Start Location: Panguitch, NM
Ending Location: Panguitch, NM
Miles Today: 148
Trip Miles: 2706
States Visited: 7
National Parks Visited: 3
Low Temp: 57.1° F
High Temp: 101.5° F
Min Elevation: 3907'
Max Elevation: 7473'
Route Map:
White Sands 2024 Day09
Today was the day to visit Zion National Park and it was an excellent
day. We saw parts of the park that we have never really seen before. In
the past we have always gone in through Springdale which is just
outside the Visitor Center Entrance. It's a small town with a main
street that's composed of hotels, restaurants, gift shops, and all of
the other things associated with National Parks these days. Instead we
went in through the east entrance which is around 12 miles from the
Visitor Center. That 12 mile ride was magnificent. We road through a
mile long tunnel bored through solid rock as well as another shorter
tunnel. We also road through a number of switchbacks which took us from
almost 6,000 feet to around 4,000 feet at the canyon floor. The whole
time you had amazing views of the towering cliffs in blends of red,
purple, brown, and almost pure white colors. It was hard to keep an eye
on the road.
When
we got to the Visitor Center, we road around a very large parking lot
several times just looking for a parking spot along with dozens of
other cars. Then we realized that the overflow lot for trailers and
buses had an area dedicated for motorcycles which was very convenient.
We parked there and headed back to the Visitor Center to figure out a
plan. We ended up taking about a 3/4 mile hike to the museum where the
theater and park movie were playing. After that it was back to the
Visitor Center for some lunch. After lunch we boarded the shuttle which
is the oily way to see the main part of the park any more. We did
a full loop but only stopped at a few stops. By that time we were both
very hot and still feeling the effects of the hike yesterday. One more
quick stop at the Visitor Center and then we headed back to our hotel.
There
were a lot of people in the park - more than Bryce canyon and it was
significantly hotter. We weren't convinced we wanted to stop at Zion
but, in the end, were glad we did.
No pictures on the map
but we did take quite a few and, like the pictures from Bryce, we will
add them to a web album as we have time.
