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Zion National Park in Winter

Zion has always been one of my favorite national parks. A lot of people must agree with my assessment. Every year it is near the top of the list of all Natioanl Parks for most visitor days. It usually comes in fifth behind Great Smokey Mountain, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Unfortunately that means that over the years there are more and more people there. Finally it got to be too much for me. My last trip there was in the summer of 2015 when I climbed Angel's Landing. I had to get up at 4 am to catch the first park shuttle at 6 am so I could do the climb and leave the park by noon. There were so many people by then that I swore, never again. As Yogi Berra says, "No one goes there anymore. It's too crowded." I still drive through each year on my way to Consimworld Expo, a wargame convention in Phoenix, but other than that, I haven't been to Zion for almost ten years. No hiking there. Not even any stops, except to check the visitor center for any new tshirts.

Overcrowding has become a problem at a lot of national parks. Climbing Half Dome or Angel's Landing, two of my all time favorite mountains, requires a permit. Even entering Arches National Park or driving to Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park requires you to get a permit. Only a limited number are given out, to reduce congestion and overcrowding. It's pretty sad. But I did discover a partial workaround, and that is to go in the offseason. That doesn't work for some parks, but for the Utah canyon country it is a good approach. During the winter, most of the time the weather is pretty bad - cold and cloudy, often with rain or snow. But sometimes it is clear and sunny, and while cool, it's not frigid cold. Since I am an old retired guy, I don't have to arrange my trips way ahead of time. I can watch the weather and when the forecast shows good weather for a few days I can go for it. For example, in 2022 I did two early season trips to Moab. In February I was able to hike Grandstaff Canyon and half of the Behind the Rocks route. In March I hiked the other half of Behind the Rocks and also did the Slickrock Trail. In 2017 I even did Fiery Furnace, a hike that has very limited permits that are virtually impossible to get in season. Although the weather was cool, I got to do some incredible hikes.

This time Sandy and I weren't just going early in the season. This was in the middle of winter. But it had been a dry, mild winter up to this point so we didn't expect much snow. The forecast looked good. Sunny skies for two or three days with highs in the upper forties to mid fifties. We checked with our usual dog/house sitter and fortunately she was available on short notice. We decided to go and visit Zion. The drive down was uneventful, although as usual, there were some tense moments driving due to traffic and construction on the I15 corridor through the Salt Lake megacity. It grows bigger each year and now extends all the way from north of Odgen down to Spanish Fork. We made the trip with only two quick stops for gas.

We stayed in Springdale, a town just outside the park, Sandy picked out the hotel, a Best Western Plus. Another advantage of the off season - our room was only $105/night. I checked and the same room in mid-May, the height of the season, was $365/night. Quite a difference. It also meant that about a third of the businesses in Springdale were closed for the season. Of the restaurants that were open, most closed fairly early. Fortunately the Zion Brewery was open late, and we were able to get dinner there after we arrived and checked into our hotel.

Unlike most hiking trips, we were in no rush to hit the trail the next morning. Although the high was forecast to be near fifty degrees, because it was clear it got pretty cold overnight. So we slept in, had a leisurly breakfast, and then headed into the park.

I was in charge of picking hikes and I wasn't sure what to do first. I wanted to do some of the very popular ones on this trip, since I figured they would be relatively uncrowded. I picked the Riverwalk Trail first, which starts at the Temple of Sinewava, at the end of the road in Zion Canyon. It's the very last section of the Narrows when you are coming down river. I absolutely want to do the entire Narrows some day so this would be a chance to scout it out. During most of the year, you can't take your car into the canyon. You have to take the (horribly overcrowded) park shuttle. But in January the shuttle doesn't run and we could just drive in. The catch is the sign at the park entrance saying that if the canyon became "full", it would be closed off. My initial thought was that we should do the Riverwalk Trail first, in case the canyon was closed off later in the day.

Turns out I needn't have worried. Our first stop was at the Court of the Patriarchs. We were the only car parked there. During the ten minutes it took us to walk to the viewpoint, take our pictures, and walk back, hardly any cars went by on the road. I decided on a change of plan. The light for the Riverwalk Trail would be better in the afternoon when the sun was in the west. We would do the Canyon Overlook Trail first instead.

