After a long day in Bryce Canyon National Park, we wanted a nice and relaxing introduction to Zion National Park.
We had a nice breakfast at the airbnb and drove over to the park. We arrived around 10am, and the Zion parking lot at the visitor center was already full so we parked at the public parking lot on Lion Blvd. $10 (cash only) will get you all day parking in this dirt parking lot. The parking lot is close to Springdale-Zion shuttle stop #3, but we just walked about 13 minutes to Zion Outfitter to hop on our private shuttle.
Tip: This is the cheapest paid parking lot we found. However, if you make a purchase of at least $20 at Hoodoos General Store (across the street), you can park in the Hoodoos General Store parking lot for free all day.
Zion National Park Shuttles
Zion National Park does not allow private cars past a certain point when shuttles are in operation.
When we went, Zion National Park was operating on a shuttle ticket reservation system. It was madness. Tickets were sold two weeks in advance, and would sell out in a matter of minutes. Tickets were also made available the day before, but that left a lot of uncertainty. We decided to play it safe and book shuttle tickets with Red Rock Shuttle.
We loved Red Rock Shuttle company! They are a private shuttle company that normally shuttles people for Zion backcountry hiking, but when we went they were also shuttling people into the canyon. We paid $40 per person for a round trip shuttle ride. It is pricey compared to the $2 that the Zion National Park shuttles charged, but I did appreciate that we never waited more than a few minutes to hop on a shuttle. That might not seem like a big deal, but after you have hiked several hours the last thing you want to do is wait in a long line in the hot sun for a ride back to the visitor center. The Red Rock Shuttle drivers were all friendly, told us interesting facts about Zion, and the shuttles had good A/C.
Unfortunately, private shuttle companies can no longer shuttle people into the canyon because Zion National Park Shuttle system is resuming full capacity. See National Park System for latest updates. However, when we return to Zion, I will definitely use Red Rock Shuttle for some backcountry hiking.
Emerald Pools
Our family loves waterfalls so we were excited to explore Zion’s Emerald Pools. The Emerald Pools trailhead is across the street from Zion Lodge. We walked across a bridge and took an easy walk to Lower Emerald Pools.
We saw some wildlife (e.g., tadpoles, snakes, squirrels). This was the one and only snake we came across on our trip.
Lower Emerald Pools
The Lower Emerald Pools were beautiful. It was by far the most beautiful of the three areas.
Middle Emerald Pools
We continued on to the Middle Emerald Pools, which was a more strenuous hike up hill.
At this point, the sun was beating down on us and there was little shade. The water levels were so low at the middle pools that we were hesitant to continue on our hike, but fellow hikers assured us that the hike was worth the additional trek to the upper pools.
We were so thankful we brought plenty of water, snacks and our cooling towel. This cooling towel has saved us more than a few times on this trip. All you have to do is wet your towel, and place it on your body. We placed it on the back of our necks to help cool our bodies down.
Tip: Wear sunscreen, a hat, and bring plenty of drinking water and a cooling towel.
Upper Emerald Pools
The upper pools was my least favorite of the three pools, but to be fair I believe this could be gorgeous when there are higher water levels.
