Kolob Canyons | Zion National Park | Utah

 

The other day I took a ride to Kolob Canyons, which is the northwest part of Zion National Park, and not accessible from the other part of Zion Park.  This is a short drive of about 6 miles through some rugged terrain.  Unfortunately, I picked a day where the clouds moved in, so I didn't get much good lighting for the photos.  Hope you enjoy the ones that did get some light!

 

 

 

Just when I think I've seen all the wildflowers in one area, I find another one.  These were great!

 

 

This last one shows how gigantic some of these rock mountains are.  This was a smaller one, but it still dwarfs my truck.

Zion National Park | Utah

 

Zion National Park is a canyon with the Virgin River at the bottom and lined with these red rock formations.  In order to get full light on them, it has to be at least 10 AM, and by the time 2 PM comes along, you'll start to get shadows on the other side. 

 

 

  

 

To imagine the size of some of these rock mountains, check out about halfway down the face of this next one, you'll see a line of green trees.  They are actually tall pine trees, so it will give you a reference on size.

 

This is a little house wren, according to the ranger who was there when I got this shot.

 

On another day, I took a hike to The Narrows.  The Narrows is where the canyon becomes less wide and in order to continue the hike (which could last a couple days, round trip), you need to walk in the river.  I elected not to do this, for multiple reasons, such as really cold water, wet hiking boots and time constraints.   

 

 

The squirrels are not afraid of humans at all, they possibly think we're just large animals, such as the deer seen in the park. 

 

 

 

The trail has ferns and delicate wildflowers growing and reminded me of a rain forest.

 

 

 

 

Zion National Park | Boondocking Areas

A friend and I had driven to Zion National Park for a day trip and planned to come back for a longer visit. While we were in the area, we decided to visit a few areas that may be suitable for boondocking.

We didn't find much on the internet, except along a road called Kolob Terrace Road.  The boondocking there is along a little river, but more suitable for van campers and tents.

You will see signs posted by BLM on the south side of Route 9 stating that these are "Your Public Lands" and you'll see quite a few dirt roads, including one paved one in this area.  Some of these roads are better than others, as usual for BLM land.

We noticed a few rigs quite far from Route 9 on the south side, as well as a few dirt roads leading into the area. The area we chose to visit was actually labeled with a street sign. We turned into Sheep Bridge Road and followed it for a couple of miles. We found a couple good large camping areas about 1.7 miles in, at 37° 11.836'   113° 13.177' .   There is a low cable over the road, but my 5th wheel, about 12 feet tall, made it under OK.  Going out, just use the left side of the road.

I have a small 5th wheel and my friend has a small travel trailer, so we picked the smaller site and stayed for about a week. The area was not heavily used while we were there, but does have some traffic. There were people with bikes as well as ATVs.

The scenery is quite good in this area, the typical desert foliage and some nice rock hills. There are a few pullouts along the road to where we camped, but they are right on the road, so it was nice to have our own little area.

 

It's about 10 miles to Hurricane, Utah, and about 15 to Zion National Park.  We found very little trash in our immediate area, but while driving around we found a campsite that was left with all sorts of trash.  I'm sure that situation was not caused by RVers, but please be sure to keep these areas clean.  We are lucky to have this vacant land to camp on without fees, I would hate to see them fenced off because of a few people who litter.

 

Grafton | Utah

 

Grafton is a ghost town just a short drive south of Rockville off Highway 9 in Utah, the road that leads to Zion National Park.

The first sign of the remains of the town was a sign for the Grafton Cemetery. We visited this area and noted that some of the grave markers have been updated/replaced, complete with plastic flowers on some of the graves.

 

 

A little further down the dirt road, we saw a beautiful green pasture with large trees, contrasting with the red rocks.

 

Shortly after that, we started seeing a couple of old buildings behind fences. We stopped and took some photos of the buildings, an old church with the bell still up in the steeple as well as a larger building that may have been a school.

 

There were other buildings nearby, another couple of houses and an old work wagon sitting in a field.

 

 

 

I love these old ghost towns and this is not very far off the beaten track, and it's on a relatively decent dirt road, so that's a bonus.
 

Zion National Park | The Tunnel | Utah

 

A friend and I took a day trip to Zion National Park to scout out some boondocking areas as well as a quick drive through in the areas we can drive in the park.  Most of the area is only accessible by shuttle, which is great, since we don't have to drive while trying to look at all the scenery. They stop at every overlook and you can get off whenever you want and stay at that area for as long as you want.  I will be visiting that area in the next couple days, so I'll be posting more in the near future.

The main area you're allowed to drive through is the road to The Tunnel. This is a tunnel that was built in the 1920s, completed in 1930, in order to get from one side of the mountain to the other, a total of 1.1 miles. There are numerous "windows" in the tunnel where the workers were able to toss out the rubble as the tunnel was drilled and blasted as they went along.

 

Since it was built that long ago, it's a very narrow tunnel with not much height for large trucks and RVs. The height in the middle of the two lane tunnel is 13' 2". Height on one side or the other is much lower. In order to get an RV through, you need a permit ($15) and they will stop traffic both ways so you can proceed through, driving right in the middle of the tunnel. 

 

 

On the other side is more of the park, a little different in terrain, but it includes Bighorn Sheep that we were able to photograph. The scenery here is spectacular and some of these rock mountains can be up to 3000' high.

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back through the tunnel from the other side, we were able to slow down and take a few photos through the "window".

 

 

When you go to the Grand Canyon, you stand on the rim and look over. When you get to Zion, you enter the canyon at the bottom and the road to the tunnel climbs the sides of the canyon with multiple switchbacks, providing amazing views at every turn.