Blog
Utah 2022 Trip
Tommy
After running the St. George Marathon in 2019, I visited Zion National Park. I ended up hiking Angel’s Landing the day after running 26.2 miles. I have visited Grand Canyon National Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park before when I was a lot younger; however, I didn’t appreciate it at the time since I was a kid. My visit to Zion in 2019 is what really spurred on my love for hiking and the great outdoors. Since then I have visited 7 national parks and they are all special in their own rights. Catching up on blogging as this trip was taken in December 2022. Even though it’s been almost a year, I still wanted to write about the trip as it was spectacular!
It was Q4 2022 and I had some vacation days to use before year end. I knew that I wanted a getaway from the city to relax in nature and we were heading into winter. My initial thoughts were to drive up to Michigan to Isle Royale National Park and try to see the Northern Lights again. However, when I did my research, I found out that the park closes for winter from November to April. Hiking the Narrows at Zion National Park has been on my bucket list for a while. From my 1st time visiting in 2019, I knew that the crowds at Zion were horrendous as it’s ranked consistently in the top 5 most visited parks in the United States. Since it was winter, I knew that the park wouldn’t be as crowded so I went ahead and started planning the trip for December.
My trip would be a small road trip comprising of 5 days, 535 miles, 2 national parks, and a state park. So much less planning than the Oregon Trail road trip that I took in 2021. Since this trip was planned pretty spontaneously and it was going to be very active, I decided to go solo. My flew out on a Sunday and my first stop would be the Valley of Fire State Park.
Valley of Fire State Park
Valley of Fire State Park is located about an hour outside of Las Vegas. It’s known for it’s panoramic views, colorful rock formations, and it’s hiking trails. The state park is relatively small, but it’s the oldest and largest state park in Nevada. You can spend a few hours here driving the scenic roads with amazing viewpoints or you can spend a whole day hiking and seeing everything.
The park is relatively easy to get around. The two entrances are the west and east entrances. There are two main roads, the Valley of Fire Highway, which goes west and east along the southern portion of the park, and Mouse’s Tank Road, which goes north and south that connects to the Valley of Fire Highway. The junction is where the Visitor’s Center is located and there is a large parking lot.
Sights along the Valley of Fire Highway include the Beehives, Elephant Rock, Seven Sisters, Atlatl Rock, Fire Cave, and more. Mouse’s Tank Road’s attractions include the Fire Wave, Seven Wonders, Rainbow Vista, and more.
I started off my journey flying from Chicago to Las Vegas. My flight departed around 8am and I would arrive in Las Vegas around 10am with the time change. I rented a car from Thrifty. The customer service at the counter was great, but there was a massive line outside for all of the rental car agencies and it took a good hour to get my rental car. So I was essentially delayed an hour. As of late, I have been trying different rental car agencies since I can earn 10x points on rental cars booking through Chase Travel using the Chase Sapphire Reserve. However, I have had issues using Avis and Thrifty to date. My go-to rental car companies have always been Hertz and National. National has given me the best and cleanest cars with Executive Membership (Perk of the CSR); however, they are definitely the priciest.
Once I got my rental car, I was ready to leave Las Vegas driving out on I-15 for the 45 minute drive north. Luckily, I was familiar with directions since they were the same out to St. George, UT. I ended up getting off the exit taking the Valley of Fire highway, which was quite the entrance. The views were spectacular with clear skies, mountains, and winding roads so it really got me hyped up for my visit!
I entered through the West entrance around 1pm and there were few cars entering through the gate. The entrance fee was $15 and it was well worth the price of admission! The Valley of Fire State Park was like a playground on Mars and it reminded me of Badlands National Park.
The Beehives
My first stop was at the Beehives. I’ve been reading Earth Trekkers for the past 3 years and I use them to plan pretty much every trip of mine. They said that the Beehives was a great first stop to give you an introduction to the park and I agree! The views of the rocks and mountains were definitely very scenic especially with the exceptional day. What’s great about Valley of Fire is that there are many viewpoints that are quick stops so you can see a lot of the park in little time.
