We were happy to leave Las Vegas behind as we headed north on I-15. Our next stop was Zion National Park. That drive through the Nevada desert is pretty desolate. It was also fairly smoky the day we were there. It isn’t until you cut through the tiny northwest corner of Arizona and then cross over into Utah that the landscape and the scenery are interesting again.
The drive from our hotel to the Zion National Park Visitor Center was less than 3 hours. In 2017 we heard the cost of buying a Lifetime America the Beautiful National Park Pass for Seniors was going from $10 to $80. So, anticipating retirement, and planning to buy a travel trailer, we each bought a pass while they were still very inexpensive.
In 2023, when we were on our Panama Canal Cruise, we visited the San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico. It’s an old fort that is part of the U.S. National Park system. Not realizing we might need those national park passes on a cruise, we didn’t bring them so we were fully prepared to pay the $10 each entry fee.
We mentioned at the ticket booth that we had America the Beautiful passes at home, but we were both veterans (there was a discount, I think). The very helpful staff said that as veterans we were eligible for FREE Military Veteran National Park Passes and they could issue them on the spot. We objected a little because we already have 2 lifetime passes, but they were insistent that we should get them because, after all, they’re FREE! Perhaps they got some kind of reward for issuing them. We relented and took them up on the offer. Those Military Veteran Passes mean more to both of us than the America the Beautiful passes. We sure have gotten the value out of those passes on this trip.
Few cars are permitted on the roads in Zion. Instead, there’s a free shuttle from the Visitor Center that stops at all the major scenic points. You can hop on and off at will. It’s possible to hike trails in the park, some of which are much easier than others. Everywhere you look is a magnificent visual treat. What nature has wrought in that part of the country is just so beautiful. I won’t even try to describe it, and the pictures surely don’t do it justice. But it’s awe-inspiring. In places it’s so awesome it looks more like a matte painting.
I saw 2 of my favorite “things” of the trip so far in the Zion gift shop. One was a t-shirt that said “Lose Reception, Gain Perspective.” It struck me as so profound, and so true. Many of us have lives that are chained (figurately) to the skinny little computer we carry around in our pocket these days. Except at the Visitor Center, there was no cell reception anywhere (that I could tell) in the park. It’s so freeing even though you still carry it as your camera. Being disconnected from “the network” gives you the opportunity to connect back to everything natural. If you stop and really ponder how teeny-tiny we are here in God’s great universe, it’s humbling and joyous. The things that seem so big in our lives are pretty dang small when you’re standing next to the towering, magnificently beautiful, massive, ages-old rocks of Zion National Park.
Zion is an ancient Hebrew word that means sanctuary, refuge or peaceful place. Mormon pioneers gave the area this name in the late 1800s, feeling the majestic canyons provided a sacred haven for both wildlife and humans. It’s fitting that there’s no cell reception there to keep it that way, even in 2025. And when you stop to really listen in the park, you hear what peace sounds like.
My other favorite thing was a postcard that simply said, Utah Rocks, with pictures of…well, Utah rocks. We had no idea that Utah (most of it as it turns out) is such a stunning state, visually.
Leaving the park we drove the Zion-Mt Caramel Highway which features six switchbacks, a tunnel that’s more than a mile long and is said to be an engineering marvel. At one point we were stopped in a line of cars waiting for a herd of lollygagging big horn sheep to cross the highway. They were definitely in no hurry and not at all intimidated by the human traffic that uses their habitat. That highway had more incredible, but different, rock formations, the likes of which we’ve never seen in person before. It’s indescribable. You have to see it for yourself.
Put Zion National Park on your bucket list if you’ve never been there.
We stayed that night in a delightful little motel called Mountain Ridge Cabins and Lodging in Hatch, UT. The owners of this former RV park really put a lot of thought and effort into making their guests comfortable for a very affordable price in that area. The next morning, we drove into Bryce Canyon National Park.
I hadn’t done much research into either Zion or Bryce Canyon. When Dave told me that in Zion you’re looking UP at the rocks, but at Bryce Canyon, you look DOWN at them, I was surprised. They’re close together geographically, but a totally different geological experience. You drive into the entrance of Bryce Canyon wondering what the heck all the buzz is about. Not much to see there after Zion the previous day.
But gosh, Bryce Canyon is just as magnificent, in a totally different way. Their motto is “HooDoo You Love” because the rock formations in this picture are called HooDoos. We drove the entire 18 mile stretch of Bryce Canyon and back in our own vehicles on the advice of the park rangers who said we’d see more that way than riding their shuttle. And we did. You have to get out of your car and go to the scenic overlooks to actually see what Bryce is all about. Again, it’s stunning and spectacular, and words can’t describe the beauty of what nature can do to rock. We stopped and ate lunch out of the electric coolers we bought for this trip at a roadside picnic table but had to cut that short when it began to rain on us.
Finally, we decided our cups were overflowing with the visual magnificence of God’s creation. We took enough pictures (thank God for digital cameras and SD cards!) for lifetime memories. And we were exhausted, ready for a couple of less active days, so we climbed in the cars and headed north again.
Next up we reconnected with one of our forever friends who now lives near Salt Lake City. And visiting with forever friends is part of the main reason for this Epic 50th Anniversary Grand Adventure Road Trip. You’ll meet our friend, Brian, in Friday’s post.
P.S. The night of the Bryce Canyon day, we stayed in a hotel that was unforgettable (not in a good way) and in a town (Scipio, UT) where the only pizza we would get was from Subway (also unforgettable, not in a good way). Pro tip: Don’t ever spend a night in Scipio, UT, unless you have absolutely no other choice.
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