Zion National Park, Kolob Canyon and Cedar Breaks

---

17th Sept ’11 Cedar City, Utah

This was our base for 3 nights allowing us 2 full days of exploring. We set off from Flagstaff that morning and drove to Cedar City via Zion National Park. This was a fabulous park, we both agreed it was our favourite. From the direction we came from we had to drive through a massive long tunnel right through the mountains to get into the park – an unusual sensation but pretty exciting as it was so long and there were occasional windows where you got tantalising glimpses of soaring mountain peaks.

The mountains surrounding the canyon were all different shapes and colours, from red jagged peaks to white flat topped mountains with vegetation growing on them, all different heights and all equally impressive.

What was particularly unique and special about this park was that you were in the bottom of the canyon following a river with lots of trees which was really pretty.

We hiked along to the Temple of Shinowba which was about a 2 mile trip again following the river with lots of squirrels scampering about. There were no cars allowed to drive through the scenic park aread, instead a free shuttle bus was provided which you could hop on and off with some commentary about the history of the park and the particular mountains you could see. All in all a LOVELY LOVELY place!

When we checked into our motel (Super 8) we got a nice surprise as we had been upgraded free of charge to the Whirlpool Suite! This meant we had a massive room, king size bed, settee and armchair, bathroom with all the usuals and then in the corner of the bedroom a gigantic whirlpool tub! So of course I had to give that a go – it would have been rude not to!!!

The next day we drove to the north part of Zion Park called The Kolob Canyons, again this was a beautiful area with gorgeous red sandstone mountains, a winding canyon and lots of trees. We did the short walk at the very end of the road which led to the Overlook – just over a mile. What a stunning place Zion is.

We then drove on to Cedar Breaks National Park which overlooks Cedar City. This was a nice enough park, lots of the trees though were dead due to a particular beetle and some fires. It was high altitude and had good views.

---

Photos

Zion National Park
This is where the tunnel went through - see the 'window'!