Zion Nation Park trip pandemic style: DAY ONE
With the COVID-19 virus concerns about public places, my boyfriend and I were very careful during our trip to Zion National Park. We sanitized our hands constantly and did not need to worry about social distancing because the park was basically deserted.
It was the weirdest atmosphere to be in such a large national park with barely anyone there. Usually, national parks are insanely crowded, so I am glad we got this different perspective. All of the park employees were absent except a few rangers here and there. So, all of the buildings like the Visitor Center and Museum were closed. All of the water was shut off and bathrooms were closed. Thankfully, they had portable restrooms available with hand sanitizer hanging outside.
The lack of water was a challenge we were not used to during our normal national park trips, but we had brought three gallons with us originally – having expected the shut off – and then we bought three gallons while we were there. Hydration is super important when camping, but specifically when you are at higher elevations and being active all day.
On one of our first hikes, a man said to us, "Take advantage of this and enjoy it because it's never like this."
We definitely enjoyed every second.
On the first day, we left San Diego at 5 a.m. and drove seven hours through Nevada, Arizona and Utah to get to the park. It is free to get in right now, so we started our adventure right away.
We went to the Visitor's Center to get a map – there are some on the door even though the building is closed – and went on a tiny archeology trail to get our bearings of the park.
We were immediately stunned by the monumental rock features, towering above us. There were huge sheer rock towers everywhere. We drove on the road and had them follow us on each side. We could see the different rock layers, red, grey and brown with black mineral deposits flowing down the sides from all of the waterfalls. The rock was such a rich red, it was beautiful. We read on a plaque the rock was from the Jurassic period.
On our drive through the park, there is a road split off which leads to a tunnel made in the 1930s. The separate highway is called Zion-Mount Carmel highway and once you go through the dark, old tunnel, there is a hike on the other side called Canyon Overlook Trail.
The trail itself was epic. It was on the edge of the the canyon, so you could look down right into the bottom of the canyon. Once we got to the outlook, it was gorgeous. You could go up to the edge of the cliff and look out over the expansive landscape.
On the right and left side of the valley you look down on, massive sheer cliffs frame the pretty green valley.
After we played around on the pancake rocks a little – I called them pancake rocks during the trip because they looked stacked on top of each other – we decided it was a good time to go back and look for a camp spot.
Pro tip: do not push your luck with time in a new environment. All the camping is closed in parks right now, so we were unsure where we would be able to camp. Starting early and being aware of potential solutions is important on these trips. From experience, we know there is free camping land usually about 30 min outside of parks.
We asked a ranger where that land was, and it is right outside of a small town called Virgin.
We drove out to Virgin and looked around for spots. It took us awhile, hence the reason to start earlier rather than later, but we snagged a perfect spot. It had a fire pit, and we built a bench out of rocks to sit next to it.
This campsite is totally different than any we have had because it was in a huge open expanse of land. There was no tree cover, rock over or anything, just wide open space. It made for beautiful sunsets.
After building a fire, cooking hot dogs and drinking beers on the top of my car for sunset, we closed up the car for the night. We were car camping because it's easier to deal with weather than in a tent.
Day two coming next!
It was the weirdest atmosphere to be in such a large national park with barely anyone there. Usually, national parks are insanely crowded, so I am glad we got this different perspective. All of the park employees were absent except a few rangers here and there. So, all of the buildings like the Visitor Center and Museum were closed. All of the water was shut off and bathrooms were closed. Thankfully, they had portable restrooms available with hand sanitizer hanging outside.
The lack of water was a challenge we were not used to during our normal national park trips, but we had brought three gallons with us originally – having expected the shut off – and then we bought three gallons while we were there. Hydration is super important when camping, but specifically when you are at higher elevations and being active all day.
On one of our first hikes, a man said to us, "Take advantage of this and enjoy it because it's never like this."
We definitely enjoyed every second.On the first day, we left San Diego at 5 a.m. and drove seven hours through Nevada, Arizona and Utah to get to the park. It is free to get in right now, so we started our adventure right away.
We went to the Visitor's Center to get a map – there are some on the door even though the building is closed – and went on a tiny archeology trail to get our bearings of the park.
We were immediately stunned by the monumental rock features, towering above us. There were huge sheer rock towers everywhere. We drove on the road and had them follow us on each side. We could see the different rock layers, red, grey and brown with black mineral deposits flowing down the sides from all of the waterfalls. The rock was such a rich red, it was beautiful. We read on a plaque the rock was from the Jurassic period.On our drive through the park, there is a road split off which leads to a tunnel made in the 1930s. The separate highway is called Zion-Mount Carmel highway and once you go through the dark, old tunnel, there is a hike on the other side called Canyon Overlook Trail.
The trail itself was epic. It was on the edge of the the canyon, so you could look down right into the bottom of the canyon. Once we got to the outlook, it was gorgeous. You could go up to the edge of the cliff and look out over the expansive landscape.On the right and left side of the valley you look down on, massive sheer cliffs frame the pretty green valley.
After we played around on the pancake rocks a little – I called them pancake rocks during the trip because they looked stacked on top of each other – we decided it was a good time to go back and look for a camp spot.Pro tip: do not push your luck with time in a new environment. All the camping is closed in parks right now, so we were unsure where we would be able to camp. Starting early and being aware of potential solutions is important on these trips. From experience, we know there is free camping land usually about 30 min outside of parks.
We asked a ranger where that land was, and it is right outside of a small town called Virgin.
We drove out to Virgin and looked around for spots. It took us awhile, hence the reason to start earlier rather than later, but we snagged a perfect spot. It had a fire pit, and we built a bench out of rocks to sit next to it.
This campsite is totally different than any we have had because it was in a huge open expanse of land. There was no tree cover, rock over or anything, just wide open space. It made for beautiful sunsets.
After building a fire, cooking hot dogs and drinking beers on the top of my car for sunset, we closed up the car for the night. We were car camping because it's easier to deal with weather than in a tent.
Day two coming next!
