Zion

Zion National Park is officially the second best National Park that I had ever been to (Glacier is the first)! It is amazing beyond words and deserves a lot of time on any itinerary. I can't wait to get back here and would jump at the chance for Nathan to work there. On the first day we arrived, we drove through the Southeast corner of the park, the only section in the South that you can drive (the main road is just for shuttle buses). We saw red, white, and orange scraped hills and drove through an extremely long tunnel that dumped us into a valley with amazing views.

5-27-15 - Typical hills on the Southeast drive

The amazing, sweeping valley at the end of the tunnel.

Nathan

Me

We stayed two nights in Springdale, UT, which is a super-cute tourist town filled with shops and restaurants (we ate at Oscar's twice - it's the best). It reminded me of Medora, ND. The shuttle has stops along the town's main road, which makes it very, very easy to get around.

That first afternoon we took the shuttle all the way to the end of the road, and stopped at about half of the stops to explore.

"Three Patriarchs"

Desert Plants

To break up the shuttle ride, we hiked the Emerald Pools trail, which is across the street from the Zion Park Lodge.

Pool #1

Pool #2

Pool #3

The frogs singing in pool #3 were beautiful.

Our goals for this trail were to see a lizard and not die. Mission accomplished!

One of my very favorite stops in the park is the Weeping Rock. Water trickles out of the rock in a slow waterfall and feeds a variety of beautiful flowers.

Weeping Rock

Then, after viewing the Weeping Rock, you happen to turn around and see this:

It's too much. It's one of the most amazing places I've seen ever. Here's a video:

Here's another mountain:

I loved the experience of staying in Springdale. There were a lot of great restaurants to choose from each night and plenty of fun shops to peruse while enjoying the perfect weather. Plus, you're never really NOT in the park because even Springdale is surrounded by these beautiful red mountains...

La Quinta Inn

...even at night.