Recently we did another epic road trip in the west coast from San Francisco Bay Area - Las Vegas- Zion National Park - Bryce Canyon National Park - Las Vegas - Death Valley National Park - San Francisco Bay Area all in 8 days over Thanksgiving week. Lot of hiking trails and lots of breathtaking scenery!!
Day 1
starting early morning from San Francisco Bay area to Las Vegas about 8 hours drive
drive was long but at least the view was nice
sunset
and had dinner at Tacos El Gordo.....a must try if you are in vegas. Tasty and good price my favorite would be the spicy pork taco yum
We stayed at the Flamingo hotel....the hotel room was a time capsule too...can't believed i still have to chance to see the old tv again...customer service was bad
never again will i go back there.
upon checking out we had subway for breakfast(we had alot of subway in this roadtrip) we drove about 3 hours + to Zion National Park
on they way form Las Vegas to Zion
lunch break with a view, i think it was @ Hurricane
almost there yippy
getting nearer
entrance fee to Zion National Park is $30/car valid for 7 days or one can just buy the annual pass which cost $80 valid to all National Parks in USA for a year (totally worth if you planning to visit more than 3 National Parks)
it was late November i think it's not really a peak season
how ever parking is quite limited here... also during weekend there are shutters(FREE of charge) to bring you around the park as many of the popular spots has really limited parking
popular spots
car parking at the visitor center. during peak season i think the parking is not enough
the shuttle bus it quite frequent. it takes about 45 minutes from the visitor center to the end of the stop which is the Temple of Sinawava
we only have few hours left, the ranger suggested to us to visit few easy trails,
Riverside walk @ Temple of Sinawava
2 miles long, easy trail
the trail ends at the river, but it was November and cold if you come prepared with a waterproof clothes(of rentals@ Springdale) and there is no flash floods you may be able to continue up in the Narrow(one of the must visit in Zion NP, very beautiful)
we were too late and it was either Angel's landing or this for the next day....we choose Angel's landing....oh well there's always next time!!!
next we stop ever at Big Ben
the view is simply spectacular
here looking up we can see the trail to Angel's Landing one of the popular trails in Zion NP
last on the Weeping Rock
there are several trials here we only went to the Weeping Rock trail which is the shortest.
There are East rim trail to the observation point and Hidden Canyon Trail(which i read, is highly recommended)if only we had more time!
a very short but slightly steep trail
the walk back down, beautiful view
while waiting for the shutter bus
it's getting dark
time to go back
by the time we reached the visitor center it was already dark and there was a massive traffic jam because of the road work in Springdale which make our supposed 20 minutes drive back(to an hour +) and we had to eat subway for dinner as it was strategically located when we were stuck) to our Hotel in La Verkin a town not too far from the NP, we wanted to lived near but the price was much higher. We Stayed @ Best Western Plus Zion West....very clean and nice and includes breakfast!! a good alternative if you want to save a few buck.
~ to be continue ~
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