Is there a reason why you don't opt to stay in the park - at the Zion Lodge? My husband and I booked a room there the end of October and am now wondering whether somewhere else would be better.

LizQ---My guess is that Zion Lodge is already fully booked.

We stayed there a week ago and liked it a lot. We had one of the "eco-suites" with a balcony facing the back and a view of Angel's Rest. They are re-doing the landscaping around the cabins, so that area looks a bit bare, but the front lawn is still nice, and covered with wild turkeys and/or deer at dawn and dusk.

I will say that we generally prefer the older, historic "inside the park" lodges. However, many people prefer the Springdale inns for the variety of shopping and dining opportunities. I will say that Springdale is blessed with an assortment of some of the nicest inns I've ever seen in a small town near a national park.

We did spend one night at Desert pearl on our way elsewhere and loved that too.

enzian,

Thanks for the reply. I'll leave the reservation "as-is". Can't wait!

Liz

danen5,

The Majestic View Lodge is new and actually the furthest from the park. It's on the opposite side of town from the park entrance.

I don't know if the Sprindale town shuttles stop there.

I can only speak about the Desert Pearl Inn. It's very, very nice, is close to the park, and has a shuttle stop.

One of our favorite hikes (ever) was the Narrows because it was different for us. We rented the pants, boots, socks and hiking sticks so we stayed dry. Oct is a good time to go since the water is not too high.

Pizza and Noodle has very good pizza. We also ate at the Spotted Dog and Bit & Spur which were very good too but more expensive.

Have a great time. We also went in late October. The weather was perfect.

We did the Narrow water hike a week ago today!!! It really is fun.

We got a late start (like 3:00 pm) because we hiked up to Observation Point (8 miles RT) first, then returned to Zion Lodge for lunch and a quick business necessity phone call. By the time we rode the shuttle back to the end of the line, and walked the 1-mile paved path, it was 3:00 before we were actually in the water. So we only had about 2 hours to play.

Next time we'll start earlier.

Hi Zion lovers!! Our trip is finally arriving as we leave this Saturday (11-8) we are staying at Cable Mtn. Lodge. (relatively new). we'll arrrive there about 9:00pm. I'd love some advice on our hikes. We are not able to so the Narrows so are thinking of:

day 1: Lower Emerald Pools combined with Angels Landing

day 2: Observation Point followed by an ATV trip

short day 3: not sure but was hoping for some help here. We leave from LV at 8:30pm

thanks so much --we are all so excited, and YES we will eat pizza at Noodles1

Those are two great hikes---we loved them both.

If you have the time and energy after "summiting" on Angel's Landing, follow out the West Rim trail for an hour or so before returning back to Walter's Wiggles and heading back down. The trail kind of wanders up and down without significantly more elevation gain; you end up around the back side of the mountains you can see from Zion Canyon. The scenery is great.

drive out to Checkerboard Mesa thru the Tunnel and hike Canyon Overlook trail. It is a short one. The parking lot is right after the tunnel. When I say right after, I mean right after. You have to be watching for it. You might see some bighorn sheep there.

Hi Danen5,

You are about the only one on Fodors that has stayed at Cable Mountain Lodge! We have reservations there next summer(2010) and wondering if you could provide a review?

Thanks,