After the Beehives, I drove east and drove past the visitor’s center on Mouse Tank Road. Mouse Tank Road has become Insta-Famous and I can definitely see why. I saw a few people in the middle of the road waiting for their pictures. I did the same thing at a different location, but I never use a filter. I didn’t want to wait for the lighting to get a better picture as I wanted to go hiking, but it was fun to see everyone taking their photos. Here are the specific directions for one of the best viewpoints of Mouse Tank Road from Earth Trekkers (#10).
The Fire Wave, White Domes, & Seven Wonders Loop Trail
After driving to the end of Mouse Tank Road (views are amazing), my plan was to hike the Fire Wave and Seven Wonders Loop Trail (2.3 miles round trip and 1-2.5 hours). But I ended up taking a wrong turn at the junction going onto the White Domes trail by accident and I ended up getting lost and I hiked 3.2 miles instead, which took about 2.5 hours.
I was completely fine as the trail is easy to moderate, it was winter where the weather was cool at 70 degrees, and there were people on it. But I lost sight of the trail markers and I ended up climbing up a pretty big mountain and when I got to the top, I noticed there wasn’t an exit so that is when I realized that I was lost.
As shown to the map on the right provided by AllTrails, The starting point is a the Fire Wave parking lot, which is medium sized. I got lucky and I was able to find a spot around 2:30pm on a Sunday, but it was packed and people were waiting for a spot.
I started going counter-clockwise heading to Fire Wave first. I made my way around and I ended up accidentally taking a left/going straight at the junction when I was supposed to head towards Fire Cave, but I went towards the White Domes Slot Canyon instead. Then when I went north on the 0.5 mile trek, I lost the markers for the correct path. This part was straight uphill and there were multiple hills. Unfortunately, I went up the wrong one and I had to go back down and then go over to the correct hill. The 0.3 mile trek heading south was downhill, but it was very steep rocks where you had to do some climbing/jumping. I was very glad that I didn’t go up that way as it was definitely easier going up on the 0.5 mile side, which was just a giant hill, but it was less steep and you don’t have to climb. The White Domes trail is definitely moderate to strenuous depending on your fit level, while the Fire Wave trail is easy.
Even though I got lost, it was awesome anyways! That’s the beauty and excitement with the national/state parks is that you can explore new places and be in your own world when compared to city life! It added on about 30 minutes since it was a lot easier going down than going up, but I wouldn’t have changed anything as it was fun!
The Fire Wave (above) has also become Insta-Famous as it’s very comparable to the Wave in Arizona. Unfortunately, the lighting was not good by the time I arrived. A few hours before sunset would probably be best for the colors to really shine. Also, I don’t use filters so this photo doesn’t look as good, but it’s still Insta-worthy IMO. This is a popular part of the trail and there were definitely people, but it was not overly crowded.
The 7 wonders trail had some very neat rock formations and it definitely feels like you are on Mars! Lots of sand on this part of the trail although these two trails were very easy for me.
I visited the Valley of Fire State Park from about 1pm to 5pm. It was so much fun and definitely worth a visit! I went during winter (December), which was the perfect time because it meant less crowds and cooler weather. Certain parts of the park actually close during the summer because of the heat, which is typically 100+ degrees and up to 115 degrees. That would have been miserable and it is definitely dangerous. December was a perfect 70 degrees and it was even a little chilly with the wind. Valley of Fire State Park a small enough park that you can get everything done in a full day and I was able to do mostly everything that I wanted to do. I skipped Elephant Rock as the sun was setting and I had a long drive to Bryce Canyon City. St. George, UT, was about a 1.5 hour drive from the park and you lose an hour. This was where I ran the marathon and I was going to stop to buy supplies and have dinner. After buying supplies from Walmart, I grabbed some dinner at In-N-Out Burger. Don’t judge my calorie intake haha.
