Like all of Utah we had experienced so far, the drive to Zion was beautiful too.
At the end of the town of Springdale, we reached Zion NP...
...and a lot of other cars waiting to go into Zion NP.
Oh well! That gave us a few minutes to map out our strategy of what to see first. There are 3 main areas we wanted to see: Hwy 9 and the tunnel that runs to the east entrance, the road into the canyon which is only accessible by shuttle, and Kolob Canyon which was accessible off of I-15 up closer to where we were staying in Cedar City.
After saving another $25 entrance fee with our America the Beautiful pass, we continued heading east on the Hwy 9/tunnel portion of Zion because we wanted to hike the Canyon Overlook trail before it got too crowded. (By the way, I forgot to mention in the Bryce Canyon post that we saved another $25 entrance fee there!)
We were totally unprepared for what we were about to see. So many people had told us how beautiful Bryce Canyon was and how it was their favorite NP, at least in Utah. And Bryce was beautiful, but Zion?
Zion was magnificent!
We were awestruck! Zion is just so...immense, beautiful, magnificent, glorious...(o.k., I'm running out of words to describe it).
The below video gives a 360 degree view from the bottom of the canyon before we headed up to the tunnel.
Hop in and ride up to the tunnel with us.
The Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel is over a mile long and was completed in 1930 for a total cost of $503,000. Nothing over 13'2" tall can go through the tunnel and any vehicle over 11'4" must pay a $15 tunnel permit fee to stop the two-way traffic so it can travel through the center of the tunnel.
One of the hikes recommended, the Canyon Overlook trail, begins right at the east entrance of the tunnel. We got lucky and found a parking spot directly across the street from the trailhead where the Zion Security Goat was keeping an eye on the cars below. :)
We carefully climbed the steps up the trail...
and even more carefully began walking along some of the narrow ledges of the Canyon Overlook Trail.
The views of the canyon were spectacular!
We just didn't get too close to the edge...
...like this lizard did...
...or this mountain goat had done (or rather what the mountain goat had left behind on the ledge). :)
Part of the trail was like walking on scaffolding anchored to the side of the cliff.
And then we walked through an inset in the cliff...
...where we paused a moment to look at the canyon below.
We continued walking up the trail...
...being especially careful along the ledges...
...until we reached the canyon overlook.
Actually, there were more than just a few.
We very cautiously hiked the trail and along the ledges but the kids were running and jumping with no fear at all! The below video gives you a view from the top of the overlook. You can hear the kids in the background and their parents warning them not to climb any higher.
From the Canyon Overlook, we could see Bridge Mountain (6,803 ft),
The West Temple (7,810 ft),
the Altar of Sacrifice (7,505 ft) named for what looks like blood coming down the side of the cliff,
The Streaked Wall,
and The Sentinel (7,157 ft).
We could also see what looked like a ball player beneath The Sentinel. Can you see him?
We could also see the road leading up to the tunnel from the Canyon Overlook.
We sat there for a few more minutes amazed by it all. Like...how a tree can grow from a rock?
And what's up with all these scratches on the side of the canyon wall? We assumed it was from a glacier. (You'll find out the answer in a later post.)
Well, it was time to head back down the trail.
So, we began our careful journey...
...enjoying the views on the way back down the trail.
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