Zion National Park Travel Forum

Xanterra is all booked up for mid September of 2006.

Where would a decent, somewhat inexpensive overnight option be? I don't want to get too far away from Zion.

I am from Iowa and will be in New Mexico mid-September. I will rent a car and drive to either the south or North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I wnat ot go to Page to see Antelope Canyon and then on to Zion.

Thanks for your help!

Mike In Iowa

One good idea is to map out Zion on mapquest and look for the nearby cities ... I followed this process and found Springdale and Hurricane. I then went to hotels.com and searched for hotels. Looks like there's a Best Western in Springdale.

It's been many moons since we went to the park - other than its beauty, the one road to be *extremely* careful of (if it's still open) is 89A. We took this road on our honeymoon and it felt like being out there w/Buzz Buzzard in a Woody Woodpecker cartoon - *BIG* vacuum because the drop was so deep and the road sooo narrow. I have a friend who has a friend who lost some relatives there falling off the hill. It IS a gorgeous park, but best way to get there is via Vegas, even if it requires taking a separate trip to the Grand Canyon. The end of the park has a very long tunnel (ends up in 89A). We took this tunnel from 89A and since it curves at the end we could not see where it would end. All of a sudden we started seeing the huge boulders from the vents - felt like we had arrived to the land of the dinosaurs! Was quite an experience - but NEVER AGAIN from 89A.

Enjoy!

Nomad

Camping?
http://www.nps.gov/zion/Campgrounds.htm

There is a Rodeway Inn, a Best Western and many other options in Springdale, right outside Zion. The only time I stayed was at the Desert Pearl Inn, very nice but it is a little pricey. If you want a bargain try some of the motels in Hurricane. About 25 miles to Zion but you'll get a large savings.

Some of the advise is not accurate. You'll approach Zion from the East off Rt 89, not 89A. This will take you thru the wonderful East side and the famous tunnel. This road is no problem.

If you want to see Antelope Canyon, you'll probably opt for the North Rim. I did this drive last Sept., it is not a problem! 89A is two lanes thru some beautiful scenery. If you're going to stay at the North Rim, make early reservations, they book up early.

You might consider staying in Kanab, UT and accessing Zion from there. It's about 40 miles to the East entance but RT 89 is a good hiway. We stay at the Victorian Inn in Kanab and its nice and hospitable. You can see my Kanab page for a review.

Hi, just to clarify - my main point was to raise awareness that 89A, although probably beautiful (but at 1 AM driving north with a stick shift quite a challenge) - can be a very dangerous road. We came around the grand canyon, up 89A, and [not sure what we took in between] came up to the (south?, west?] end of the tunnel. Possibly going south on 89A would be in the hill side not on the drop side, but if not used to those heights can be a scary experience.

So coming on I15 would be preferable. Could you please advise the clear route, as I would appreciate a refresher - what I do know for sure, 89A is not for an inexperienced driver!!! Maybe going to Zion, then south to the grand canyon as to drive on the inner part of the road? WinnZ, clarification welcome!

Nomad

By the way, 89A shows up in the map (some maps, possibly on the road sigh_ as 89ALT ... see this link:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=internal&addtohistory=&latitude=e5sUHKMOMd8%3d&longitude=udVxKrgII7LpYvwtYCjAHA%3d%3d&name=Zion%20Lodge&country=US&address=Zion%20National%20Park%20Rd&city=Springdale&state=UT&zipcode=84767&phone=435%2d772%2d3213&spurl=0&&q=zion%20national%20park&qc=Hotels%20%26%20Motels
to see detail of 89A go to the 5th box from the bottom on the zoom navigation scale. I can see where Win mentions not correct - I guess we did end up on 89 ... but from 89A. Don't recall why we ended up there after midnight, as I mentioned it was long ago.

Nomad

Thanks everyone for your input and responses.

My trip will be in mid-August instead of September.

I will let the people who responded know how my trip went.

Thanks again!

Mike in Iowa

There are quite a few nice places in Springdale, but nothing cheap I would suspect. A couple of thoughts for you to consider - Bryce Canyon NP is close to Zion and is more than worth the trip...I consider it one of the most unusual parks I have ever seen. If you can do both...do them.
If you go to Antelope Canyon, be there by 10:45 so you get on the 11:00 tour. Cost is 6.00 per person to enter the parking lot, and 15.00 per person for the truck to take you back to the canyon for 1 hour. An extra 10.00 per person gets you two hours, but the time to be there is when the sun is high.. 11:30 to 12:30 Navaho time (they go on Daylight savings - Arazona does not). They do not allow anyone to go alone (except the 2 hr photo people) so you will be with a bunch of others. I was there 2 weeks ago and it does get a bit crowded but still a beautiful slot canyon.