If you ever go to Vegas, either for fun, work or a convention, and after a few days feel like you need a break from all the over excitement; I encourage you to rent a car and do a day trip from Las Vegas to Zion National Park. This is what my photographer friend Patrycja and I did after several intensive days spent inside MGM Grand at the WPPI photography conference. Of course there is enough to see and do in Zion for an entire week (or longer) but I like to work with what is available and we only had one day to go there and back and return on time for an evening flight back home. This turned out to be another unbelievable day trip, totally worth the drive (you can read about our first day trip this year here).

We left Las Vegas early in the morning (about 6:15am) and after an easy drive (on Interstate 15 and Utah Hwy 9) arrived to the park at 9 am. Our first stop was at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center, we asked a ranger there what realistically can be done if we only have 5 and a half hours for our visit. We were up for some hiking and of course interested in the best photo spots, so he circled several locations on our map and suggested a few hiking trails. Since it was March we were still able to use our own car to explore the park, starting in April and through entire peak season the cars are not allowed in the canyon and you’d have to use free park shuttles. Zion Canyon Scenic Drive is about 8 mi long, and when you enter it you are immediately surrounded by towering cliffs and beautiful vistas around every corner. The scenery is like from a photographer’s dream but it was also quite challenging to capture the epic size of what we saw.

Here is a view behind Zion Human History Museum (the museum was closed when we were there).

Here is another view along the Scenic Drive – a set of cliffs called Court of the Patriarchs

We decided to park the car by Zion Lodge and hike the Emerald Pools Trails.  The path started along the Virgin River and was nice and easy. We were also pleasantly surprised by a waterfall near the lower pool. There was a part of a trail were it was “raining” pretty hard. It looked so pretty though…

Below is the vista from the second (middle) pool. The pool itself wasn’t as exciting as the view. We  were a little disappointed with the pools and considered skipping the last one. But a few hikers who were coming down assured us that the Upper Pool is spectacular and totally worth the longer hike. So we decided to persevere and kept climbing. The last part of the trail was quite strenuous but the natural beauty, multi-colored rocks and the light was so beautiful… The final pool again wasn’t as exciting as the soaring walls surrounding it, they were massive! I did my best to capture that on the camera (and Patrycja managed to capture me doing it) but I think that pictures can’t really do justice; you just have to be there yourself to experience the magnificence.

It took us an hour and a half to hike the Emerald Pools Trails (we did lower and upper pool) and at 11:15 we were back in the car ready to see more of the Zion Canyon. Our next stop was the Big Bend on the Virgin River. There is no good way to photograph the bend itself (unless you are somewhere high on the cliffs) but again the vista was spectacular.

After a few more stops on the way we arrived to the end of Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and decided to have our picnic lunch there (we had sandwiches and water with us) before starting another hike along the river. The Riverside Walk is a very easy, paved trail that follows the Virgin River along the bottom of a narrow canyon. There are quite a few places were you can access the river so you could also wade in water. We didn’t do it because the water was still very cold. Instead we admired the tall cliffs from the path and met several very friendly squirrels on the way, some almost too friendly…

Where the Riverside Walk ends another strenuous trail starts: The Narrows. The photos I found online and the description of the trail sounds absolutely amazing – spectacular gorge with steep walls (up to 2000 ft and at times only 20-30 feet wide), sandstone grottos and hanging gardens. The path itself though goes in the river and sometimes you even need to swim. I imagine how ecstatic my kids would be to explore that trail… Obviously we were not prepared for that so instead we just took a few photos at the path’s end and returned to the car, stopping along the way to admire the unreal cobalt blue sky, turquoise water and for even more photos, of course 🙂

With about one hour to spare, we decided to return to the Canyon Junction and then drive East through the tunnel to Canyon Overlook Trail.  We knew that there wasn’t enough time to complete the third hike so this was just sightseeing from the car. It turned out that Zion-Mount Carmel Hwy is VERY winding with several super sharp turns. The road is also quite narrow and you have to drive very close to the edge. That was almost too much for Patrycja who was driving. She is afraid of heights and  had to conquer her own fears to keep going forward. We couldn’t switch as there was nowhere safe to stop the car. After a scary road we reached a mile long and very dark tunnel and it was my turn to feel a little uneasy. When we finally came out on the other side we still had almost half hour left but after getting out of the car we decided it was enough adventure for one day. Below you can see the enormous cliff in which the tunnel is dug out and a small “window” that allows a little bit of sun light into it.

Even though we were short on time I am so glad we found the energy to do this day trip from Las Vegas to Zion National Park. It was an unforgettable experience. Zion is such a peaceful place, the natural beauty was at times almost overwhelming. You really must see it with your own eyes to get the magnificent scope of the Zion Canyon. We did just two hikes during our stay in this park, but there are so many more to choose from. I know I have to return there with my family and we’ll for sure stay several days to explore more.

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