All National Parks are not created equal. On a recent trip in a rental Winnebago from Blacksford RV in Las Vegas, we decided to visit the parks in Southwestern Utah. Our first stop was Zion National Park in Springdale, Utah.
I was shocked
Having driven miles and miles through many other National Parks, I was amazed that after waiting 20 minutes to enter the South Entrance, within a mile and a half, we were literally funneled through a series of hairpin turns (no long trailers allowed BTW), then a 20 minutes wait to drive
through a low tunnel, and then we were already heading back out the eastern side of the park. We missed all the big attractions. Bummer.
All the main attractions (circled in red) are available only to those who A) walk, B) wait, or C) bike. You did bring your bike on the airplane, didn’t you?
Let’s back up
As you are approaching Zion’s entrance, you’ll pass many parking lots in Springdale with signs warning you that there is extremely limited parking available in Zion National Park. You’ll also see signs for the free Springdale shuttle bus which will merely get you to the entrance of Zion National Park, whereupon you’ll have to change to the Zion shuttle to actually see the attractions.
If you are driving a vehicle over 11’4” and under 13’1”, you’ll need to pay an additional fee and get Ranger assistance to drive through the tunnel. Your other option, is to leave your vehicle at the visitor center at the entrance. Driving our Winnebago Solis Class-B, we were low enough to go through the tunnel without an issue and short enough (21 feet) to be able to grab most any available parking spot we saw.
We didn’t do enough advance planning.
We should have visited the Zion ‘Plan your Visit’ webpage first. Here, you’ll find daily closings and other emergency alerts, entrance fees, hours, regulations, and helpful maps. While you don’t need a reservation to get into Zion, you do need permits to hike some of the trails.
How about those A,B,C’s?
The great sights to see and the majority of the popular trails are all accessible only if you:
- Walk – but it’s six miles out and six miles back from Canyon Junction to get to the Temple of Sinawava (the end of the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive)
- Wait—the shuttles run every fifteen minutes, but the line to get on the shuttle can add 30 minutes or more each time you get off and get back on. (Don’t believe it? See below for PROOF!)
- Bike – Bikes and e-bikes are allowed on the Scenic Drive, but only e-bikes are allowed in the tunnel. Of the 13 trails within Zion, bikes are only allowed on the Pa’rus Trail, a 1.75-mile, paved level trail from the Visitor Center to the Canyon Junction.
The bottom line is that we were told that if we wanted to stop and take pictures at the main attraction areas and take the shuttle buses, we should expect to plan 4 to 6 hours or more, which, unfortunately, we hadn’t planned.
So, are there alternatives?
Turns out–there is. It’s the part of Zion that most people never see, and it’s called Kolob Canyons. It’s still part of Zion National Park, but it’s up in the northwestern part of the park, accessible by car or RV from Interstate 15 at exit 40.
It’s got similar rock formations, and nowhere near as busy as the Southern Entrance. There are no lines; just drive right in. There are multiple parking areas and three hiking trails, ranging from ½ hour to 8 hours round trip.
With our Class B Solis, we could park wherever we wanted; there was always room. We took advantage of the scenery and enjoyed lunch with this as our panoramic view.
I would have liked to see the rest of Zion, but it wasn’t a pretty day anyhow, and we sure didn’t want to wait in line for rides on the shuttle. We may try again, but next time we’ll budget a whole day just for that one area.
If you are thinking about traveling to Utah, I really recommend doing it in a small to medium-sized RV, which you can pick up in Las Vegas. Blacksford RV actually has two locations, one in Las Vegas and one in Bozeman, Montana, but they are also adding one in Phoenix starting in October 2024. Their service is top-notch, they provide everything you need, and we highly recommend them.
PROOF (from above) – See this picture of the lines at Zion
and read more from the accompanying story in the St. George News.
See our other article on the advantages of renting from Blacksford RV.
Disclosure: Thanks to Blacksford RV for providing us with use of the Winnebago Solis for this latest adventure. No compensation was involved, and the opinions expressed are, and always will be, strictly our own.
