Avoiding Zion’s Crowds and a 10-Month Update from the Boondock Vigilante

Zion is an incredibly popular national park and deservedly so, but that doesn’t mean we were excited about rubbing elbows with the 4.3 million folks who visit each year. Attendance over Memorial Day weekend runs over 70,000 a day which means crowded trails and long lines (our boondocking neighbors got there at 8am on Sunday and still had to wait in line for an hour and a half to get on the shuttle!). So what to do? Fortunately, there are a couple of areas in the park that see far fewer visitors and that’s where Rog and I headed.

Whoohoo. No crowds here.

On Thursday, 5/25, we drove into the park but continued on Hwy 9 toward the east entrance. This route is open to private vehicles and has some spectacular overlooks, a fantastic tunnel with huge “windows” carved through the stone, and a couple of not to be missed points of interest including the Canyon Overlook Trail and Checkerboard Mesa.  Other than a bit of a wait to get through the tunnel – park staff had it closed to two-way traffic and were alternating directions – we had a lovely day without the crowds.

The payoff at the end of the Canyon Overlook Trail.
You can see Hwy 9 winding through the valley.

There is a slot canyon down there, but some of the hikers had on wet suits!
Maybe next time. Lol.

More views from the overlook. Wow.

Ten months on the road, and we're still happy campers!

Checkerboard Mesa.
The pattern is caused by horizontal crossbedding of the ancient sand dunes and vertical cracking from erosion. Cool, huh? 

Another area of the national park that is often overlooked is Kolob Canyon. This section has a separate entrance off Hwy 15 and its own scenic drive and trails. We headed there on Sunday and did the scenic drive and two hikes, the 1-mile Timber Creek Overlook Trail and then the 5-mile Taylor Creek Trail. No lines, no crowds, and breathtaking views. Score!

Kolob Canyon.

Timber Creek Overlook.

Loved the forests climbing the slopes and filling the bowls of the red rock cliffs.

The Taylor Creek Trail was especially fun on a hot day – we crossed the creek 110 times! Yes, we counted! Lol. It was an out and back trail and between the zig-zagging trail and the meandering creek there were 55 crossing each way. Most were just a few stepping stones, but still fun. The trail ended at Double Arch Alcove which was a cool, shady spot with a seep that made psychedelic patterns on the alcove walls. Awesome!

Taylor Creek crossing, 1 of 110! Lol.

The trail parallels the creek, when it isn't jumping back and forth across it. :)

Double Arch Alcove

Two tiny campers to give you a sense of the scale, the alcove was huge. 

Old 1930's homestead cabins along the trail.

Love the green trees, red rock, blue skies and fluffy white clouds.

Another option was finding things to do outside the park and just avoiding it all together. We hit the Farmer’s Market in Springdale on Saturday and then had a coach day. I checked out “Fort Zion”, but it was too cheesy for words. 😊 We spent several delightful evenings sharing happy hour and dinner with our boondocking neighbors, Rick and Janet. One evening as we sat enjoying the shade, Rick noticed an uninvited guest trying to crash our little party. Although he was very nicely dressed in a shiny black and white suit, Mr. King Snake, did not make the guest list. He checked out first our coach and then crawled under Rick and Janet’s before finally looking elsewhere for a warmer welcome. Lol.

Too cheesy for words. Lol.

King snake- a very handsome, but uninvited guest.

Rog went mountain biking three times – On Wednesday, he rode from camp and did 26 miles on the J.E.M. trail while I went into Hurricane and did laundry. On Friday he rented a bike to demo and did 17-miles on the Gooseberry Mesa Trail while I hung out at the River Rock Roaster drinking coffee, eating delicious pastries and making good use of their free wifi. Then Monday he finished off his trifecta with the Whole Guacamole a 14-mile ride that was the most technical of the three and he has the rock bites to prove it. Lol. One thing that Rog has observed is that many of the Utah trails have a lot of "exposure." That's code speak for being really close to the edge of a fatal drop off. This does not make Momma happy but Rog assures me that he rides very conservatively, especially when he's within a few feet of a 1000 foot drop! 

Utah trails - they like living on the edge. :)

Warning or Challenge?? Lol.

Two varieties of Collard Lizard.
Fancy Pants lives only on the east side of the Colorado River and Plain Jane is found only on the west side. 

Pretty prickly pear blooms.

The trail traverses areas of slick rock. - over, around and through the pot holes.

More "exposure" - see the trail on the left. Arrrrrgh!

Beautiful views from Gooseberry Mesa.

The Whole Guacamole Trail. On the edge (again!).

