Thanks Fodorites for your advice in planning our Zion/Bryce NPs trip. I found invaluable information in the Fodor’s archives, and I especially note this for those that think their reports go unread or overlooked.

My husband, daughter and I visited Zion & Bryce NPs for a week late in October. We flew into Vegas and as we drove toward Zion, I was at first disappointed with the scenery. However, by the time we reached Zion, the beauty had awed me.

Zion was stunning with its mix of red, orange, pink and white mountains of rock and sandstone. I believe we hit the height of the fall foliage with the trees bearing beautiful red and yellow leaves. The town of Springdale is charming with lovely little inns, shops and restaurants. We are light hikers so we did the easy hikes. We also toured around in our car. Our favorite hike was The Narrows. We rented the dry-pant/footwear apparel, and hiking sticks. We started out slowly, but with the encouragement of dd, a natural, we got very quick at moving along. The water did reach dd’s and my waist occasionally (both 5’4”). It was an amazing experience and provided a unique perspective. We saw some wildlife in Zion, such as big horned sheep, wild turkeys and mule deer.

We drove to Bryce NP one day and found it striking in its beauty. We spent the day looking at the hoodoos from near and far. There were many amazing panoramic views of the entire area.

We also took short trips, one to the Kolob Canyon area in the northwest corner of Zion about one hour from Springdale. These are quite beautiful, but not really different from other areas of the park. The drive up through the tunnel on the eastbound road out of Zion is spectacular and unique, and passes by checkerboard mesa at the exit from the NP.

We ate at the Bit & Spur, the Spotted Dog, and Pizza Noodle, which were all wonderful restaurants. If you are able to plan, make reservations for the Bit & Spur and Spotted Dog to avoid a wait. We also had a light dinner at The Pioneer Restaurant but wouldn’t recommend it. We had burgers and fries at the park lodge that were fine. We had smoothies twice at the Springdale Market Fruit Company, and they were very good. We had a kitchen in our room so we were able to have sodas and snacks, and we mostly had cereal and pastry for breakfast.

We stayed at the Desert Pearl Inn. I highly recommend it, as so many have before me. We stayed in one of the new one-bedroom suites w/two bathrooms, full kitchen, and balcony. The décor was lovely, especially the trestle wood detailing. There was a foldout couch (comfortable according to dd) in the sitting room. Zion seemed an unlikely place to find the most luxurious bathroom I’ve ever seen or experienced, but there it was. I loved DPI.

We had an incredible trip! Thanks again.

Hi Clair,

Glad to hear you had such a nice trip. Yes, you did hit the peak of Zion's fall colors. They will probably last for another week or so. did your dauther like the turkeys? They are my favorites and I always try to see them on each trip!

I feel so lucky to have been there during the peak; it was beautiful. I have only been to red rock country once before about five years ago to the GC, Sedona and Canyon de Chelly. I love red rock especially in the evening as the sun sets. What a display of color! You are lucky that you're able to go often.

We all loved the turkeys!

They have turkeys? Where? At the Desert Pearl or Zion?

I'd like to hear a little more about the Narrows hike. Did the clothes you rented keep you dry even when the water reached your waists?

It sounds like you spent a lot of time out and about. Did you have any chances to relax?

Sorry for so many questions. I enjoyed your report. It was just the right length for easy reading and information gathering.

Any photos you'd care to share?

Devonmcj,

I also saw the wild turkeys on the front lawn in Zion. Right in front of the main reception building. I saw some deer grazing there at night as well.

I have a photo of a turkey but you'll have to go thru my photos.

www.travelwalks.com

Select the Bryce, Zion, etc trip on the lower right side of the page.

Claire,
Yes, I'd like to see photos as well.

What a difference between the drive from Las Vegas and the approach to the park!!! My impressions matched yours.

About Bryce, it looks like you went there on a day trip from Zion. Did you not hike down at least Navajo Loop and Queen's Garden?

It appears you only walked along the Rim or stopped at a few observation view points.

I had mixed feelings about the Narrows. I probably would have liked to do it but wasn;t about to sink with my camera around my neck. I never really considered it.

Thanks for sharing.

Devon, we saw the wild turkeys in the park, probably the same place as Myer. The Narrows is SO cool. We never got cold wearing the apparel we rented. A small amount of water does get into the shoes and even the neoprene socks, but we never got cold. In fact, I didn’t realize it until I removed them. We spent about five hours on the hike.

I don’t have my pictures organized and posted yet since I just got back, but I’ll post some when I do.

Myer, I wrote very little about Bryce, but I would definitely tell everyone not to miss it. The WOW factor is big! I don't think one needs more than a day there, but when I first set eyes on the hoodoos, the beauty startled me. It is very different from Zion. It was stunning and I just kept taking pictures the whole time we were there. I took about 50 pictures. We did the Queens Garden Trail for a close up view of the hoodoos. Otherwise we walked or drove to the scenic overlooks around the rim.

We have a waterproof container for our camera. I kept that zipped in my waterproof (gore tex) jacket when not in use. I was also very careful when using it. We saw at least a couple of people with tripods in there. Myer, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I was very nervous as we set off. I think Fall is probably the best time of year to do it since the water is low. I'm not sure I'd want to swim the trail.