It was an 2 hour and 10 minute drive from St. George, UT to Bryce Canyon National Park and it was very dark out. I had some energy drinks with me and I was able to grind through as I knew it was the longest driving day of my trip. I couldn’t really see much when approaching Bryce Canyon City, but I noticed that I was ascending switchbacks. I didn’t realize that Bryce Canyon National Park was about 8,000 feet above sea level with the peak at about 9,000 feet. I arrived around midnight and it was about -10 degrees when I got to the hotel.
I stayed at the Best Western Grand at Bryce Canyon. I am a big fan of Best Western hotels as I stayed at one at Yellowstone. I think they are mostly modern and clean. Every Best Western has breakfast included and this was hands down the best Best Western breakfast I have had. The eggs were extremely fresh and they had a ton of options at the buffet.
Bryce Canyon National Park:
Navajo Loop Trail + Queen's Garden
I was able to get to sleep pretty fast the night I got in as I was exhausted. I woke up bright and early around 6:00am on Monday as I wanted to see Bryce Canyon at sunrise. We tried the sunrise at Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park and that did not go well… The early morning wakeup is not much trouble for me as I am definitely a morning guy. I ate breakfast at the hotel, which was included in the stay. Like I said above, one of the best Best Western breakfasts that I have had! The hotel was located right outside of the park and it was a 5 minute drive to the entrance and a 10 minute drive to the start of the day at Sunset Point.
I arrived at Sunset Point for sunrise around 7:15am, which is the trailhead for the Navajo Loop Trail + Queen’s Garden. There was a large parking lot and I only noticed about 2-3 other people there. The Bryce Canyon Amphitheater was breathtaking and it was so quiet and peaceful. It was literally magical!
So since I was hiking solo in winter, I had to prepare a little differently for this trip. One thing I ended up buying from REI beforehand and it was a game-changer for this hike was purchasing Crampons. I have never heard of them until I watched the America’s Parks VLOG on YouTube about hiking Bryce Canyon in winter (Another great go-to for my trip planning). These were absolutely worth every penny as there were some slick/icy areas on the trail.
The trailhead starts at the Sunset Point parking lot. The Navajo Loop Trail and Queen’s Garden combination is 3.13 miles round trip with moderate difficulty, which takes about 1.5 hours. I was taking in the scenery of the sunrise and I probably didn’t start hiking until 7:45-8am. I went clockwise heading down to Thor’s Hammer first, which goes down hill. Wall Street, which has the famous switchbacks was closed due to the snow. But I got another good photo of some crazy switchbacks. You can go counter-clockwise and go up the switchbacks at the end too if you want, but I went the other way.
On the trail, I only ran into 2 other people there, who both went counter-clockwise. I met a guy from Iowa and I told him I was from Chicago so always nice to chat with people from the midwest. We talked for a few minutes about the trail and Iowa State football.
I didn’t think this trail was that challenging. Going up the hill at the end climbing back up to Sunrise Point was definitely toughest, but you really couldn’t beat the view so it was worth it.
Bryce Canyon National Park is famous for their rock formations called Hoodoos, which is derived by the word be-witched. And I saw a lot of them!
Peakaboo Trail
After I hiked the Navajo Trail, I went to the Visitor’s Center to talk with the Park Rangers. I typically always ask what their favorite things to do are and if they have any tips for when I go out. The Ranger told me to do the scenic drive that I didn’t know about, which I ended up doing later that day. He also asked if I had crampons and I told him yes, but they do sell them at the Park Store. Yes they are that important to have for safety!
After the visitor’s center, I drove over to the Bryce Point, which was the trailhead for the Peakaboo Trail. The Peakaboo Trail is a 5.2 mile round trip hike that takes about 3 hours with a moderate difficulty (1,529 elevation gain). I was told that this was a less trafficked trail and I only saw about 10 other people on the hike. I started hiking around 10am and it was a steep descent. Going down was pretty easy and then I got to the junction where you could go either left or right. I ended up going left. The trail continued downhill and the ascent back up was strenuous and I definitely had to take some breaks.
