Zion
Zion National Park was Utah's first National Park and a 20 minute drive from Hurricane. It was the off season so the shuttles weren't running, so we drove right in.
The town of Springdale outside of the Park was still sleepy.
The parking lot for the Emerald Pools Trail was empty when we arrived. Score! We had hiked this trail on a previous visit and it was still a nice walk.
Emerald Pools is a Zion classic. The hike is a collection of short trails that meander past a small, lushly-vegetated stream that rolls down from the cliffs and forms several interesting "pools."
MIDDLE EMERALD POOLS: Beyond the alcove, the trail gets more difficult and steps up and around to bring you on top of the cliff that you just walked under. The middle "pools" are the streams that form the waterfalls.
LOWER EMERALD POOLS: The trail makes its way along a tall alcove under two tall waterfalls and the pools below.
UPPER EMERALD POOL: The final stretch is a sandy quarter mile to get to the final pool at the base of the 300-foot cliffs above. Most of the time, you can usually see a faint waterfall coming from the mouth of Heaps Canyon far above. But not today.
Standing above lower pools.
Pioneer Park
Across the highway north of St George is the 52 acre Pioneer Park popular with rock climbers and mountain bikers. But it gave us an easy 5 mile walk above the city and plenty of picture taking options.
Tortoises are hibernating right now but are protected when they are out and about march thru December.
