Five days Bryce, Zion
 

Hi, We have 5 days to drive from St. George Utah to Phoenix. We are avid hikers and would like help picking the canyons to hike. We have been to the Grand Canyon so we won't return there. Any suggestion as to which trails would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.

I would suggest following trails;
- Bryce can.: the combination trail Queen's garden trailm and the Navajo trail. It's in a form of the number 8. These are the best.
- Zion N.Park :Lower emerald pool (I hour)
Riverside walk of the temple os Sinawava I,5 hour.
There's also walking in the river for the Narrows walk but I do not know how the weather condition will be in October. We were in Zion and Bryce in September 1998. Hope this helps. Paul

in zion angels landing. yes the beginning is paved, but the payoff comes at the top. not for the faint hearted. - i do alot of hiking, and would call it moderate to strenuos, (because of the top) you won't be disappointed. the thing is this is high and you have to make sure there is not a lot of ice or snow on the the trail. you will propbably be fine, i had a little ice/snow last april and it was not a problem. at bryce, not hard but wall street is neat.

i also enjoyed a short jaunt in hidden canyon in zion, this goes into a box canyon so not too many views but it was a nice hike.

hiking in and around sunset crater near flagstaff is good too.

also the Mount Elden trail system near flagstaff, nat for. not park.

contact Peaks ranger station
526 0866, flagstaff area code. also look up info on the san francisco peaks area near flagstaff.

Sounds like a trip that we'd love to go on!

I would offer a suggestion for a Bryce hike that will take several hours (and LOTS of water). We left from the lodge area and went down the navajo loop/wall street. Then connected up with the peekaboo trail (staying on the western portion of it). Then we hiked out of the canyon at Bryce point and took the shuttle bus back. It is absolutely gorgeous and moderate to strenuous at times. But you can't beat Bryce for incredible, unimaginable beauty!

Emerald Pools hike at Zion is not difficult at all. We loved hiking the Virgin Narrows but that will depend on when you go.

Have fun!

I highly recommend hiking the Kolob Canyons section of Zion. It is a 40 min. drive from the main part of the park, has a separate ranger's station, etc. Much less crowded and the trails are very interesting, and it has more sweeping a wider vistas on the roads inside the park than the main part of Zion. We were there in OCt. and the colors were incredible. We much preferred this part of the park over the main entrance and heavily traveled trails in the main park. Try the Taylor Creek trail, which leads by two old homestead cabins and ends with a bang (I won't give it away, but the end of the trail was the highlight of entire trip to Zion and Bryce). Kolob Canyons is also the home of what is thought to be the world's largest freestanding stone arch. It is a long hike to get there though, usually done w/an overnight.

Thank you all for your replies.
We are looking forward to experiencing this beautiful part of the country.
Happy Trails,
AMCanadian