Also Myer, I don't believe we skipped even one of the overlooks. I did really understate Bryce in my trip report, didn't I??

Claire,
I'm really glad you at least went down Queen's Garden.

Anybody going to Bryce and just stopping at the observation points is doing themselves a disservice.

It sure didn't take long to get down into the Hoodoos. Did it?

Zion is beautiful but Bryce is one of a kind. Glad you really saw it.

Myer, I looked at your pics again, this time w/the insight of having been there. Your turkey pic is great. After seeing your Bryce pics, I think we should have done more hiking in Bryce.

The waterfalls at the Emerald Pools in October were substantially less, but a lovely hike nonetheless.

I love the Page pictures. How magnificent! Too bad we didn't go there. Next time.

Claire,
After having been somewhere it's always easy to say you should have done this or that.

I spent 2 days in Bryce because the whole trip started after I saw a photo that was taken in Bryce.

You are correct that one full day in Bryce is enough if you have it all planned out.

Get up early and go to Bryce Point for sunrise. Then have breakfast. Hike down Navajo Loop and up Queen's Garden. Visit a few of the viewpoints. In my opinion once you've seen Bryce and Inspiration Points as well as Sunset & Sunrise Points, the only one that's different is the Natural Bridge. Then hang around Sunset Point as the sun is setting.

I split up my first day by driving over to Kodachrome Park (a waste in my opinion) and went to see Grosvenor Arch (very nice).

Those darn turkeys wouldn't stand still.

I thought Lower Emerald Pools was nothing but the Middle & Upper were worth the hike.

If I had more days I could have had a second day in Zion. Then I would have done The Narrows and carried with a little point & shoot camera instead on my SLR.

Yes, aren't those sights near Page fantastic. Horsehoe Bend and Antelope Canyon!!!!

Well, I'm planning another trip next May but this time starting in Moab and working a bit west.

It looks like I'll be going with a friend this time. If that works out, then I don't mind spending a few hours in Bryce and then head back to SLC.

Now your photos.

Myer, I've been working on my photos and must admit that after seeing yours, I must tell you that mine aren't in the same league. They aren't nearly as organized either. Well, just warning you that my pictures are not the best. It will be a while yet since I have SO many, and SO many not worthy of posting. My practice is to take lots of pics so that I have more to choose from since I get a lot of pics w/shadows and blurry ones, etc. I have tried to understand the manual, but it's like a foreign language to me. Really - I'm not being lazy. (I figure people think that.) Anyway, I'm weeding the bad ones out right now. Again, your pictures are lovely.

I do buy the photo books w/the big perfect glossy photos so I will have some great pictures, but I do enjoy the ones I take too. It helps me to hone in on particulars, rather than always seeing the big picture.

My opinion is that the more you get out and hike our Natl Parks, the more you appreciate the beauty and WOW factors unique to each!

The turkeys crack me up. I don't know why. They are often on the lodge lawn, but if you don't see them there, go for a walk along the river in early evening!

While we were in Torrey, we were watching the morning fox news gang (Nineveh and the Big Buddah..you sure have some colorful characters on fox news out there ;>) and I remember a report about how there's a turkey population explosion in Utah. Something about the native variety struggling so they (the wildlife managers) brought in a "tougher" type to fill in. Of course the native ones recovered and are doing well and the new ones adapted fine and now there's too many turkeys.

Sounds like the same problem Washington DC is having gt;)

Hi, Claire,
thanks for posting. I will look forward to your photos, even if they are not perfect.

Besides the Narrows, how hard are the hikes in these two parks? Our kids are 12, 9 and 7. The youngest is a trooper, but he's still young all the same.

I'm sorry, I looked at my post again and I meant to put "perfect" in quotes.... mine are all just point-and-shoot and not worth posting, so you are a ways ahead of me.

5alive,

In Bryce they shouldn't have any trouble with Navajo Loop down and Queen's Garden back up.

Those trails are fairly wide and not steep at all. If you need to rest a bit you'll have no trouble since the trail is not the type that requires you to keep moving or block those behind.

In Zion I saw families hiking the Canyon Overlook at the East Entrance. I thought they should be a bit more careful than they were. Maybe it was because it was my first hike in Zion and the trails are a bit narrower and uneven.

Weeping Rock and Lower and Middle Emerald Pools are fine.

I don't know about the Narrows since I didn't do it.

Claire,

We still want to see your photos. It's very interesting to see how others saw some of the same things you saw.

That way we go on more trips.

5Alive, Check out this web site: http://citrusmilo.com/zionguide/. I think someone on Fodor's recommended it to me. It's a good guide.

We did the easy trails for the most part and there were children on all of them. I was personally a bit nervous for them (as well as myself). I think if you watch them closely, I would use Joe's guide. There were kids in the Narrows, but just at the beginning.

Okay Myer, but it will take me awhile on the pics. Perhaps I won't label them. I'll link you when I'm done. Also, I have a family account with .mac, so I don't feel free to share the family pics there, but maybe I'll figure something out. I know there are lots of free photo sharing sites around.

>>Hike down Navajo Loop and up Queen's Garden. <<

And don't do it backwards if you can avoid it.

Lee Ann

Wow, what a great site! Thanks!

Lee Ann,

Did you mean "don't do it backwards" or "don't do it in the reverse direction"?