1st Stop Henderson, Nevada
We flew from BWI to Las Vegas. We stopped for an overnight at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Henderson, Nevada. This was the perfect stop - away from the frenzy of Las Vegas and only 7 miles from the airport. The hotel and staff were great. An unexpected treat was the Happy Hour complete with piano player! We stopped down for a glass of wine before dinner and were planning to "plan" the next day while there but enjoyed singing along with Larry the Piano Player's tunes too much to focus on trip details! Thanks, Larry, for letting us live the dream of lounge singers a little bit - so fun to start our trip with you!
We stopped for lunch along the way at the River Rock Roasting Company https://riverrockroasters.com The food was very good and the views could not have been better!
Cave Lakes Canyon Ranch
Our first night we were glamping at Cave Lakes Conyon Resort in Kanab, Utah- 30 minutes from Zion. https://www.cavelakes.com
The drive itself was so scenic. Our accomodations included a huge tent ( with nice linens, heat and even a portable air conditioner!), our own cave to hang out in complete with a fire rock and hammock chairs. The property itself had several caves, lakes and cool rock formations to explore.
ZION EAST SIDE
We explored the Zion East Side - this was a portion of the park we did not need to utilize the Park Service Shuttle Bus System.
Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel
This historic tunnel was an engineering marvel back in the day. The tunnel, built in 1930, was longer than expected ( over 1 mile) and fun to drive through. The windows built into the side frame the canyon as you drive through. I thought the purpose was for viewing but they were put in to remove debris as the tunnel was carved out! This tunnel can have a lang back up as they need to close one side when large vehicles need to access - we had no wait our first drive through and sat for a bit the second time we travelled through it.
We explored several of the pull-outs, including the "Checkerboard Mesa" and saw some long horn sheep.
Zion Canyon Scenic Drive
We took the shuttle from the Visitor Center to the Temple of Sinawava which encompassed the entire scenic drive. This is the only way to access this road and several of the trailheads. Rusty was very leary of needing the shuttle bus - but they ran very often and were easy to get on and off of at the different stops. The drive was gorgeous!
Menu Falls
From the Temple of Sinawava we walked a half mile to Menu Falls.
As we were walking the mile from Menu Falls to Big Bend- it started to rain - it passed quickly and was actually pretty cool to see the scenery during the storm.
Weeping Rock
Weeping Rock is a stop on the scenic drive shuttle. The trail is a very, very short ( ,5 mile round trip) but very, very steep hike. Water flows from the sandstone to outside the rock giving the impression that the wall is weeping. The views and the rock were very cool. The moist conditions provide for a great environment for hanging gardens.
Emerald Pools
Emerald Pools is also a stop on the Scenic Drive Shuttle. The bridge to the lower pool was washed away- we hiked to the upper pools. The hike was a little difficult due to needing to work around the bridge to the lower pools portion of the trail being washed out. Hike was 3.0 miles round trip and the last half mile was super steep with very little shade and super rocky terrain. The upper Emerald Pool is fed by a 400-foot waterfall surrounded cliffs and that was a huge payoff at the end of the climb! The views along the trail are stunning and the hike was a highlight for us.
Riverside Walk
This 2 mile easy hike was the most pleasant surprise in Zion. Stunning views of the Virgin River and the Zion Canyon for little effort. This hike is at the Temple of Sinawava shuttle stop and is the pathway to get to the Narrows trailhead. The Narrows are indefinitiely closed due to severe flooding from the melt of extraordinary snowfall this winter.
Kolob Terrace Road
The Kolob Terrace IS 21-mile scenic drive to Lava Point, starting at the small town of Virgin. This was a veery uncrowded, pretty drive - we went from hot and arid to a little bit of snow!
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