Zion National Park

I arrived just as the leaves finished changing color and began to fall. Visiting this park felt like a dream come true, and I was here at one of the prettiest times.

When I started planning my RV journey, I made a tentative plan to work through National Parks and get to Zion, which felt far enough away from home to feel like a real accomplishment. This accomplishment became even sweeter when I saw how beautiful it was, had a few visitors, and landed a lottery ticket to hike Angel's Landing.

Zion has a shuttle service that runs through the main road of the park (Zion Canyon Scenic Drive), which will take you to most of the main hiking areas. Cars are not permitted here during shuttle service hours, but you can still drive into the entrance and follow Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. This is a beautiful route that takes you through a tunnel on the side of the mountain to the other side of the park.

With numerous trails available in large parks like this one, having explored most of this park, I'm confident you likely can't make a wrong choice. Here is a list of all the trails I completed, some solo and some with friends or family.

Accessible via shuttle: Zion Grotto Trail, Zion Narrows Riverwalk, Emerald Pools, & Angels Landing

Accessible via Kolob Canyon: Timber Creek Overlook & Double Arch via Middle Fork Taylor Creek Trail

Accessible via Zion-Mount Carmel Highway: East Rim Trail

Zion Grotto Trail	1.2 miles	62 ft elevation gain
Timber Creek Overlook	1.2 miles	259 ft elevation gain
Zion Narrows Riverwalk	1.9 miles	193 ft elevation gain
Emerald Pools	2.9 miles	567 ft elevation gain
Angels Landing	4.3 miles	1,827 ft elevation gain
Double Arch via Middle Fork Taylor Creek Trail	5 miles	620 ft elevation gail
East Rim Trail	10.2 miles (we did 3 miles)	???

Emerald Pools

Angels Landing

Zion National Park

Emerald Pools Angel's Landing Fall Colors

My first day in the park, I checked out the Emerald Pools, which were not emerald when I arrived, and the water was very low. You can see multiple pools if you do the whole trail, but beware, it is BUSY! The next weekend, I was lucky enough to win the lottery to hike Angels Landing and made a friend along the way. Angels Landing was a very cool hike, but if you're scared of hights, there is a chain section which may be nerve wracking. If you have this fear, you can still hike to the top of the Walter Wiggles (switchbacks) and get about the same view.

Me, Mom, & Duane The Narrows Riverwalk Tunnel in the Mountain

My mom and Duane came to visit for Thanksgiving, and we checked out every area of Zion! We took the shuttle (which was way busier than you'd expect on Thanksgiving), drove up the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway (through the side of the mountain!), and checked out Kolob Canyon. We did a lot of hiking and even found some slot canyons to walk through. Seeing family after being away for 3 months was so wonderful, and I loved getting to share a slice of my new life with the people who helped make it happen.

When I mentioned to my friend Faith that I'd be in Zion in November, she let me know she was planning a trip there for her birthday. It felt like fate that she hadn't booked accommodations yet, and I invited her to stay with me. I was working while she was there, so I couldn't do a ton of exploring with her, but we did the Double Arch trail, which was not busy and, overall, underrated. She was the first person to visit and stay in the camper with me.

Overall, Zion National Park was everything I'd dreamed it would be and more. Seeing a river run through what is generally considered a desert paints a picture the mind won't soon forget. This was the first park where I completed hikes rated on AllTrails as "hard," and I walked through a lot of streams to test the waterproofness of my boots (they did great). I gained a lot of confidence in my hiking abilities here and had the pleasure of seeing some familiar faces- I will definitely be back!