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Thursday, April 24, 2014

Zion National Park for Families


Zion National Park is located Southwestern Utah close to the Arizona and Nevada borders. It is about 2 1/2 hours from Las Vegas (where we began this trip) and one of the major attractions along the "Grand Tour Circle" which includes Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon (still on my list of places to visit).

This was our first real hiking trip as family and we didn't know what to expect. Even though we did enough research about kid-friendly trails beforehand, any wise parent knows that traveling with children includes unexpected turn of events such as carsick kids, uncooperative weather, toilet disasters, sudden tantrums, broken equipment and forgotten items among a list of others.

We believe traveling provides one of the best real-life education for kids and do our best to travel every chance we can get. It can get costly to travel as family but if planned carefully and properly, it doesn't have to break a bank. Plus, sharing memories and exploring new places together as family are priceless, as we get to learn more about the world and each other in ways otherwise not possible. Thus far, traveling has one of the best investments for our growing family.

We left Las Vegas at about 6 am and arrived at Zion National Park at about 11 am. The drive took little over 2 1/2 hours but we stopped at Black Bear Diner in St. George for breakfast (a good option for families, plus it's right off the freeway) and a few places for snacks and gas.


The obligatory family picture by the Zion Park sign

ENTRANCE


Once we arrived, we learned that we are unable to drive freely throughout the park. Unless you are an overnight camper with a special red permit, you must park your car in Springdale town or in the parking lot by the visitor center, which is located right by the entrance to the right. We were fortunate enough to find parking inside but parking can get tough around mid-afternoon so be prepared to walk and take the shuttle bus from town if needed.

Parking is $25 for one week.

The Zion Canyon Shuttle system alleviates parking problems for visitors as well as conserving the roads and natural environments of the park. I personally found it very convenient- as you can find a shuttle at any stop once every 7 minutes or so.

Zion Shuttle Stops



nps.gov

WHERE TO START

The Visitor Center is a good place to start. There are restrooms, shops and displays of pictures and information about the national park. We took the shuttle from here to the last stop: Temple of Sinawava for the kid-friendly Riverside trail. I noticed most people got off at later stops too, starting from Zion Lodge where restaurants, shops and rest areas are located.

I believe this is the easiest scenic trail in the park as it is straight and flat with roads large enough for wheelchair and stroller access. In fact, I was surprised to see so many people with young children and babies on this trail. So don't worry, this trail is so fun and easy---perfect for families with young children, even babies as long as you're equipped with a jogging stroller or one of those baby carrying backpacks.

TRAIL 1: RIVERSIDE WALK (GATEWAY TO THE "NARROWS") 



On the Riverside Trail

Sorry strangers, but you looked cool between the tree.

Hungry squirrel who wasn't fazed by my camera lens.

Look at this adorable squirrel...they were everywhere! The visitors must be very friendly to these animals because they don't seem fearful of humans at all. Or perhaps they were just hungry....

A squirrel and my cute daughter in one picture. Heaven.

Thank you stranger for our non-blurry family picture

The fearless explorer

This trail is flat and easy yet very scenic. It is surrounded by majestic rock formations, lush greenery and kid-friendly streams that run placidly along the side.

April seems to be a perfect time to visit this park because the weather was absolutely gorgeous in the 70's- warm yet breezy and never hot.

Young kids should not go past this point

This is the end of the Riverside walk and beginning of the Narrows. I really wanted to go all the way inside but it would've been impossible with the kids. Plus we weren't properly equipped with the right shoes and hiking sticks. If you're going to challenge yourself to this trail, be sure to pack an extra pair of water shoes and use good judgement as flash floods can occur during certain seasons.


Next time for sure!

TRAIL 2: EMERALD POOLS


Because the Riverside trail was fairly easy for us and the kids, we decided to challenge ourselves to a more difficult trail- Emerald Pools. After taking the shuttle back to Zion Lodge, we took a short break and ate lunch. Their lunch was actually very impressive, much better than the overpriced junk they sell at amusement parks (yes you, Disneyland) and other family destinations. We had a cheeseburger (yummy), a hotdog (so-so), cheese pizza (yummy) and french fries (my ultimate weakness). For dessert, the kids enjoyed their fruit parfait and vanilla soft serve while I treated myself to a nice cold beer...and it was one of the best cold beers I've had in a long time! ;)


View to the right

Look, a deer looking right at me!

On our way to the lower pool

View from the lower pool: so majestic and serene

This is the "I'm on top of the world" pose

Just a little more, soldiers.

Sweating, panting and one girl is still posing

Emerald Pools: Kid friendly?

This trail is supposedly "kid-friendly" but I'm not sure if its suitable for younger children and toddlers. Some of the roads leading to the middle and upper pools were very narrow and steep, a little scary for young kids as well as supervising parents. We had to make sure dad led the way and I stayed behind both my kids. There is red sand everywhere and wet areas along the pools so hiking shoes are a must.

