Zion Park During The Heat Of Summer
We're now moving into the hottest part
of summer and temperatures in SW Utah can get very warm. In the St
George and Zion
National Park areas mid-afternoon temperatures often climb above
100 F. Still, this is a great time to visit and explore the area.
I'm just back from a long Boy Scout
campout where we had a great time exploring the park. We knew it
would be hot - we planned for that as we mapped out our itinerary.
All of the kids said it was one of the best trips of their young
lives. Here's an outline of what we did and where we did it.
We camped
at Lava Point, on top of the mountain in the Kolob
Terrace section of the point. Temperatures there run about 20 F
lower than in Zion
Canyon. The Lava Point Campground is small but the area is
spectacular. The campground offers pit toilets, picnic tables and
fire pits, but no potable water.
The campground is first-come,
first-served, no reservations allowed. We arrive mid-week and found a
couple vacant sites. It often fills up on weekends.
From Lava Point we drove down into the
park every day. That's quite a drive, and we felt the pinch from gas
prices, but still felt it worthwhile. Evenings were splendid at Lava
Point, and nighttime temperatures were ideal for sleeping.
We hiked The
Narrows, of course. In my opinion, it is one of the world's great
hikes and it is perfect for hot weather. The kids had a great time
wading and swimming up the river. We went up the main canyon and also
explored the lower portion of Orderville Gulch. The Narrows hike was
a highlight of the trip.
We also hiked to Observation Point.
That's a dry hike but the lower half is shady during morning hours
and so we started early.
There are a couple couple very nice
swimming holes on Pine Creek, a small stream that flows into the
Virgin River in the lower portion of Zion Canyon. The stream flows
under what is called the Great Arch. It crosses Hwy
9 at the bottom of the famous switchbacks below the Zion Tunnel.
Park at the bridge where Pine Creek crosses beneath Hwy 9 and it is
just a short hike upstream to one swimming hole and a beautiful
waterfall. A larger swimming hole is a little farther upstream. To
reach it park at the middle switchback and just hike into the canyon.
We also enjoyed hiking up Kanarra
Creek, east of the small town of Kanarrville, on the edge of the
park's Kolob Canyons section. That hikes goes through some very nice
slots and then up two small waterfalls. It is great on a hot summer
day.
We basically did Zion as a waterpark.
It was a very fun trip.
- Dave Webb
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