The trailhead is off of Utah Hwy 9, a through route that connects Interstate 15 and US 89, the two major north-south roads in western Utah. It goes past the mouth of Zion Canyon, climbs to the famous Zion Tunnel, and then goes across the Zion Plateau before leaving the park at the East Entrance. It's the route I take every year when I drive to Phoenix for Consimworld Expo so I am very familar with it. The trailhead is just outside the east end of the tunnel where there is a VERY small parking lot. The trail is very popular so in the summer I am used to seeing cars crammed into every possible spot along the road for at least a mile from the trailhead. Since the trail is only a mile long, some people have to walk farther to reach the trail than on the trail itself.

But not us today. When we came out of the tunnel and pulled into the parking lot, there was a spot open. I was hoping that we would get one but I was still amazed that we did. There are only ten parking spaces for one of the busiest trails in one of the busiest National Parks. And one of them is a handicapped spot, so it's off limits. Why a steep, uneven, moderately difficult trail needs a handicapped parking spot at the trailhead is beyond me, but hey, it's the Federal Government. I don't try to make sense of it.

The trail is just under a mile each way with about 150 feet of elevation gain, but is a lot of fun for such a short trail. It starts with a steep climb up steps cut into the rock, winds alongside dropoffs, ducks under overhangs and crosses long stretches of slickrock. We had a perfect day to do the trail. As we started out the temperature was in the high thirties but with no wind and a bright, sunny blue sky. It took us about half an hour to reach the lookout, which is an amazing viewpoint. Even in the middle of winter there were about fifteen people there enjoying the view. At least that meant that there was someone there who volunteered to take a picture of both of us together.

After our first hike we decided to do something a little more adventurous. According to AllTrails, further along Hwy 9 there were some petroglyphs that could be reached by a short cross country hike. The route wasn't marked. The Park Service doesn't advertise the petroglyphs for fear that they would be vandalized. We found a turnout nearby where we could park and followed a dry wash for a short distance. We were supposed to look at the base of a cliff on the side of the wash. We hiked, scrambled and climbed out of the wash to the base of the cliff but couldn't find anything. Oh well, it was worth a try. But when we got back into the wash it occurred to us that there were cliffs on the other side too, just not as big or impressive. We went the other direction and found the petroglyphs in just a few minutes. Turns out we had been looking on the wrong side of the wash. The petroglyphs were quite impressive. Although they are hard to date, some of them are believed to be 7,000 years old. I've seen a lot of cool petroglyphs on various hikes, but none anywhere near that old. It had been a lot of work but well worth it to find them.

By now it was well into the afternoon and Sandy wanted a snack before doing any more hiking. We stopped at Zion Lodge to get something to eat. It was kind of weird because almost no one was there. Usually the grassy area in front of the lodge is filled with people and the parking lot is jammed (guests of the lodge can drive into the canyon). Today it was empty. Unfortunately one of the reasons was that the snack bar was closed for the season. We thought the sit down restaurant would be too slow (and too expensive), so we went back to Springdale and stopped at Subway. Besides sandwiches they also had pizza and ice cream. We split a personal pizza and then we each had a dish of ice cream. It was quick, relatively cheap (eating is expensive in Springdale), tasted good, and now we were ready to tackle our next hike.

I figured it was the time to try the Riverside Walk. I wondered if we would find a place to park at the trailhead but when we reached the end of the road there were quite a few spots available. The paved trail follows the river for about a mile before it ends, at which point you have to enter the water to continue. We weren't planning anything that ambitious but I wanted to get a feel for what the Narrows hike was like. We only made it about half a mile before the trail was covered in ice. The walls of the canyon were so high and close that the sun never reached the bottom. We got past a first patch of ice but then hit a second long patch where the trail sloped downward. I volunteered to go first and show how it was done. After about five steps my feet shot out and I fell right on my butt. Fortunately the only thing hurt was my pride but it convinced us to turn back. Still, it was an impressive hike.

We did see a couple of people who had done at least part of the Narrows, even in winter. They were wearing special boots and warm clothes under chest-high bib waders. They also carried a big walking stick to help keep balance when walking in the river. There are several places in Springdale where you can rent specialized gear just for hiking in the river. I'm not sure I am tough enough to do it in the winter. That water looked awfully cold. But I really would like to try to do at least part of the Narrows some day.

After cleaning up we decided to walk from the hotel to a nearby restaurant. As we came out, the orange rock of the Watchman had turned a bright red in the light of the sunset. Very pretty.

