we got to knock out 3 in one trip this go around.
A lot of my Instagram friends asked if I could put together a blog post with our trip details and you know how we do things around here - y’all ask and I do my best to deliver. SO HERE WE GO.
WHERE WE WENT:
We visited 3 national parks:
Zion National Park in Utah
The Narrows @ Zion National Park
2. Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah
Peek-A-Boo Trail @ Bryce Canyon National Park
3. Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona
Bright Angel Trail @ Grand Canyon National Park
WHEN WE WENT:
Our trip was from September 21-27.
WHAT THE WEATHER WAS LIKE:
It was pretty much the same in all the places we went - it was chilly in the mornings and evenings (a light jacket was enough for me) and pretty dang hot during the day. Not unbearable but I definitely broke a light sweat during our hikes.
So we decided to fly into Las Vegas because the flights were super affordable and it was a shorter drive to our hotel. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express right outside of Zion National Park (the visitor center was less than a 10 minute drive). The town the hotel is in is called Springdale and we really enjoyed staying there. It is a cute little place with lots of options for food.
We rented a car at the Vegas airport and drove to our hotel which took just under 3 hours.
Our last night, we stayed at a hotel right by the Las Vegas airport so we wouldn’t have to drive to catch our flight home.
I would 10/10 recommend renting a vehicle. We rented a Jeep Grand Cherokee at the Las Vegas airport through Enterprise.
HOW MUCH TIME WE SPENT IN EACH PARK:
We spent most of our time in Zion. We were at Zion for 3.5 days and covered a lot of ground.
We drove to Bryce Canyon one day which took around 2 hours and spent around 4-5 hours hiking there.
We drove to The Grand Canyon one day which took around 3 hours and we spent around 3 hours hiking there. We would’ve hiked longer there but we had to take our rental car to get a tire patched.
Each time we drove to other parks, we always drove back to our hotel near Zion the same day (and by “we” I mean my husband lol).
We would’ve loved to spend more time at Bryce Canyon and The Grand Canyon but we only had a week and Zion was our priority.
FAVORITE HIKE AT EACH PARK:
At Zion: Angel’s Landing. The Narrows was a close second but be warned that it is a water hike. I’m short, 5’, and the water was up to my waist.
At The Grand Canyon: We did the scenic drive around the North Rim and would definitely recommend that. We stopped and looked out at all the overlooks and hiked 2 small trails along the way.
At Bryce Canyon: Peek-a-Boo Loop (This was probably our favorite hike we did the whole trip - it was like nothing we’ve ever seen before).
WHAT I PACKED FOR HIKING:
Bandana to wear around my neck to protect it from the sun
Camelback filled with water
Hiking Boots
Sandals
Snacks (banana, 2 PJs, 2 RX protein bars, tuna + a plastic fork every day)
Toilet paper
Sunscreen (we used SPF 30)
Windbreaker jacket
Chapstick with SPF
Sunglasses
Hat
FAVORITE PLACES IN SPRINGDALE:
Deep Creek Coffee: This coffee shop was super close t your hotel and we stopped every morning before hiking. The coffee was delish and the staff was incredible.
Sol Foods Supermarket: We did all of our grocery shopping at this market. We also stopped in after hiking at the fresh salad bar, too. They own a hardware store that is right by the grocery store and we stopped there for socks (which I’ll talk about down in extra tips).
Oscars: Great spot for Mexican food that is also close to the hotel.
Juniper Pizza: Couldn’t recommend this place enough - we are pizza lovers and this place did not disappoint.
EXTRA TIPS:
You can’t really drive much in Zion. They have a shuttle system that takes you around the park. It’s free but it’s a slow and crowded process. I’d recommend getting to the park early (we got there no later than 7:15 every morning) if you want to find parking at the visitor center. We parked at the visitor center and left our car there all day while we hiked.
We rented waterproof boots and trekking sticks from Zion Outfitters, which is right outside the park, to use during hiking The Narrows. If you watch the video below, you’ll see why.
Speaking of boots - BREAK YOUR BOOTS IN. I failed to do this and dang did I pay for it. My ankles were rubbed raw and blistered by day 3 since I didn’t break my boots in enough. Thankfully we stopped at the hardware store that I mentioned above and I was able to get a pack of high socks. I brought ankle socks like a newbie so DO NOT DO THAT, lol.
I also started bringing my sandals and leaving them in the car on day 2 so I could change into them right after our hikes and I would recommend doing that, too. Your tired feet will thank you!
When packing snacks - pack more than you think you need. Hiking all day makes you HUNGRY and you will probably eat more than you normally do.
Be prepared to have lots of boogers - just being real, lol. My husband and I are used to the Florida humidity so the dry air combined with all the dirt at the parks left us with FIERCE dry noses filled with boogers.
We stopped at the visitor center before exploring each park and chatted with park rangers about the types of hikes we were interested in/how much time we had at each place. They were wonderful at guiding us toward hikes and things to do that fit our needs. Definitely chat with them before you take off - they are there to help you plan!
You can shop my boots and camelback in my Amazon store here. They are under the FITNESS category.
If you want to hike along with us, we filmed most of our hikes and I compiled them together in this video:
Keep in mind that my husband and I are very active. Our intent with this trip was to hike as much as we could and to see as much of each park as we had time for. We didn’t do much relaxing or bopping around town. We were sleeping by 10 PM every night because we were up by 5 AM to hike every morning.
Okay, I think that’s it! Let me know if you have any questions and I’d be happy to help if I can!