Road to Zion (National Park, Utah)

Zion NP; Shades of Red with Clouds on Blue

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The road to Zion extended from an Enterprise rental lot outside Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, past the Strip and well beyond tenacious Mesquite, Nevada. A “Welcome to Arizona” sign came as a complete surprise as we traveled northeast on I-15, but a quick (frantic) check of our Google directions confirmed a “passing through Arizona” before Utah. Whew. That one scared me a little!

I-15 northeast of Vegas

The landscape did a rapid transformation from man-made glitz into stubbled desert southwest. This soon segued into ever-growing cliffs that edged toward our roadway and up towards a sky that bloomed blue. It was a windows down kind of drive even with triple digit temperatures.

Once in Utah, we enjoyed the novelty of long stretches of nothingness dotted by municipal blips with names such as Hurricane, La Verkin and Rockville. The latter’s street lights consisted of a series of single light bulbs dangled from the wires periodically strung across Route 9. A hand-lettered sign in La Verkin outlined a former business owner’s vehement discontent with city politics; I bet they have some interesting community parades there… One of the town’s more easy-going residents had appended a cautionary “Watch Children” sign with “act like monkeys.”

Zion NP; White and Red with Desert Varnish Zion National Park gave us tantalizing glimpses of its glory as we rounded bend after bend after bend. Our goal was Springdale on park’s edge, and more specifically, the Cliffrose Lodge which would be our base for the next few days. We passed a doggy day camp with little white tents and an organic orchard before finally rolling into the strip of civilization that has grown out of Zion’s popularity.

The Cliffrose had luxurious views that made up for its average accommodations and was within easy walking distance of the park entrance. With the Virgin Zion NP; Balcony View at Cliffrose River in its backyard and balcony views of Zion’s peaks fronted by the lodge’s lush gardens, we were happy to dump our bags and head out for our first hike! Matt’s choice sounded great to our hot and dusty group, a river walk through a gorgeous canyon suitably dubbed “The Narrows”.