Let's throw in a little bouldering on the bike trail. 

A tight squeeze under the overhang.

At least the Whole Guacamole trail offers excellent views (when it isn't trying to kill you!). Lol.

Now let’s talk for a minute about the heat. We had snow and temps dipping into the 20’s at night last week at Bryce (too cold!) and then a whole week of 90+ temps culminating in a 100-degree day at Zion (too hot!). So Monday, faced with triple digits and a stifling 33’ metal box to call home, we made for the water. There was river access just a short drive from our campsite, so we plunked our butts down in the Virgin River to cool off. Rog called the water refreshing, I called it cold. Hey, too hot and too cold at the same time! I am truly talented. Lol.

A lovely spot to spend the afternoon when the temps hit triple digits.  

Our original jello plan was to hit Death Valley next and then Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. However, a week of 90+ temps has convinced us that we are not interested in a week of 100+ temps and that’s what we’d get in Death Valley. So, we are going to head north to Great Basin National Park in Nevada. It’s got some elevation – the campground is at 7,500 feet – and temps in the mid-70’s. Now that sounds perfect! (Not too hot and not too cold! Lol.)  

Ten down and two to go!  I wouldn’t say we’re on the homestretch yet, but we’re certainly getting closer.  We spent the last month entirely in Utah, but then Utah has some of the most incredible national parks anywhere. Unfortunately, we seem to be loving many of our parks to death. Each year brings more and more visitors while the parks struggle with fewer staff and resources. Yes, I know you’ve heard this from me before! 😊 It’s not just locals and US citizens touring the parks. We’ve spoken to many folks visiting the national parks from abroad. They are in awe of what we seem to take for granted. One of their favorite modes of travel is to rent an RV (easily 30% or more of the rigs we see are rentals) and do the grand loop stopping at the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, etc.

We’ve also noticed that the demand for campsites in many of the parks far exceeds the supply. Of course, sometimes competition for limited resources can lead to some friction. The stories the campground host told us were unbelievable and we got a small taste of it over Memorial Day weekend at Zion. The park campground was completely full and to our dismay we found that someone was providing the hordes of rental RVers with our boondocking location (go there – free camping!), but not informing them of BLM dispersed camping rules or basic etiquette.

We’ve met many lovely people from all over the world enjoying the national park system in rental RVs and this is the first time we’ve had a problem. There were just two designated campsites in the area we were in. The first two nights we had rental RV’s show up around dinner time and snag the other space. The second night, the guy came over after dark and took all our firewood. He left the next morning and we were thrilled when Janet and Rick, a full-timing couple, set up in the second space with plans to stay for a few days. Then the wood thief had the audacity to come back and try to squeeze in where there was no designated campsite, saying he’d just park in the vegetation. No, no, no. I let him know taking our firewood was extremely rude and “strongly suggested” he move along. Grrrrrrrrr.

For several nights we spent a great deal of time explaining the BLM rules for dispersed camping to folks in rental RV’s, many visiting from other countries and with limited English. Quite a few were hunting for a place after dark and trying to park anywhere they could. Once they pulled in, it was difficult for them to get turned around and having folks run over our patio area in the dark was not making us happy campers. We started to feel like Boondock Vigilantes. 😊  We finally solved the problem by parking our car in the access drive with an “All Campsites Full” sign in the front window. Just move along folks, nothing here to see. Lol.

It could be that the craziness was related to the Memorial Day Weekend, but given how quickly the campground fills up in Zion, I would guess alternative campsites are always in high demand. While we loved our spot and the spectacular views, next time we will look for a site less visible from the road and a little less accessible.

I am confident we’ll have fewer issues with crowds at our next stop. Great Basin National Park has one of the lowest annual attendance rates. I can live with that. 😊 Later in June, we’ll be spending several weeks visiting family in California. Randi will be flying down while we visit Rian in Sacramento for a little sister time. Then we’ll visit Rog’s sister, grandma, and mom. Looking forward to seeing family and some serious moochdocking. Lol.

So here’s where we’re at with ten months on the road. We put in a mere 603 miles this month, the fewest number of miles since we started. That brings our total to 12,571 miles in the RV, we pumped 1533 gallons of diesel and have stayed at 84 different places. Even though we never left Utah this month, we added FOUR national parks (Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion) to our list and one national monument (Grand Staircase Escalante).  So, our totals stand at: 31 National Parks/Monuments, many state/local parks plus Disney and Universal Studios. Since we’d already been to Utah last month, the number of states we’ve visited remains unchanged at 33.