Zion Park : What We Wish We Had Known

Especially if you have strollers and kids. Aamir and I didn’t personally have either (not that I would have minded someone pushing me along but no one offered, rude), but others in the group did and we could see the struggle. This is not a place for those who have little ones that require strollers. Let’s just say in our group of 8 Adults, 3 (menfolk) were more tired than others from pushing strollers. We as a group, with the little ones, managed a WHOPPING 2-mile mini hike on the Pa’rus Trail to a cute river bank and then we called it a day. That is not a long distance when you consider hiking but with strollers it was sufficient for most in our group. The paths are not all stroller friendly and we sympathize greatly with anyone who is tasked with pushing a stroller up or down unpaved areas.

 * Also, please take into account and be realistic about your fitness level. As much as we complain, Aamir and I are exercisers and we are pretty active in our day to day lives, we would never want to recommend a novice go on a hike in a HUGE park like Zion if you are not physically up to the challenge. It can be dangerous and honestly, if you are exhausted it’s not an enjoyable experience.

All thoughts of laying in and being lazy have NO PLACE in the world of hiking. When we travel, we are normally up early because there is soo much to see and we don’t want to waste any time. All of our travel family made a decision to head towards the park around 10:30. Sounds reasonable right?

WRONG!

By the time we left our lobby the parking lot was empty and when I asked where everyone had gone, the front desk associate very kindly informed us that hikers leave around 6 AM to get early morning lighting and sunrise views. We thought she was exaggerating, until we reached the park and tried to find parking and found the ENTIRE parking lot FULL. We had 4 cars that needed to find parking so our adventure began before we even got out of the car and stepped foot on a trail. So, if you go late, be prepared to hunt for parking and brave a more crowded visitors center.

*Note: the cost of parking a regular passenger sedan was $35.00 per car. This covers the cost of being in the park the entire day.

THIS was super-duper annoying for us hiking novices because we had very cleverly already planned to go on the driving scenic route. We figured, best of both worlds, we get to “see” Zion without getting our shoes dirty. (yes, you can judge us, we are not hikers, never claimed to be and never ever will we pretend otherwise) To our EXTREME Disappointment the SCIENIC DRIVE ROUTE WAS CLOSED… ohh the frustration we all felt. When we went, the route was only open for the shuttle service and none of us felt safe being in a closed shuttle with no way to socially distance ourselves so we didn’t avail that option.

Not all was completely lost though, we were able to drive through the ZION Tunnel and we had LOTS of fun going through the massive rock formations and winding up and down and just basking in the middle of nature. With clean shoes and air conditioning and snacks. Thank you very much.

Before we went on our trip, one of our very well-intentioned family members told us to brave the Angels Landing hike but, when we actually made the trip we found that this specific hike was closed due to Covid.(also, the difficulty level was more than us city-folk with children wanted to brave)

The parts of the park that were closed at the time of our visit were:

1. Angel’s Landing
2. Weeping Rock
3. The Zion Canyon Scenic Drive (closed for private vehicles, open for shuttle buses)

For the most accurate information make sure to check out their official site before you depart.

Yes, we know there is a phone version available but we preferred having a physical map to help orient ourselves and figure out where we are and what activities we could realistically do. Make sure to stop by the Visitors Center and grab a printed copy. The information guide has a list of all the trails as well as their distance, difficulty level, elevation as well as important guidelines for each specific hike. As a rule, Aamir and I are huge supporters of printed maps be it Disneyland’s map (I am proud to say, I have it memorized now, love me some Disney). There is no harm in having a map handy with all the important information (like where the nearest bathrooms are) as well as safety rules for within the park.

It can be EXTREMELY overwhelming to be in such a large, open space and not have a solid sense of directional orientation. Printed maps help. During the time we were visiting the park, a person had been missing in park for a few days (fortunately she was found safe and sound) but the thought of getting lost is SCARY. If you are worried about your carbon footprint (as we all should be) you can 1000% recycle your map after your trip.

We framed our map as proof that we went. People are still mystified and in disbelief so we had to show proof (as if we would make something like this up. Sigh) We also STRONGLY Suggest you get a printed map because of the next reason…

Ahh the joys of nature. There is nothing more stressful or scary than not being able to get a call out and there is no service. There are some areas where you can get some service but we had a HORRIBLE time trying to connect to something at simple as our GPS (or in our case, YELP, to find someplace to eat dinner. I keep my priorities straight at ALL TIMES friends) The members of our group had all of the major mobile carrier services and we were all facing the same problem. It’s the price you pay to be in such a beautiful, scenic park.

For Safety Reasons: we STRONGLY suggest that if you are hiking alone please please please, let someone know where you are going and what your general hiking itinerary is going to be. Also, we would suggest you have a system where someone sets an alarm on their phone to remind them to call you at a set time you expect to be out of the park. Safety matters y’all. We as a group were all heartbroken about the women who had gone missing and we would never want that for any of you <3

Skincare prep for different travel scenarios is not a problem in my world at all, this was the one area I felt the most in control of. Sad isn’t it? Lol. Well, we all have our strengths. We knew that being outdoors with the sun being directly on us that we needed to protect ourselves with layers. Both skincare wise as well as with our clothing.

Sunblock: depending on the brand and type you are using PLEASE remember to REAPPLY your sunblock based on the instructions. No, a morning application does not last all day.

Lobster Red is not a cute look.

Ever. And it looks painful.

Insect Repellent: Make sure you spray a decent repellent if you are planning to hike and are wearing shorts or tank tops.

Clothing: Wear the right shoes. This is NOT the place to go Gramworthy-Glam.  Do yourself a favor and skip the cute and stick to functionality. You will thank us later. Good walking shoes with a good grip made such a difference. Also, wear proper workout/ hiking tights / shorts. Denim is not your friend on a hike.

Hydrate: This is more of an internal layer; your body needs hydration. Your body needs water.  The elevations have a funny way of making your system need water without you “feeling” thirsty and you don’t want to suffer from dehydration or god forbid, heat stroke. Keep water and at a minimum some energy bars with you just to be safe.

By the end of our adventure, we were hungry (hangry for me, hungry for everyone else). We are always looking for local eats and MOST of the time we strike gold with some fantastic local good eats. As we headed out of the park, we were all frantically looking for somewhere to sit and get a hot meal.  The last proper meal we had eaten was breakfast and we are normally vacation extra eaters so we were READY for some food around 6pm. As we drove down Zion Park Blvd, we started seeing restaurants and we all pulled over to grab some much-needed sustenance. The wait at the 4 places we checked was over 1.5 hours! Everywhere. We placed our orders for takeout and waited. We used the time to just chill and laugh at our antics of the day. When we FINALLY got our food, it was super super average. Did we eat it all, yes, because we were starving. On the bright side, Aamir still remembers the pasta dish and is super appreciative of my cooking.

Lesson learned, go for the views, not the food.

And pack snacks. LOTS of snacks. TONS.

Despite the satire and oops moments, we can say with 1000% genuine honesty that we had a GREAT time on our trip to Zion.

Why? How?

We were surrounded by friends who became family and kids that made us laugh with their funny antics and cute conversations. Further proof that you can have an amazing vacation even if you are completely out of your element (like us) IF you have the right company, a good attitude, and the ability to laugh at yourself 😊.

We hope you laughed a little and learned a little from our experience.

‘Till Next Time

–xoxo Sophie and Aamir