Trip thoughts on Zion and Bryce from a day hiker
May 3rd, 2005, 08:35 AM
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Trip thoughts on Zion and Bryce from a day hiker
Hi - I've gotten so much help here for my trips that I wanted to put my two cents in hoping it will help someone else. We took a week to Zion and Bryce during the 3rd week of April.
Flights: Flew into Las Vegas. Very easy to drive out of, fairly scenic drive, and a big Wal-Mart in St. George to stock up. Very good stop for groceries and anything else you might think of!
Lodging: We stayed at the cabins at both Zion and Bryce. I know a lot of people like the Bryce cabins better because they are newer looking and a little larger, but we liked Zion's better. The Bryce cabin was very drafty and we had cold nights so we either had to have the heat blasting or freeze. Also the Bryce cabin we had did not have ANY drawer space. Zion's did. That being said - we still enjoyed being in the park and the gas fireplaces at both made it very cozy. We would stay at both of them again just because of the delight in being in the park.
Food: We do breakfast in the room, take packed lunches on the trails and dinners out. We had dinner at both lodges and thought they were pretty good - just a little pricey. We also ate at Oscar's in Springdale (casual Mexican/american) - good. And Flanigan's - good. Bumbleberry - mediocre food. At Bryce we actually hit Ruby's buffet twice. I usually hate buffets but after long days hiking it hit the spot. We thought the food quality was pretty good.
Extra food: The Canyon diner next to Ruby's does Hoagie type sandwiches. They were very good. The lodge does them, too but they were more expensive and not as good. ***At Zion we found a gem at the Zion Canyon coffee company right outside the park. Not part of the Theatre complex but right after it. Not only did they do wonderful wraps and pannini sandwiches to take on the trail but they had the BEST Gelato and also specialty coffees. This became a daily stop while at Zion.
Parks: We mainly hike pretty much all day so this is from a hiking perspective. Zion is definitely our favorite - even over Grand Canyon. We will go back. We did Angel's Landing, Observation Point (our favorite), and part of the West Rim up onto the Plateau. They were all wonderful. We also did some of the short ones. We spent our last morning (at the advice of a ranger) between the tunnel and the East entrance. he suggested we just stop and climb and explore along the way and that's what we did. We had a blast and saw some great views. This would be a lot of fun for kids. We also (again at a ranger's suggestion) took a drive up Kolob Terrace Rd. We had to stop way up where they had it closed for snow but it was a wonderful scenic drive.
Shuttles: We thought they were wonderful!
Bryce: Don't go in April. There was still tons of snow!! Half of the trails were closed for either snow or trail damage. However, even after all that we still did two or three wonderful hikes and loved the park. We just found as hikers that we were done with it after two days. And there was a lot of mud - shoe covering mud.
After Bryce: As we had one and one half days left that we had planned to use in Bryce we went to Red Canyon and Kodachrome. We did a fairly easy hike at Red Canyon that led us to fantastic panorama's. Do Cassidy trail to Rich to Ledge Point. loved it. They will give you info on these parks at Bryce's visitor center. At Kodachrome we did a couple of hikes. Eagle's View: we thought was dangerous and turned around. You are hiking on a 8 inch ledge with slick footing and nothing to grab. No thanks. Angel's Landing was a piece of cake next to that. Others there were very nice. The best one we did was the sentinel loop. Wonderful varied terrain and views all the way. Lots of elevation but not hard.
Weather: All four days in Zion 80, dry and breezy. one day at Bryce cold and snowy. The other two were around 60.
We had an awesome week and can't wait to go back to Utah. Moab will be next and then I hope to plan a trip involving Capitol Reef and Escalante. We don't like to do more than two parks in a week because we want to do a lot of hiking. Hope this helps someone!
Sue
Flights: Flew into Las Vegas. Very easy to drive out of, fairly scenic drive, and a big Wal-Mart in St. George to stock up. Very good stop for groceries and anything else you might think of!
