A Few Quick Hikes in Zion National Park

Posted from Hurricane, UT
(Click on Pics to Enlarge)

Click Below to View More Pictures Not Contained in Today's Blog:

Watchman Trail
Court of the Patriarchs Trail
Weeping Rock Trail

If it seems as though many of our recent blogs have been about hiking, you'd be correct. We love to hike and this part of the country is a mecca for hiking. Actually, we intend to do a lot of hiking at most of the spots we visit this summer.

All of today's adventures took place on May 22nd. Only the Watchman Trail is a true hike while the other two are just short jaunts from a shuttle stop. Still interesting, but just not as much to talk about.

With that in mind, our first hike was the Watchman Trail. This trail begins near the trolley stop at the Zion Visitor's Center, continues along the Virgin River for a short bit, and then starts to ascend toward the canyon wall.

The first half mile or so travels across relatively flat land.

The trail has some steep stretches and sometimes it's necessary to slow down and take a break.

After approximately 2 miles we reached the top. There is a short loop trail at the top which offers great views.

On the trek back to the bottom it's always interesting to look at the "tiny" people coming up the trail.










This trail was only about 4 miles (O/B), but offered many great photo opportunities both on the way up, and on the descent.

We jumped back on the park shuttle at Stop #1 (Visitor's Center) and rode to Stop #4 (Court of the Patriarchs). This is not actually a hike at all, but rather just a very short walk to an observation point. The Court of the Patriarchs is a group of three peaks named after the biblical figures of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

We got back onto the shuttle and rode to Stop #7 to visit Weeping Rock Trail. This trail is only .4 mile, but a short section of it is fairly steep. The trail is a good one for all visitors as it's a hard surface most of the way.

The attraction of this trail is the hanging gardens at the observation point. Plants cling to the sandstone walls and are nourished by the water weeping from the walls and running down the face.

All of the vertical lines on the rocks are evidence of water running down the face. In this picture, the observation area is under the "arch" near the bottom.

After arriving at the observation deck, the views looking back down into the canyon are spectacular, as always in this park.








Onward and upward to a few more difficult hikes in our coming blogs!


As always, thanks for dropping by to take a look!