October 2017

Dave’s edition of the “30/60 birthday tour” took us to several awesome locations throughout Utah and Arizona. My parents and Scottie got to join us for the Zion National Park leg of this trip, and then Dave and I went off on our own to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Page Arizona, and Bryce Canyon National Park. This is definitely one of the places we can’t wait to come back and spend more time exploring each location.

Accommodations:

• Salt Lake City, Utah: After our flight into Salt Lake City Dave and I spent a night at Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham before heading towards Zion the next morning. It was pretty standard (and free with Chase points) but I would recommend staying closer to downtown if you find yourself in Salt Lake City.
• Zion National Park, Utah: we rented an AirBnB in Apple Valley that was about a 45 minute drive away from the park. This place was great for the five of us, the rates were excellent, and the lack of light pollution at night was awesome for stargazing. There are several hotels and lodges much closer to the park, but there’s a trade off with space and budget to save time travelling to and from the park.
• Marble Canyon, Arizona: We stayed at Marble Canyon Lodge, about 30 minutes outside of Page, Arizona. There’s not a whole lot to the lodge, but it is in a really cool location and was also free using Chase points. Next time, I think we would stay in Page, Arizona for proximity to Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and Lake Powell.

Tours and Activities: You could spend a week in Zion National Park and still have new trails to explore. We only had two full days, so we opted for the Narrows day hike on day one, and the Emerald Pools on day two. The Narrows is one of the coolest experiences and I highly recommend it. The trail basically is the river and you walk in anywhere from ankle height to chest height water as far in as you want, then turn around and come back. You’re surrounded by awesome scenery and towering canyon walls the whole time. The Emerald Pools were a nice change of pace the second day as we were a bit sore and still tired from the Narrows the day before. For those with a strong sense of adventure, Angel’s Landing would be a good alternative for your second day hiking option.

Our next leg took us on a scenic drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, with a stop at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes along the way. If we had more time, we likely would have stayed overnight and done some hiking, but it was the last day the North Rim accommodations were open for the season, so we ended up having a relaxing afternoon enjoying the views and a cold drink from the overlook patios at the Grand Canyon Lodge.

Outside of the Narrows hike, Page Arizona was the highlight of our trip. We spent the morning admiring Horseshoe Canyon before heading to our afternoon tour of Lower Antelope Canyon. I highly recommend a trip to Page just for these two sites; they are unlike anything I have ever seen. We also spent a little bit of time at Lake Powell which I think would be a fun place to go in the summer to spend some time out on the water.

We had a red-eye flight out of Salt Lake City, so we took our time heading back to the airport on our last day. Bryce Canyon was on our way and we swung through for a couple hours, which isn’t nearly enough time. Next time we would like to spend a couple days at Bryce Canyon and more time exploring other National Parks in Utah.