Zion National Park, UT — Attraction in Springdale

We absolutely loved this park! We spontaneously added it to the tail end of our trip, which was a little difficult to plan, but doable.

We planned this about 2-3 days before arriving in late May (right before memorial day weekend).

We found a hotel about an hour away and paid to park in a lot near some bike rental place. Honestly if you're only staying a couple days just pay the $20 parking like that to save yourself the hassle of cruising around forever for parking.

We rented regular bikes for our first day and Ebikes for our second day in the park instead of taking the shuttle. I cannot recommend this enough! We were constantly passing by endless lines for the shuttles on our bikes. Yes, the first day was very hard on normal bikes going 16 miles in 90+ heat. But, totally worth it. If you can get Ebikes for every day I recommend it, so much easier and enjoyable.

We did the narrows and angels landing while we were here in addition to just cruising around on our bikes.

Narrows -- So much fun! It was a last minute decision and we rented boots from the same place we rented bikes. The boots were really helpful because the rocks in the narrows can be a bit tricky. I think I would have rolled my ankle a few times without them -- The bike ride there is long -- I think 8 miles all uphill. Very difficult if you're not in super fit shape/used to the heat. Beautiful views though. --- We walked for about 2 hours in and 1 hour back because you have the water with you on the way back. -- It was a super fun and unique thing I would highly recommend. The boots and walking stick were a must in my mind

Angels Landing -- Coming from someone who is terrified of heights and doesn't handle elevation changes well ---I would definitely recommend this hike! -- If you can, bring those hiking poles. We didn't have them, but saw people having an easier time with them and when my parents hiked this (after we did), they used them and said it was super helpful. -- I did nearly all of angels landing, the last part of the ropes I chickened out on. Only because I thought the ropes went the whole way through the last part of the hike. But, you get to this place where it's just slanted rock covered in slippery sand and I went a little past that and chickened out when there was so more rope. If there had been rope the whole way and if you didn't have to wait so long for people to pass I think I would have finished it. The real killer is the wait times. On my way back I had to wait a long time for 2 girls who stopped mid-way through the ropes just to take tons of selfies. My inner-boomer almost came out...

All in all I cannot recommend Zion and these 2 parts enough. The whole park is just a marvel, it...

Getting tickets for the shuttle is very frustrating. If you can manage to get a shuttle, it is an incredible place to hike.

My wife and I hiked several trails in two days.

Outside the park we did The Watchman and Pa’rus.

The Watchman was an incredible hike with a great payout at the end. The view was fantastic. The Pa’rus, not so much. I would not recommend that hike, unless you can’t get to another trail.

We also got into the park and did the lower, miss and upper Emerald Falls. Despite it being May, there wasn’t much water and it was barely recognizable as a waterfall. That being said, the hike was enjoyable and worth the time.

We came back on the Grotto trail, and did about 25 minutes on Angel’s Landing (too late to make it to the top) those were both enjoyable Zane challenging as well.

The next day we did The Narrows and The Canyon Overlook.

The Narrows is probably the best hike in the country. As someone told me before we went, that hike was more about the journey than the destination. Walking in the water was challenging, but what a hike! Every step was amazing.

Make sure you get the neoprene socks, water shoes and walking stick.

We also hiked the one mile out to The Canyon Overlook. After doing The Narrows all day we had just enough left in us to make it just over 1/2 a mile out to the overlook. We got there just a few minutes before sunset. Breathtaking…I’ve been told that the view at the overlook is similar to Angel’s Landing.

We hiked about 25 miles in the two days we were there. Of the many hikes we did, the majesty of it all pointed to a creator. Through these incredibly beautiful hikes I saw the fingerprint of God.

I was reminded of Isaiah 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;

We are always equivalent to grasshoppers to God, but those hikes are an object lesson reminding us of our smallness and...

Specifically for the shuttle in Zion park, for which this is the first stop and where you would likely board if you wanted to use the shuttle to get around the inside of the park:

We were unable to get tickets the few weeks before our trip, but we understood that more tickets are released the day prior. Other users have recommending logging on at 9 am the day before. WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND BEING READY RIGHT AT 9 AM.

We were able to get tickets, but that was because we did the following things: Make an account earlier Have payment information ready Decide before hand which hour interval you want. (Ie if you buy a ticket for 9-10 hour window, you can only board within this window. Note at the actual bus loading spot, they allow you to line up 15 minutes prior to your window. So if you bought at 9-10 window slot, you can start lining up at 8:45.

We were able to get tickets, but barely. My partner tried for the 8-9 hour slot, but his request timed out because traffic was too high. At the same time, I aimed for the 9-10 hour slot and was...