Our return to Page, Arizona on our 2016 cross-country road trip did not disappoint! Page offers so much for outdoor enthusiasts, and once again we left with the urge to see more. We will be back! Sadly, on our last morning in Page we had to say goodbye to Daddy and the camper. At this point in our trip, he needed to get to our new home in New Mexico and check in with work. He also needed to get going on the house-hunting for our new, temporary home. We would only be living in New Mexico for about 6 months, so our plan was to find a furnished townhome for our family. While he set everything up, the kids and I were making one last stop at Zion National Park before spending several weeks in Las Vegas with family.

Zion National Park

The kids and I, along with my fantastic Aunt Lynne, continued on our trip toward our final destination, Las Vegas. Our final stop was one of our favorite places in the whole world – Zion National Park! Zion was our first stop on our 2015 cross-country road trip when we moved from Las Vegas to Washington, DC, and we also visited many times while living in Las Vegas. It’s such a beautiful place, and really became an escape for us while living in Vegas.

Zion National Park Lodge

This stop at Zion was different for us. We found a last-minute room at the Zion National Park Lodge and decided to book it! We had never stayed at the lodge before, but always wanted to enjoy a night at the famous location inside the park. The Zion National Park Lodge was designed in 1924. The lodge and surrounding buildings blend in with the beautiful canyons and forests which surround them.

The main building is a located in the heart of the canyon within walking distance to trails and the canyon walls. The large front lawn is a gathering place for hikers, sun-bathers and the local wildlife all together. The lodge offers hotel rooms, cabins, and suites for your stay next to the 38,000 foot sandstone cliffs. On this visit, we stayed in a hotel room adjacent to he main building with a balcony overlooking the brush and red walls behind the building.

Zion Canyon

After saying goodbye to Daddy, we drove an hour and 45-minutes into Utah and entered the east entrance of Zion National Park. The winding road snakes down into the canyon and through the Zion-Mount Carmel tunnel. The views coming into the canyon welcomed us back to this gorgeous landscape. Then we entered the “forbidden” park road to drive down to the Zion Lodge!

During peak season, the road into Zion Canyon is closed to personal vehicles. Parking inside the park is extremely limited, so unless you’re staying at the lodge, you must park your car outside the park entrance and ride the shuttle in. We felt like we were breaking the rules driving in!

We parked at the Zion Lodge and I ran inside to see if we could check-in. Because it was early, our room wasn’t quite ready, but they gave us a pass for our car, told us where to park, and we began to explore!

Emerald Pools Trail

We decided to do one of our favorite trails, Emerald Pools, because the trailhead is located right across from the Zion Lodge! We’ve done this trail many times, in freezing temperatures, in the heat of summer, and in the crisp mornings of fall, and we knew it offered some fun for the kids. I loaded Philip in the hiking backpack and we let Emelia walk.

Lower Emerald Pool

The trail begins as a paved easy trail across the river and to the Lower Emerald Pool and waterfall. To the waterfall is about 0.6-mile. The waterfall was more like a misting-trickle during this visit, so we decided to continue under the falls and through the narrow canyons on up the trail.

After the Lower Emerald Pool, the trail becomes steeper and much rockier, but Emelia continued hiking like a champ. At the top of the Lower Emerald Pool waterfall, there is an area away from the ledge where the water pools and the kids can play. We let Philip out of the hiking backpack and we all enjoyed a picnic lunch while the kids played in the water.

Upper Emerald Pool

After some rest, we continued up the rocky, steep trail to Upper Emerald Pool. We were slow moving as Emelia had to climb over many rocks taller than her, but we eventually made it to the top of the 0.5-mile trail. Again, the kids enjoyed throwing rocks in the pool and watching the people climbing over the large boulders to the falls. It was a nice reward for making it to the top! After about 30-minutes, we were losing the sunlight, so we began the climb back down. After much encouraging, Emelia make it all the way back down the trail! I was so proud of her! She is becoming quite the little hiker.

Red Rock Grill at Zion Lodge

We walked back to the lodge from the trail. What a nice perk! Our room was available, so we were able to grab quick showers before dinner. We enjoyed dinner at the Red Rock Grill at Zion Lodge on the upstairs patio overlooking the majestic canyon! The views are hard to beat, and the prices are descent for a national park restaurant! The food is all delicious. We enjoyed a beautiful evening on the patio and then spent the evening on the beautiful lodge lawn.

This is the point where staying in the lodge really paid off! After most of the daily tourists had left the park, only those staying at the lodge are remaining. It was dusk and a whole group of mule deer made their way to the lawn for their evening meal. We sat on the lawn for hours watching the deer including several babies enjoy their snack. The kids played and wrestled and the deer weren’t even bothered! It was the perfect evening!

Riverside Walk

The next morning, we loaded up the car and checked out before taking the shuttle down to the last stop, The Temple of Sinawava. This is the stop for the Riverside Walk leading into the famous Narrows. Todd and I hiked the Narrows by ourselves in the summer of 2015, but we’ve done the Riverside Walk with the kids several times. The trail is paved and mostly flat for about a mile. Once the trail ends, the walk into the river and up the Narrows begins. We let both kids walk for much of the paved trail and then decided to walk in the water just a short way up into the Narrows. I put Philip in the hiking backpack for this portion.

There were tons of people walking through the water in this region. The further you hike into the Narrows, the less people you will see. But, because we had the kids, we decided just to walk a short way to let them enjoy walking in the water. They had a great time!

After walking back to the shuttle, we stopped back at the lodge to enjoy some ice cream on the lawn before packing up to drive to Vegas. It was another beautiful day in Zion National Park!

Welcome Home!

The kids enjoyed a nap in the car on the 2.5-hour drive to our final destination – Las Vegas! The drive up over the hill and down into the Vegas Valley felt like a return home for us! We were greeted with some warm hugs welcomed by these weary travelers!

What an amazing journey across the country – our second cross-country road trip in less than a year!

 

Details:

 

Lodging:

Zion National Park Lodge

 

Activities:

Hiking the Emerald Pools Trail

Hiking the Riverside Walk

Evening on the Zion Lodge Lawn

 

Food:

Red Rock Grill at Zion Lodge