Zion National Park

We had a relatively short day on the road today (Tuesday)—only 215 miles total. This turned out to be great because it meant we arrived at our destination, Zion National Park, in plenty of time to see some of the sights. For those of you not familiar with Zion (which would have been me prior to planning this trip!), it is located in the southwest corner of Utah and is famous for it’s tall sandstone cliffs—it is, according to our tour guide, the number two destination for rock climbing after Yosemite. Zion was first settled by Mormons and many of the rock formations in the park have Biblical names—the three Patriarchs, the Great White Throne, Angels landing, etc. Geologically, Zion is in the middle of the “Grand Staircase” of the Colorado Plateau--- above it is Bryce Canyon and below it is the Grand Canyon.

(The Three Patriarchs)

(The Great White Throne)

The National Park Service operates a free shuttle bus through the base of the canyon and you can easily get off and on at about 8 different locations to view the cliffs. This worked out really well for PawPaw as he got to see a good bit of the park without having to walk much. The park is breathtakingly beautiful—the pictures will probably speak for themselves. We felt a bit like we were at the bottom of the Grand Canyon looking up.

Michael says that Zion jumped ahead to his number 2 favorite spot that we’ve seen thus far (just behind Yosemite). I had read that it was a spectacular place and it definitely lived up to the reviews. This was a relief because I had totally picked this as a stop based on those recommendations and not because of any previous knowledge of the Park. So, if you are ever in the southern Utah/northern Arizona area, the Timms family gives an enthusiastic 12 thumbs up for Zion!

The girls were also pleased to be able to add Junior Ranger badge #3 to their collection!