A Visit to Zion National Park

This past week, Mr. LH and I visited Zion National Park. It’s been a park on my list of “to-do’s” for many years. It was spectacular and definitely worth the wait…and drive. From my door to Zion’s entrance, it’s approximately 420 miles, or about 7 hours. Most people would say 7 hours is definitely doable, except Mr. LH starts getting antsy in the car around hour 3 and by hour 7 he’s a bit grouchy. So, to make the beginning of the trip more palatable, we stopped in Las Vegas on the way there and spent the night. Though it added a little more on to the cost of the trip, it was the perfect beginning to our vacation and we even ate dinner with a friend of ours while we were there.

Since we planned on this being a camping trip, I usually book our camp site ahead of time. However, when I started planning the trip at the end of February, the main campground in the park, Watchman, was completely booked. It also didn’t help that two of the nights we would be there were days they were closing down sites to spray for tent caterpillars limiting the available spaces. So, I decided to wing it and hoped that we could get a site at the second campground in the park that’s first come, first serve.

That didn’t work out at all. The South Campground was completely full when we arrived early Monday morning, a foreshadowing to the popularity of Zion.

But we found out a little secret….the east end of the park isn’t nearly as busy as the west end. Getting to the east end requires driving an additional 35 – 40 minutes on a very windy road (route 9) and through a long, dark tunnel, but the drive is beautiful and most visitors take that route anyway. Not only is there a campsite, Zion RV Resort and Campground, at the east end that’s rarely full, it also has showers, hot water, laundry on site, and flush toilets – perfect for camping in comfort.

Except….it got terribly cold the first night of our stay and dropped down into the 20’s! We were not prepared. The next day, we went back into the park to hike/walk the River Walk and eat lunch at Zion Lodge. After lunch, we headed back to the campsite and decided to pack up and find a hotel. This is where our budget flew out the window. Instead of keeping the trip at $600, we ended up over budget at $850.

We ended up shelling out an additional $200 for two nights at a hotel, but again we found a gem at the east end of the park: Best Western Thunderbird Lodge in Mt. Carmel Junction.  The rooms were huge with private balconies, mini-fridges, nicely decorated with rustic pine furniture, laundry facilities (camping can be dirty), and a terrific restaurant. Unlike the west end of the park’s town of Springdale, the east end doesn’t really have a “town” per se. Instead, there’s one store and gas station until you drive 12 more miles and hit Mt. Carmel Junction where the 9 and the 89 meet. At the junction there’s a Best Western Hotel, two restaurants, a motel, RV park, and two gas stations.  It’s the perfect location for anyone who wants to not only visit Zion, but also Bryce Canyon, the Coral Sand Dunes, or Grand Escalante.

If I were to repeat this trip, here’s my breakdown of how it would play out while staying under $400 for a three day trip (not including the gas to and from our starting location):

• Stay at Best Western Thunderbird Lodge in Mt. Carmel. If we had booked early, we could have shaved off $100 on a two to three night stay. Three nights: $200. We’ve also decided that throwing in tent camping and visiting a national park is just too much for such a short trip. The set up and tear down takes too much time and energy.
• Visit Zion, Bryce, and Coral Sand Dunes. Saving time on setting up a camp site would give us more time to visit the other parks in the area. Gas for driving in the area: $80. AND, if you do visit more than three national parks (forests, parks, fish and wildlife) per year, it might be worth it to purchase an Annual Pass for $80.
• Meals are very reasonable in the area, especially if you’re not a big eater. Mr. LH and I always share a meal at a restaurant and often drink only water. The water at the Thunderbird Lodge was the best tap water I’ve ever drank. I know it sounds like I’m advertising for them, but truly the water had absolutely no after taste and was very refreshing. Daily meals for two people in the area for three days: $75.

As a side note, I researched Zion before going using Joe’s Guide to Zion National Park. It has great information about how to get there, where to stay, and what the hikes are like. We stuck with the easy hikes (River Walk, Emerald Pools, Weeping Rock) and enjoyed every moment.

I hope to visit this area again soon since I absolutely fell in love with Southern Utah.

*Photos are ones Mr. LH took on our vacation.

Have you visited Zion or a national park recently? What is your favorite park?