Zion National Park

crshoots
Dec 26, 2021
3 min read

Updated: Jan 23, 2022

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic Zion had opened up to Essential workers... So obviously me and my essential working (RN) girl friends (Nikki and Sara) took a trip to see the park! We went from June 7-11, 2020. Let me tell you if you haven't been to the park yet you gotta go!!

We got very lucky since the normal summer tourist crowd had not traveled to the park during that time. We got to experience the park with significantly lower attendance than what was typically expected. Park shuttles had not been in service. We stayed at the Zion Canyon Lodge which we were also lucky to land lower rates for each night. The best part of staying at the Zion Canyon Lodge was that the entrance to Zion National Park was only a 5 minute drive. During the days we were visiting we hiked the Kayenta trail to the Emerald Pools (2.4 miles), The Watchmen trail (3.1 miles), part of Angels Landing, and part of the Narrows. We could only do part of Angels Landing because the narrow crazy rope section was closed due to COVID-19.

For hiking in the Narrows we stopped by the Zion Outfitter to rent neoprene shoes, socks, and walking sticks. I swear by the socks and shoes we rented! The water was in the 60's but the sun had been shining and our feet stayed warm. These shoes were also clean and dry when we picked them up. It was a pretty cool feeling having water in your shoes but still having warm feet! So I HIGHLY suggest stopping and renting these if you plan to hike the Narrows!

During the time we had in the park we also drove on the iconic Zion Canyon scenic drive. The drive offers pretty cool landscape changes. We got to see some bighorn sheep as well which was a treat! One of my favorite sites from the drive was seeing Zion's Checkerboard Mesa. I have a photo attached in the pictures below!

Each day we got in line early to get into the park. We had heard through the grapevine to arrive early depending on how close you wanted to get to the trail head you planned to hike so that is exactly what we did! We relayed on the national parks social media and website to know how to navigate our visit at the park. It was honestly a really neat experience to see the park the way we did compared to a regular pre covid summer day.

The town of Springdale is so charming! I kept being in awe seeing the elementary school only a few miles from such a stunning National park and reminding myself that kids were growing up in this town and how cool it must be! We had walked up and down Zion Park Blvd and checked out a few of the local shops and resturants. The people were extremely friendly too! They were great at giving advice on what to do and see as well as how to do these things!

Another great factor in this trip was the girls that I got to travel with! If it wasn't for them the trip would not have been as amazing as it turned out to be! I have great memories of Nicki and Sara from this trip. I love you girls and I am ready for another girls trip!!

Please remember to leave these beautiful natural places in better condition then how you found them. Leave only footprints and take only memories.