Overall, the Peakaboo hike was definitely more strenuous than the Navajo Loop/Queen’s Garden as there was a big elevation change. It was pretty cool with how the terrain changed. It started off at 8,300 feet and descended quite a bit into the forest. I knew that I had to preserve energy because I had to ascend back up 1,000+ feet to get back to the starting point. This hike is very good if you want a challenge, but it was definitely similar to the Navajo Loop/Queen’s Garden so it didn’t really distinguish itself. If you only had time for one, then I would definitely recommend the Navajo Loop.
Scenic Drive
After the Peakaboo Trail, it was time to go grab some lunch around 1:30pm. I was pretty tired and drenched in sweat so I wanted to go back to the hotel and shower. So I just grabbed a few sandwiches from the general store at the Best Western Ruby’s Inn and then went back to the hotel.
I ended up taking a nap and resting for a little bit. Then I headed back out to the park for sunset around 4:30pm to go on the scenic drive. I didn’t even know Bryce Canyon National Park had a scenic drive, but I remember that the Park Ranger told me about it so that is what I ended up doing before dinner. The scenic drive is an 20 mile drive that ascends up to about 9,000 feet and has a good amount of curves. I ended up driving up to the peak at Rainbow Point, which took about 35 minutes.
There are probably about 15-20 stops and I ended up visiting Rainbow Point & Yovimpa Point, Ponderosa Point, Bryce Natural Bridge, and Inspiration Point.
Zion National Park:
The next day, I slept in a little bit and I checked out of my hotel. It was about an 1 hour and 48 minute drive to Zion National Park from Bryce Canyon so I left around 10am. The drive was very scenic with the mountains in the distance. It was pretty flat overall, which was nice since the drive from Las Vegas to Bryce Canyon is pretty hilly with the mountains.
I arrived in Zion right at noon on a Tuesday and I entered through the East gate. There weren’t many cars, which was nice, but it was pretty crowded when I was driving through. I drove through the canyon and went right to the visitor’s center to grab a map and ask the Rangers about the Narrows.
Day 1: Emerald Pools & Zion Canyon Overlook
After the visitor’s center, I headed straight to the Emerald Pools parking lot. The parking lot on the west side was extremely small and it was completely full. I ended up going across the street to the overflow lot in front of the Zion National Park Lodge and I created my own spot on the side like everyone else did (parallel parked). This ended up working out fine for me.
I didn’t hike the Emerald Pools last time so this hike was on my to do list. The Emerald Pools is a heavily trafficked 3 mile round trip hike that is easy-moderate difficulty. I hiked the upper emerald pools, which is definitely moderate. It was steep with a decent amount of stairs and some parts were very icy with steep drop offs. The hike took me about 1.5-2 hours. I started around 1pm and there were definitely a lot of people on the trail.
This hike was extremely worth it! It’s a relatively short hike, but it was cool to see a different part of the park and it had beautiful views of Zion Canyon. It was an absolute beautiful day, which started out cloudy and ended up being sunny.
After finishing hiking the Emerald Pools Trail around 3pm, I ended up running over to Springdale to go pick up my equipment from Zion Adventures and Zion Outfitters for the Narrows. I was able to check into my hotel after that.
I didn’t have any plans that evening besides dinner so I ended up heading over to the Zion Canyon Overlook trail for sunset. The Zion Canyon Overlook trail is a heavily trafficked 1 mile round trip trail with moderate difficulty that took about 45 minutes to complete.
The trail starts at the Canyon Overlook parking lot right after the tunnel, which is about a 20 minute drive from Springdale. The parking lot is extremely small and I was lucky enough to get a spot right before sunset, but it only holds about 10 cars if that.
