Anonymous wrote:Op here. Just posting an update for the PP who wanted tips. Fantastic trip. We loved all the parks. We started at Zion and ended at Canyonlands/Dead Horse. We came into every park around 4 or 5 to get oriented and maybe do a short hike and then returned the next morning. This timing worked as we saw the parks in both late afternoon and early light.
Zion: only park where we experienced crowds. We mostly avoided them by starting early. We drove to the visitor center at 7:30 before the lot was full (around 8, we heard) and got the shuttle from there. The town shuttle started a full hour later than the park shuttle and didn’t run that often so we decided to take our chances on getting parking at the visitor center. The park shuttle runs every few minutes! I had imagined that I would be hanging out waiting for it each time. Not so. There’s a steady stream. We did Riverwalk and Emerald Pools via the Kayenta trails. Hiking between 8:30 and 11:30 was great, but then suddenly it was chockablock on the trail around noon and we decided to forgo the upper pool because it got so busy. We ate lunch at the lodge and then left the park for the day around 1:30/2. As we left the visitor center there was a crowd waiting for a shuttle to get into the park. We felt we timed it right. Driving the Mount Carmel road just before sunset was great. We spotted bighorn sheep on both occasions that we were on the road, including at the Canyon Overlook Trail. (Another good one for later light.) one thing we didn’t do was to rent e-bikes and bike the Pa’rus Trail at sunset. This is where you can get a good look at the Watchman. I walked on the trail a bit from Canyon Junction Bridge. It’s really nice. I’d recommend it. It’s also short enough that you could walk it.
I would recommend being in Arches for late light. We found some vistas to be so much more striking in the deep oranges of that time. I was concerned about the strenuous rating in the Delicate Arch hike. It was totally doable and moderate. The ranger says the rating mostly applies in summer because it’s totally exposed and the rock underfoot heats up.
If you are near Boulder, I would recommend driving some of the Burr Trail. We drove 18 miles on it (all paved). It was some of the most stunning scenery we saw on the trip. Stop at Singing Canyon along the way.
Don’t skip Dead Horse. It’s a great complement to Canyonlands. Enjoy!
Thank you for this! I was the PP who asked, we're leaving Sunday and still narrowing down our itinerary so this is very helpful. The plan is to start with Zion so very good to know about the crowds.
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