Day 11, Sunday, June 28, 2026
We saved the best for last! Zion National Park is #2 in the rankings for most visited national parks according to the National Park Service (we’ve visited #1, Great Smoky Mountains in 2020). I can see why it is so high on the list. This place is breathtaking. The massive cliff faces, deep canyons, beautiful greenery, they all will leave you in awe of God’s creation.
We spent the day exploring the park. We started with a 2.5 mile hike to the Emerald Pools. They are three different “pool” areas hiding beneath the massive cliff faces. We went to all three, the lower, middle, and upper pools. The hike got steep at times but it was worth every heavy breath and burning muscle. There were a few areas where you really have to watch your footing but it was not terrible.
Zion is a very busy park. You can only access the main area of the park via shuttle during the months of March through September. Honestly, it kind of feels like a theme park when you are at the visitor center. There are SO MANY people and SO MANY cars! Something I find interesting about all our national parks is the variety of nationalities you will find within the park. It is shocking how many people travel from overseas to visit the beauty that we have here in America. As you walk through the visitor center or ride the shuttle you will hear many different languages. All of them are in awe of the beauty we have here. Once you get out of the visitor center the crowds dissipate. People are being dropped off at the variety of different stops throughout the park. The trails are busy but not so busy that they feel overcrowded or impassable.
We came back the camp after checking out a couple more stops on the shuttle and walking the half-mile Grotto Trail to see the start of the Angels Landing hike (we are not doing that). Another interesting thing we experienced was meeting the “artist in residence” for Zion NP this month. The park has a program that picks an artist to live in an old house in the middle of the park for a month. The artists have ranged from painters to composers to metal workers to leather workers (the lady we met today). She showed us some of her pieces she has created while being here and gave us suggestions on areas we must visit.
We rested up at camp for an hour or so, having lunch and getting out of the sun. Once we were all rested up we went back into the park to hike the short Weeping Rock Trail. This trail may be short but it is straight up hill. The trail takes you to a cliff over hang that is literally raining water down all the time. Due to the water it is a super green area and has hanging gardens on the wall of the cliff. We enjoyed the experience and then got the bonus of seeing 3 big horned sheep navigating their way across a cliff face.
We then loaded the shuttle and started our way back to the Visitor Center and our vehicles. We were exhausted and had no interest in cooking so we found a cute pizza place in town, Zion Pizza & Noodle Co. Four pizzas later we found ourselves back at camp enjoying the beautiful views from our campground and playing a few card games.
We are coming toward the end of our adventure but we still have at least one more big event ahead. Tomorrow we hike the Narrows! Stay tuned!