The Zion Canyon Overlook has one of the best views of the canyon and definitely worth it! There were some icy patches when I hiked it, but there were not many steep drop offs. There were a lot of people so it’s best to go during off peak times.
Day 2: The Narrows
The Narrows has been on my bucket list ever since I first visited Zion National Park back in 2019. I found it fascinating that you have to hike through a canyon in the Virgin River and everyone who I have talked to has said it was spectacular. Spoiler alert, it was spectacular! The Narrows Bottom Up to Big Springs hike is 8.9 miles round trip with a strenuous difficulty that is very popular. The hike took me about 8 hours. It’s very scenic with the canyon walls, cool shadows, and it’s really one of a kind since you are hiking in a river. It was a magical experience and a completely different animal than Angel’s Landing. You can hike the longer top down hike, which takes 12 hours as a day hike or a 2-day trip, but it requires a permit. I opted for the non-permit option as I was hiking solo and that ended up being the right decision for me.
A few tips below:
- If there is rain in the forecast, absolutely do not hike the Narrows. The Virgin River is notorious for flooding and people have died in the past.
- Flow Rates: A thing to consider before hiking is the flow rate of the Virgin River. This determines how fast the current is when hiking upstream and downstream and it’s measured by Cubic Feet per Second (cfs). You can find the data in the charts at the USGS website. I hiked it when it was about 60-65 cfs. Under 50 is considered easy. Over 70 is considered difficult. Over 150 cfs is dangerous and the Park will not issue permits.
- You don’t need a permit to hike the Narrows bottom up to Big Spring.
- Book your equipment well in advance in case it sells out. This is more relative for summer months.
- Pick up your equipment the day before if you are hiking early. I started hiking at around 7-7:30am as I wanted to beat the crowds. So I was going to hiking before both stores even opened, which was around 9am. I believe I was charged a day and a half, which wasn’t bad and totally worth it IMO to beat the crowds.
- Bring an extra set of clothes. I ended up changing shirts at my turnaround point due to the amount of sweat that I lost. Typically you don’t get hypothermia from the actual cold, but rather being wet in the cold. People tend to forget that being sweaty makes you wet. So I ended up bring an extra pair of clothes. Also, this was good in case I fell into the water and my drysuit didn’t work for some reason.
- The Drysuit package keeps you dry, but it doesn’t keep you warm. You have to make sure that you wear some layers under it depending on if you get cold or not. I was extremely hot as I am a hot box and I sweat profusely. I ended up wearing a pair of long underwear, a long sleeve dryfit tee shirt, winter hat, and winter gloves and it was fine for me.
- There are no bathrooms once you start hiking the Narrows. If you have to take a #2, make sure you bring your own ziploc bags.
For a more specific guide on the Narrows, check out this Earthtrekkers post. Yes, I literally use them for everything.
Equipment
Long before, I went on the trip, I reserved a waterproof backpack at Zion Outfitters and a drysuit package at Zion Adventures, which are absolute musts when hiking the Narrows in Winter. It was definitely a pain in the butt having to go to two different shops as Zion Adventures didn’t offer the waterproof backpacks, but having both was definitely worth it.
Zion Outfitters offers Drybibs, which does not cover the top and only your bottoms. Apparently they offer drytops for $10 extra to make it into a full drysuit, which is probably the thing that I could have used to avoid going to two shops. The Drybib probably would have been fine as I didn’t fall, but I wanted to be safe than sorry. I read in another blog to use Zion Adventures so I just went ahead and booked the equipment with them.
The drysuit package from Zion Adventures kept me completely dry. The suit had neoprene inside to prevent you from getting wet. This was one of the hardest things that I have ever worn to get on and off as it was extremely tight rubber, but it was obviously worth it since it kept me dry. I was pretty warm throughout the entire hike until the last 2 miles where I was getting cold due to sweat loss. The boots were also very uncomfortable and were similar to ski boots, but definitely worth it. They get wet, but the neoprene socks kept the feet dry. The socks did not keep them warm, but my feet got used to the water temperature. I definitely looked like an alien, but I really didn’t care as long as it kept me dry. I also liked the bright red as it was easy to see in case I got into trouble.
