Zion National Park

[LuciousBDragon]

Not yet, but the wife (no pick) comments on it every time we've gone past it. Is it as good as advertised?

I think it is one of those places where you come for the pie but you stay for the giant bazongas on the sign.

 

[markfromj]

....showed a mass of people standing near the Arch in Arches.

FIFY.

 

[anon_b29nm7v7dwp6r]

Are we really complaining about the people flocking to the national parks? So long as they don’t destroy them, this doesn’t seem like a problem to me….in fact it’s great to see Americans realizing what treasures we have here.

Unless you don’t want to hang out with all of us “poors” then sure that’s probably a big problem…

 

[goldmom]

FIFY.

Thank you!

 

[Pepperman]

I’ll certainly be investigating Big Bend as it looks awesome too.

FTR, you don’t have to do the full Angel’s Landing hike to enjoy Zion. My wife and daughter didn’t do it and both loved Zion

one thing however - if you have time to plan a proper stay, you MUST stay at the Lodge in Zion. It’s a lousy hotel for the price but it’s great to be staying inside the park.

 

[FSUTribe76]

Great stuff about Big Bend NP.

Update:

We went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and it was fantastic. We got there early, before 8 AM local time, mainly because AZ doesn't observe daylight savings time so we gained an hour on our trip. We went to the major stops along the way and generally were the only people there. Even later in the day the crowds were sparse. In fact, the only place we saw a large number of people was at the visitor center but I wouldn't call it overcrowded. Not much hiking here (just a few short walks). It's just too scary worrying about my kids. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The next day we hit Bryce in the morning to early afternoon. I loved this park. We got there around 8:30 and were able to find parking fairly easily. Everyone said to be there before 10 and that was good advice. Once we were in the park and parked we were able to take the trails and use the shuttles without much of a problem at all. There were a lot of people there and we certainly weren't alone on the trails but it wasn't annoying. If a big group came by we would just wait for them to pass and continue on. You can put me on Team Bryce. I enjoyed my time there more than Zion.

Wait, but I didn't get to see much of Zion, right? Well au contraire, mes amis. On advice from articles and a tip from a friend we went back to Zion in the afternoon. We got there at about 2:30 and sure enough, there were no lines to get on the shuttle or anywhere else in the park. I liked Zion well enough and it is a unique desert river environment but it seems to really get the Holy Crap! experience you need to go to Angel's Landing and, well, I'm just too old for that crap anymore. I'm ok climbing mountains and walking a few miles but 1500 ft climb and 5.5 miles round trip is too much for me. Congrats if you can do it though, it sounds terrifying at the top. The part of Zion I actually like the most is the stuff on the Eastern side of the tunnel. I think it's the same reason I like Bryce better as well. The science nerd in me loves looking at the geology of the region and I just find the sandstone formations on the Eastern side of the park more interesting. Just like Iooking at all the hoodoos in Bryce. Bottom line, if you want to visit Zion, either get there before 6AM or after 2 PM. Fortunately it was pretty cloudy for us so the temperature didn't get much above 90 for us. Zion can be really hot in the afternoon (hence why the crowds go down).

Big Bend is by far the most underrated NP in the system, especially when it is fully open with a great lodge for food (the elk chili is amazing) and hotel stays plus has the local hot springs open for visitors to relax in. I highly recommend it, it’s like Zion but with a fifth of the visitors spread out over a park that is four times as large.

For my rankings of the National Parks (and I haven’t been to the majority of the Alaskan parks, American Samoa, Crater Lake, Cuyahoga, Indiana Dunes, Isle Royale, Theodore Roosevelt, Voyaguers, Wind Cave or the Virgin Islands, but I have been to all of the Hawaiian and the rest of the contiguous US National Parks) I would rank them like this.