Lodging: We stayed at the cabins at both Zion and Bryce. I know a lot of people like the Bryce cabins better because they are newer looking and a little larger, but we liked Zion's better. The Bryce cabin was very drafty and we had cold nights so we either had to have the heat blasting or freeze. Also the Bryce cabin we had did not have ANY drawer space. Zion's did. That being said - we still enjoyed being in the park and the gas fireplaces at both made it very cozy. We would stay at both of them again just because of the delight in being in the park.
Food: We do breakfast in the room, take packed lunches on the trails and dinners out. We had dinner at both lodges and thought they were pretty good - just a little pricey. We also ate at Oscar's in Springdale (casual Mexican/american) - good. And Flanigan's - good. Bumbleberry - mediocre food. At Bryce we actually hit Ruby's buffet twice. I usually hate buffets but after long days hiking it hit the spot. We thought the food quality was pretty good.
Extra food: The Canyon diner next to Ruby's does Hoagie type sandwiches. They were very good. The lodge does them, too but they were more expensive and not as good. ***At Zion we found a gem at the Zion Canyon coffee company right outside the park. Not part of the Theatre complex but right after it. Not only did they do wonderful wraps and pannini sandwiches to take on the trail but they had the BEST Gelato and also specialty coffees. This became a daily stop while at Zion.
Parks: We mainly hike pretty much all day so this is from a hiking perspective. Zion is definitely our favorite - even over Grand Canyon. We will go back. We did Angel's Landing, Observation Point (our favorite), and part of the West Rim up onto the Plateau. They were all wonderful. We also did some of the short ones. We spent our last morning (at the advice of a ranger) between the tunnel and the East entrance. he suggested we just stop and climb and explore along the way and that's what we did. We had a blast and saw some great views. This would be a lot of fun for kids. We also (again at a ranger's suggestion) took a drive up Kolob Terrace Rd. We had to stop way up where they had it closed for snow but it was a wonderful scenic drive.
Shuttles: We thought they were wonderful!
Bryce: Don't go in April. There was still tons of snow!! Half of the trails were closed for either snow or trail damage. However, even after all that we still did two or three wonderful hikes and loved the park. We just found as hikers that we were done with it after two days. And there was a lot of mud - shoe covering mud.
After Bryce: As we had one and one half days left that we had planned to use in Bryce we went to Red Canyon and Kodachrome. We did a fairly easy hike at Red Canyon that led us to fantastic panorama's. Do Cassidy trail to Rich to Ledge Point. loved it. They will give you info on these parks at Bryce's visitor center. At Kodachrome we did a couple of hikes. Eagle's View: we thought was dangerous and turned around. You are hiking on a 8 inch ledge with slick footing and nothing to grab. No thanks. Angel's Landing was a piece of cake next to that. Others there were very nice. The best one we did was the sentinel loop. Wonderful varied terrain and views all the way. Lots of elevation but not hard.
Weather: All four days in Zion 80, dry and breezy. one day at Bryce cold and snowy. The other two were around 60.
We had an awesome week and can't wait to go back to Utah. Moab will be next and then I hope to plan a trip involving Capitol Reef and Escalante. We don't like to do more than two parks in a week because we want to do a lot of hiking. Hope this helps someone!
Sue
May 3rd, 2005, 04:38 PM
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Hi Sue,
Thanks for the trip report! If you loved hiking in Zion, wait until you get to Moab - Arches, Canyonlands, all the hikes outside the parks. You'll go nuts. Be sure to allow plenty of time in Moab. I would honestly recommend a full week if you can do it.
Happy trails!
Thanks for the trip report! If you loved hiking in Zion, wait until you get to Moab - Arches, Canyonlands, all the hikes outside the parks. You'll go nuts. Be sure to allow plenty of time in Moab. I would honestly recommend a full week if you can do it.
Happy trails!
May 3rd, 2005, 05:16 PM
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Thanks!! We are planning to do a full week in Moab. We were supposed to do it in October but my daughter is having a baby that month. So now we have an option to reschedule in March. Am debating on the weather factor. sue
