After a great day at Bryce Canyon, we were looking forward to our visit to Zion National Park. This was one of the parks our family had visited on our cross-country tour 20 years ago, and we really enjoyed it. Beth and I were anxious to see it again.
We knew that Zion had grown in popularity over the years, so we thought it best to leave our campground early to arrive by around 7:45. am. The park instituted a shuttle system in the intervening years and passenger cars are no longer permitted on the canyon drive of the park. We planned on parking at the visitor center parking lot and utilizing the shuttle to get around.
The visitor center is about 15 miles beyond the main entrance into the park coming from the north east where our campground is located. There was very little traffic entering the park from that direction so we were encourgaged that we would find a parking space. We were wrong.
We reached the visitor center shortly after 8:00 a.m. to find it completely filled already. There were no parking spaces to be found anywhere. Beth got out of the car to get our Passport stamped and get some information on where we could park. I looped and looped and looped the parking lot waiting for her to return. After about 15 minutes, Beth emerged with the Passport and a park map. She said the ranger told her we would have to leave the park and find parking in the little town of Springdale, about a mile outside the park. We could then catch a shuttle back into the park.
Off we drove, exiting the park in search of a parking space. We found one, but not without a price. $25.00 to be exact. I begrudgingly inserted Beth’s Mastercard into the pay kiosk and received our golden ticket allowing us to park until 4:00 p.m. That stung, as it seemed a bit pricey for a day in the park. Have you noticed through these blogs that I am frugal? Anyway, we changed into our hiking boots, packed our lunches, grabbed our hiking poles, and headed for the shuttle stop adjacent to our parking lot.
Since we had not planned on being in Zion, we had not done any research on what to do. Beth had inquired at the visitor center about good trails to hike in the amount of time we had to spend and the ranger recommended the Emeral Pools Trail, just a few shuttle stops away from the visitor center.
We made our way to the shuttle loading area and were stopped in our tracks, literally, by a line that seemed to go on forever. Stretching before us as far as we could see was a long, long line of people waiting their turn to board. We looked at each other in disbelief. It certainly was nothing like this in our previous trip here.
We had little choice, so we claimed our spot in the queue and waited, and waited, and waited. The line inched forward at a snail’s pace. After the first half hour, I turned to Beth and said, “Are we at Disney World?” The last time I saw a line this long was back in 2001 when we visited the Magic Kingdom and waited forever in the “Dumbo” ride line. The only thing missing was a sign that said “Only a 90 Minute Wait From This Point.” I’ve seen shorter lines at the most popular roller coasters at some of the largest amusement parks across the nation.
Since we were committed at this point, we continued the laborious trek to the front of the queue. Finally after almost an hour and a half, we reached the front of the line and boarded the shuttle to the trail head for Emerald Pools. When we reached our stop and got off the shuttle I checked the time. It was 11:40. It took us almost three and a half hours to reach this point. Unbelievable.
As we walked to the trail head, we saw a sign saying “Bridge Closed – No Access to the Emerald Pools Trail.” “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Beth said in disbelief. Had we spent three and a half hours to get to this point for nothing? Why didn’t the park ranger tell Beth that the bridge was out? Frustrated, but undaunted, we continued to the trail head to find that, yes, the bridge across the river to the trail was closed. Fortunately, the river at this point, was very shallow, maybe 6 to 8 inches deep. Certainly not deep enough to stop us from moving forward. We took off our socks and boots and carefully made our way to the other side and reached the trailhead.
The Emerald Pools Trail has a lower, middle and upper section in which reside pools of water that take on an emerald color because of the algae growing in them. When we reached the lower pool, it was almost dry, and with the exception of a few patches of algae, it was not the emerald we expected to see. The saving grace to this spot was the small waterfall cascading over the top of the rock wall towering above the pool. It made for some great photo ops for Beth.
Onward we climbed to the middle pool. It was less emerald in color than the lower pool. There really wasn’t a saving grace to this spot, unless you count the hundreds of tadpoles inhabiting the pool.
As we headed to the upper pool, we really didn’t have much hope of seeing anything stunning based on the first two stops. When we reached the pool, we were pleasantly surprised. This pool was indeed a beautiful emerald color, and it was about the size of a football field. Now this was what we were expecting to see. There were a number of people admiring the view, many of them enjoying lunch in this picturesque spot. Beth and I decided to join them since it was around noon. We found a shady spot under some trees and sat to eat our lunch.
The upper pool we were gazing at was at the bottom of a sheer rock wall. I am not sure how deep the pool is, but it appeared to have some depth to it. Park visitors are not allowed in the water. We sat on rocks and ate a relaxing lunch near the pool. At one point, I happened to look down and I noticed that our backpack cooler that I had taken off of my shoulders and placed next to the rock on which Beth was sitting was shaking. Surprised, I bent down and lifted the lid to find a squirrel trying to devour the snacks in the cooler. Out of instinct, I kicked the squirrel, who scurried away quickly. In the process, I startled Beth, who jumped to her feet with a little yell. The rascally squirrel had chewed into the soft material on the inside of the cooler, causing a hole about four inches in diameter. If I had my hiking poke in my hand, the squirell may have met his maker. Nothing messes with my Little Debbie snack cake and gets away with it.
We turned our attention back to the pool and our lunches, which we finished with no further incidents. It was now around 1:00, so we thought it best to begin our return to the visitor center by completing the trail, and boarding a shuttle back. At the end of the trail was a nice spot in the river that was just deep enough for Beth to cool down by sitting in the river. I didn’t join her, but I was happy she had the chance to do this.
Once Beth dried off, we boarded the shuttle and we were back at the visitor center by about 3:00. From there, we walked to the Springdale shuttle and arrived at our car by 3:15. We made it with 45 minutes to spare. It had been an interesting seven hours in the park. We only had the chance to take one 2.5 mile hike, spent more time getting to and from the trail head than it took to complete it, and left with mixed emotions about our visit to Zion. It seems to us the park needs to do something to better manage the crowds, especially at the visitor center shuttle stop. On a positive note, it was great to see so many people spending time in the great outdoors.
As we drove the 15 miles back to the park exit, we were reminded of the reason people come to Zion. All around are amazing mountains and rock walls, creating views that rival anything we have seen in the other parks. Beth took a lot of pictures during our drive back. All of the frustrations of the day vanished as we admired the beauty of nature we had the privilege to see. Beth even said she wouldn’t mind coming back in the off-season to experience the parks two major attractions, the Narrows Trail and the Angel’s Landing Trail. Who knows, perhaps someday we will return.
Bryce and Zion were not part of our original itinerary, but we are both so glad we were able to include them. From here, we head east to Capitol Reef and Canyonlands, two more of Utah’s Mighty Five. The fifth, Arches, we saw on our previous trip to Utah, but maybe we’ll be there again some time.