It was only a quarter of a mile to Porter's, the restaurant that is now where the old Bumbleberry Restaurant used to be. Unfortunately there was a sign saying that they had closed a week ago and wouldn't reopen till tomorrow. After walking back to the hotel we got in the car and drove to Jack's Sports Grill. I had fish and chips and Sandy had a pulled pork sandwich. Both were excellent, so it all worked out.

Sandy had not been too impressed by the breakfast at the hotel so the next day we went to Farmstead Bakery. Their specialty is kroughnuts, kind of a cross between a doughnut and a croissant. Sandy had one and she thought that it was meh. I tried a bite and I had to agree. I had one of their cinnamon rolls. I'll rarely pass that up. It was ok but not great. I never thought I would say this, but it actually had too much frosting. So neither of us put Farmstead Bakery on our "have to come back again next time we are in Moab" list.

Sandy wanted to do the Emerald Pools Trail. AllTrails lists it as closed. It was true that the usual route, which starts at the Zion Lodge, is not possible because the bridge across the Virgin River was out. But it is possible to start at the Grotto, a half mile further down the road, cross the river on a different bridge, and take the Kayenta Trail to the pools. This is also the starting point for the trail to Scout Lookout and Angel's Landing, by far the most popular hike in Zion. There were no parking spots available, even after cruising through the lot three times hoping someone would come back to their car. But then we spotted a sign for an overflow lot, which we originally thought was for park vehicles only. We found one open spot there, but that was all we needed. With the car parked, the toughest part of the hike was over.

The trail crossed the bridge over the Virgin River and immediatly climbed up the slope on the other side. Then it contoured along the slope above the river. The views were beautiful both up and down the canyon. You just had to be careful not to concentrate too hard on the view as there was a significant dropoff down to the river. It would not be a good spot to walk off the edge of the trail, and fatal accidents have occured. The pools themselves were not that impressive. The middle pool was almost dry. The upper pool was in an alcove of thousand foot high sheer walls. But the pool was completely frozen and totally in the shade of the cliffs. No great photos there. But the views on both the way up and the way down were fantastic. It was another great hike. Even in the middle of January there were quite a few people on the trail. I imagine that it would be a total mob scene any other time of year.

After another quick lunch at Subway we did our last hike, the Watchman Trail. It was a new trail for me as I had never done it in all my previous trips to Zion. It left right from the Visitor Center parking lot and climbed 650 feet in a mile and half, topping out on a viewpoint below the Watchman. Much of the way was up a sheltered side canyon so the trail felt much more remote than it really was, especially since there weren't many people on the trail. The views were spectacular and the weather couldn't have been better. We had blue skies, no wind, and mild temperatures in the fifties. We did the hike in jeans and tshirt. Not bad for the middle of winter. After the hike we had dinner at Porter's, the restaurant we had tried the night before but which was open today. It was quite different than we remembered the old Bumbleberry Inn had been, which made sense when we found that the old building had burned down in 2020. The new place was kind of strange, as the restaurant was very small, while the attached gift shop was huge. That didn't bother me. I had more tshirts to look at.

After dinner I crossed the street to check out another tshirt shop. It was the last one on my list. I had checked out every other tshirt shop in town. I hit the jackpot on my last try, as this one had the best selection and the lowest prices. Between Sandy and I we bought five. When we got back to the hotel we looked at the receipt, unable to believe what a good deal it was for so many tshirts. Turns out it was too good to be true. The lady had only charged us for four. After a deep sigh I did the right thing and went back to the shop. I showed the lady her mistake and paid for the extra tshirt.

We had enjoyed two perfect days of hiking and had one more day left before we had to head home. But the forecast showed a change in the weather, with clouds moving in and overcast the whole next day. It would still be possible to hike but after two gorgeous days we decided that it would be anticlimactic. We decided to check out the next morning and head home a day early.

We had an easy drive home. The high point was stopping for brunch at a Denny's in Beaver. Denny's has been our go to stop to eat while traveling for decades. We're used to seeing them everywhere along the highway but now they are disappearing. All of the Denny's in Boise closed in the past year. So it was kind of fun to stop and eat at one again. I'm not sure how long this one will last though. When we stopped at 10 am on a Saturday morning, we were the only customers, although a couple came n while we were eating. I guess times change.

Overall, a short but fantastic trip. It was great visiting Zion again without having to fight crowds. Off season is definitely the time to go if you can get a patch of good weather.