If you have young toddlers and babies in strollers, I suggest you stop at the lower pool. Once you continue up to the middle and upper pools, it's difficult to get back down. I don't understand why this trail is considered to be "family friendly" because this can be misleading for new visitors. So parents if you have toddlers and babies, hike only to the lower pool which of course, is more than worthwhile. We even spotted a deer along the way!

Also, notice the chuck taylors on my daughters? This is how clueless we were about hiking... so LA and naive (sorry kids). In fact, we never imagined our kids would have so much fun hiking and didn't bother investing in hiking shoes for them or myself.  The chucks were fine for the flat Riverside trail but the girls definitely needed something more substantial and rugged for Emerald Pools.

Thankfully our girls were troopers and their shoes held up fine but I'm definitely purchasing real hiking shoes for our next hiking/camping trip.

Unfortunately, I don't have too many pictures of the more difficult parts of the trail-- I was too busy watching over the girls and panting (lol) to get out my huge camera for more pictures.


Middle Emerald Pools

So about 1.5 miles of hiking up to the Middle Emerald Pools, this is where we ended up. Ta dah~~~~ NOT! This trail was steep, at about 200 ft elevation. It was difficult to get up here, we were sweaty and dirty and I was scared for my kids' safety at some parts of the trail yet we kept going keeping our eyes on the prize.

Quite frankly, Middle Emerald Pools was disappointing and not worth the long, windy and steep hike. Once I reached the pool I was thinking.....What..this is it?? It's way nicer down there!

(I later learned that the middle pool is the least interesting, and we should've just hiked up to the upper pools. Oh well, another lesson learned. This is why thorough research is necessary. Oops!)

But of course I hid my disappointment for the kids because to them, this place too, was amazing and I didn't want to ruin their proud moment. After all, they fought their way all the way up with their tiny legs to reach this destination, and that's all that really mattered.

After a few pictures and about 5 minutes of rest, it was time to hike back down. By then I was tired and couldn't wait to get back down to the car but the girls must've been on an adrenaline rush because they wanted to keep going!

It's a good thing we suggested to hike back down because by the time we reached the bridge by the entrance, my poor T finally began to show signs of being tired.

......and we made it! We calculated the distance of the two trails both ways and we hiked a total of 5.2 miles this day. What a huge accomplishment for our first experience!

There were things I would've done differently, like buying hiking shoes for the entire family (only my husband had a pair), packing more healthy snacks beforehand (we only had some beef jerkey and popcorn from last minute pitstops- not enough), not letting my older daughter carry her Hello Kitty purse up to the canyon (thank goodness it wasn't heavy) and not letting my younger daughter carry her stuffed animals in her backpack. (Isn't it amazing what we parents sometimes allow our children to do, even though we know it's a bad idea?)

Overall, this was an awesome day trip and one of the best times we had as family. Being surrounded by nature is always therapeutic and calming, and accomplishing a common goal together as family proved to be an excellent way to bring us even closer.

Also, hiking is an amazing physical, mental and spiritual exercise for adults and children, and even my young daughters seemed to understand the beauty and charm behind this popular activity.



Here is a quick list of what to pack

1. Water (We only had one bottle each which was enough because weather was nice. However for summer, I'd bring two bottles per person)
2. Sunscreen
3. Hat
4. Hiking sticks (a must, especially for the more strenuous hikes)
5. Snacks (Next time I would pack healthier snacks like fruits, nuts & sandwiches).
6. Hiking shoes for the whole family
7. Hiking socks (for comfort & protection)
8. Extra clothes (In case you get too dirty, sweaty or wet)
9. Water shoes (If you plan to go in the water)
10. Towel 
11. First aid kit (Neosporin, bandaid, disinfectant spray etc-- we used ours)

All in TWO sturdy backpacks with lots of pockets- one for mom, one for dad simply because it makes life much easier with multiple children.




WHAT TO WEAR


I was glad I didn't put shorts on the girls because there were moments when they fell and their long pants prevented their knees from getting scraped. I too, was wearing capri yoga pants which turned out to be a good decision because I ended up with scratches here and there on my legs. I envision summer time would be too hot for longer pants, but for spring & fall, breathable longer pants proved to have its benefits over shorts.

Also be sure to dress in LAYERS- as temperature can slightly change depending on the trails, shade availability and time of day.

CONCLUSION


Two trails were enough for one day and I don't think we could've done anymore with or without kids. After about 4 hours of hiking, we drove 2.5 hours back to Las Vegas, ordered room service and fell asleep on our comfortable beds.

I never considered myself an outdoor type of person so I wasn't quite sure how this hiking day trip would turn out. I might hate it, the kids might hate it, and this could've been our first and last time at a famous national park.

Despite my reservations, this was an amazing and therapeutic experience and a memorable Spring break vacation. I'm not sure if I'd return during summer because hiking in the hot summer heat would be dreadful but I'd definitely return in Spring and fall to explore more trails.

Next destination on list: Sequoia National Park!





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