The waterproof backpack was so worth the money! It was great peace of mind knowing that I could fall into the water and all of my belongings would be dry. Definitely worth the purchase!
I woke up around 5:30am as I planned to try to beat the crowds. Breakfast at the hotel opened at 6am and I was on the road by 6:45am. The starting point of the trail if you are doing the bottom up hike is the Temple of Sinawava, which was about a 30 minute drive from Springdale. You can take the Zion Canyon shuttle during the summer months, but the roads are open for cars and bikes during Winter. The parking lot is medium-large and I was the first one there besides a Park Ranger. A few other cars pulled up while I was getting ready, but they ended up just hiking the Riverside Walk and they wished me good luck.
I started hiking around 7:30am after I got ready. The hike starts off the first mile on a paved path with the Riverside Walk, which I have hiked before during my first visit. The shoes were extremely uncomfortable on the pavement and much easier in the water on the rocks.
The water temperature wasn’t as bad as I expected. The drysuit really kept me dry and since I was hiking, I was working up body heat quite rapidly so I was warm. It was probably about low 30s during my hike and the water temperature was probably about 30-40 degrees, but my body adjusted quite fast. I have never hiked with a hiking stick before and it was an absolute must to keep balance in the river. I almost fell a few times, but having the hiking stick helped quite a bit.
The entire hike was incredibly scenic! I was completely in awe and it was extremely peaceful. I was the only one in the Narrows until I got to Wall Street where I saw a photographer. He didn’t pass me so he either came from the top down or was there ahead of me. For the entire hike, I would go side to side along the canyon walls as that is where the shallow points are. It was pretty obvious on where to go and you just had to use common sense. Essentially, I was avoiding going chest high and fully submerged in water the entire time. For the most part, the water level never got above waist high until the end. My turnaround point was at around mile 4-4.5 right before Big Springs. I ran into a point where the water was up to my shoulders. I would have had to fully submerge underwear and I really didn’t want to do that during Winter so I just turned around. When I got back to Wall Street, I ended up running into more people. I ended up eating my snacks/sandwich and changing my top shirt and gloves for the trek back. There were a lot of people coming through and it was probably around 10am. During my return hike past Wall Street, there were a lot of people still on their way. So I can’t even imagine how big the crowds are during Summer.
Wall Street was really cool and well worth the trip! The entire hike was insane and so unique! It was much tougher going upstream and downstream. I would definitely be down to do it again and maybe try it during summer.
Post Trip Thoughts:
Both national parks were absolutely magical in Winter and I definitely enjoyed it with the lessened crowds. They are both small enough where you can see a lot of the parks in a day, but it’s worth going back or visiting for multiple days.
I didn’t realize how high the elevation is at Bryce Canyon National Park and it was literally -10 degrees when I arrived that night. But it warmed up to 20-35 degrees during the day so it was comfortable for hiking.
Zion National Park is one of my favorite national parks. However, the crowds are no joke and even a week before Christmas, they were still bad. I would love to go back to Zion one more time to do Observation Point (closed since 2019 due to a rockslide) and get a permit for the Subway.
This was an amazing trip and it was so nice to go essentially off the grid for 5 days. I love both parks and would love to go back again some time. I wanted to end the post with some equipment that I brought a long for the hikes and I thought it would be useful.
Equipment that not many people think of for Hiking Solo in Winter (You’d be surprised):
- Snacks/Sandwiches.
- Water.
- Crampons.
- Whistle.
- Headlamp.
- Flint/firestarter.
- Garmin GPS.
- Sunglasses.
- Sunscreen.
- Long underwear.
- High ankle waterproof boots.