Zion National Park Off The Beaten Path

A little over 80 miles north east of Zion is Bryce Canyon National Park. Here you will see some awe-inspiring landscapes. Hoodoos, pillar of rocks that have been formed by erosion rise skyward in fantastic shapes. Many of these are a beautiful red color and cover the landscape for miles. If you only drive over to Bryce for the day take the scenic drive, stopping at the look out points, it will be well worth your time. If you can, take a hike down into the Hoodoos for the full impact of their size and beauty. This park holds some of the most interesting and beautiful views I have ever seen, try not to miss it.

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The Wild West is synonymous with Ghost Towns and Zion has one, conveniently a short drive away. Grafton traces its origin to 1859 when its fertile surroundings gave birth to a cotton industry despite local Indian attacks. It seems the Indians liked the place too and for good reason; it's a gorgeous area with a good water source. Evidently the settlers won out and the town thrived until the 1930s. What you see now is a skeleton of its former glory but a nice step back in time including a simple old church.

Access Grafton via Route 9 from the west entrance to the park. We stopped here on our way back from our backpacking trip on the West Rim so can easily be combined with a trip to either of the Kolob areas.

The Kolob Terrace section of the park is probably its most remote part of Zion due to the 36 mile winding road to access Lava Point, the area's core. The drive itself is breathtaking and there are numerous trails into very little traveled wilderness like Wildcat Canyon and the West Rim trail. Please plan ahead as there are no facilities in this part of the park. The primitive campground at Lava Point only has pit toilets and no running water. Check for opening as this part of the park is much higher in elevation and is not open in winter. We saw quite a bit of snow even in May.

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We didn't see much wild life during our seven days at Zion, even in the back country but the wild turkey was ever present and it seems in mating season while there. Of course, the ubiquitous squirrels were always the lookout for a handout. Don't feed the cute little buggers, please.

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As I'm sure Native Americans named the beautiful rock formations before them, Mormon settlers had some interesting if a bit zealously religious names for many of them. Zion conveniently has signs everywhere detailing their names as well as information about the formations themselves. The West Temple and the Towers of the Virgin are some of the most famous. Capturing them in perfect light is quite tricky as the canyon is steep so early and late morning light also produces a fair amount of shadow.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Grafton is its very atmospheric cemetery. Inscriptions on the graves tell a sad story of harsh frontier life where children often died young as well as proof of a bloody Indian-settler dispute over who had rights to the land.

The Kolob Canyon section of Zion National Park is a great place to escape the crowds in Zion Valley. This colorful and more serene area offers a near empty scenic drive and some lengthy hikes such as the one to the 14-mile round trip to Kolob Arch which I did as a day hike in 1995. This arch is the second longest free standing arch in the world next to Landscape Arch in Arches National Park. We contemplated doing this as an overnight hike to get better light on the Arch but the lack of water for drinking/cooking put a damper on our desires and after completing the West Rim hike from Lava Point in the nearby Kolob Terrace section of the park, we decided to move on. The Kolob Canyon is 90 minutes from the south entrance of Zion National Park.

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Here we go !! finally we got the springs... i was quite disappointed.. i was expecting huge waterfalls and a place different to this.. but thats life.. !! Actually the stream and the trail follows river up but i reckoned it was enough and if i was worried a little bit to get wet going up...i descended the river to get to starting point so fast and regardless crossing the river and forgetting my initial worries... It was one of my best experiences crossing America.. proud of it !