Top 5 Underrated National Parks
1) Big Bend
2) Great Sand Dunes
3) Everglades
4) White Sands
5) Canyonlands specifically the Island in the Sky section

Top 5 National Parks Regardless of Hype
1) Yellowstone
2) Yosemite
3) Grand Canyon
4) Bryce Canyon
5) Acadia

Bottom Five Worst National Parks
1) Congaree
2) Guadalupe Mountains
3) Joshua Tree
4) Great Basin
5) Zion

Top Five National Monuments, National Seashores and National Wildlife Refuges that Should Be Given National Park Status
1) Key West Coral Reef National Wildlife Refuge
2) Dinosaur National Monument
3) Gulf Islands National Seashore
4) Cumberland Island National Seashore
5A) Muir Woods National Monument
5B) Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Top Five State Parks that should be made into National Parks
1) Niagara Falls, NJ
2) Goblin Valley, UT
3) DuPont, NC
4) Valley of Fire, NV
5A) Julia Pfeiffer Burns, CA
5B) Bahia Honda, FL

 

[BioHawk]

Big Bend is by far the most underrated NP in the system, especially when it is fully open with a great lodge for food (the elk chili is amazing) and hotel stays plus has the local hot springs open for visitors to relax in. I highly recommend it, it’s like Zion but with a fifth of the visitors spread out over a park that is four times as large.

For my rankings of the National Parks (and I haven’t been to the majority of the Alaskan parks, American Samoa, Crater Lake, Cuyahoga, Indiana Dunes, Isle Royale, Theodore Roosevelt, Voyaguers, Wind Cave or the Virgin Islands, but I have been to all of the Hawaiian and the rest of the contiguous US National Parks) I would rank them like this.

Top 5 Underrated National Parks
1) Big Bend
2) Great Sand Dunes
3) Everglades
4) White Sands
5) Canyonlands specifically the Island in the Sky section

Top 5 National Parks Regardless of Hype
1) Yellowstone
2) Yosemite
3) Grand Canyon
4) Bryce Canyon
5) Acadia

Bottom Five Worst National Parks
1) Congaree
2) Guadalupe Mountains
3) Joshua Tree
4) Great Basin
5) Zion

Top Five National Monuments, National Seashores and National Wildlife Refuges that Should Be Given National Park Status
1) Key West Coral Reef National Wildlife Refuge
2) Dinosaur National Monument
3) Gulf Islands National Seashore
4) Cumberland Island National Seashore
5) Muir Woods National Monument

Top Five State Parks that should be made into National Parks
1) Niagara Falls, NJ
2) Goblin Valley, UT
3) DuPont, NC
4) Valley of Fire, NV
5A) Julia Pfeiffer Burns, CA
5B) Bahia Honda, FL

Great info, but I'm surprised by Everglades. What is there to do there besides get on an airboat and drive around?

 

[FSUTribe76]

Great info, but I'm surprised by Everglades. What is there to do there besides get on an airboat and drive around?

There are several walkways, viewpoints and hikes, especially the Anhinga Trail, that are a birdwatchers/nature lovers paradise. The walkways in and around the Flamingo visitor center are one of the only spots to see the very rare American Crocodile (American Alligators are a dime a dozen, but the Crocs are both shy and not very common). Up in Shark Valley, not only are there trams taken out into the swamp where you can see tons of Gators and other wildlife plus those same trails can be walked (carefully as large Gators are about) and are a fantastic place to hunt for Megalodon and other ancient shark teeth. And there’s unrestricted hunting for iguana and python which are quite fun (and tasty). While the regular fishing for largemouth and peacock bass plus speckled perch, shellcracker and bluegills is fantastic, what’s really amazing is the bow fishing for blue and spotted tilapia, snakeheads, Mayan and Midas Cichlids, carp and alligator and Florida gar. Just the bow fishing for invasives is enough to knock it to the top of the lists as you’re 1) hunting in tune with nature, 2) clearing out feral populations of invasive species and 3) getting large amounts of delicious seafoods.