After watching the UCLA women’s basketball team (on TV) win the NCAA national championship and joining them at Pauley Pavilion for their victory celebration, we packed up the cats and ebikes and headed to our home campground in Valencia, California. The next day I taught my last UCLA class (after 29 years) and the following morning we drove the RV (complete with Baby Bruin Bear, a gift from my students in Cohort 32) across the Mojave Desert of Southern California to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Las Vegas
Landing in a very upscale RV resort in Las Vegas (Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort), we got settled and then headed out to our one “Vegas-y” event—attending “O” at the Bellagio on the Strip. It was pretty astounding to watch these Cirque du Soleil performers complete intricate acrobatics, including flips and dives into water.
As we were driven around the Las Vegas strip by our cab driver (no desire to drive or park in that craziness), we realized once again that we really are not Vegas people, though lots of friends and family members love it. The glitz is fun to look at for a few minutes, but it’s all too much for us.
And so, the next day, we did the exact opposite. We drove about 20 miles west of Las Vegas to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. This park is administered by the BLM and requires a reservation, which we did online (because we have a national parks lifetime pass it only cost us $2.00, but otherwise it would be $22.00). The visitor center for Red Rock Canyon is beautiful and well-organized. We got good hiking information and spotted a desert tortoise in its enclosed habitat outside the visitor center.
Then on to the scenic loop drive, which everyone who visits Vegas should do. The mountains and red rock formations are gorgeous, and there are plenty of places to stop and take photos. We parked at the parking lot for the Sandstone Quarry, and proceeded onto the Calico Tanks Trail, a 2.4-mile (round-trip) out-and-back trip over sandstone and rocky boulders among the red rock and other cool formations.
The view at the end of the trail shows more red rocks along with Las Vegas in the distance. The tanks are nothing fancy—just natural bowls that collect and hold water—but the trail was well worth doing for the sights along the way, including wildflowers, two different lizard species, and lots of birds. I managed the steep parts quite well with my 6-month-old hip.
Click on the link below to see a short video of our Calico Tanks hike.
Other recommended hikes that we didn’t do—Kraft Mountain Loop Trail (a bit longer and not on the main road) and the Keystone Thrust Trail (at the White Rock trailhead). We’ll have to save those for next time!
And because many of you have asked if we went to Valley of Fire State Park (about 45 miles east of Las Vegas), the answer is, “Unfortunately, no.” By the time we booked this trip, there were no reservations left at this iconic location. So, we’ll have to save that exploration for another trip.
The next day we left Las Vegas and drove I-15 through a corner of Arizona and St. George, Utah, and then onto another highway to Springdale, Utah, which would be our home for the next 5 nights.
Our campground was located just outside the boundaries of Zion National Park, with gorgeous views all around.
An afternoon trip to the Zion visitor center helped us plan our next day’s adventure, and we wrapped up the day with dinner at Wild Thyme Bistro, celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary (thanks, Val, for the excellent recommendation)!
At 8:30 the next morning, we waited in our car to enter the park once again, barely found parking at the enormous parking lot at the visitor center, and then hopped on the shuttle bus to ride up through most of Zion Canyon. For much of the year, you cannot drive private cars through the canyon, so the free shuttle is one of your only options for exploring the heart of Zion National Park.
We opted to start our morning at Shuttle Stop 7 for the short (1/2-mile round trip) hike to Weeping Rock, an overhang that has constant dripping water and therefore some hanging gardens (which weren’t much at this time of year). Since it was 48 degrees when we left our campground, we needed this steep hike to get us warmed up.
Hopping on the shuttle once again, we got off at Shuttle Stop 6 (The Grotto) and began our 3-1/2-mile hike along the Kayenta Trail, up to the Upper Emerald Pool, on to the Middle Emerald Pool, and ending at the Lodge (Shuttle Stop 5). We had perfect weather for this hike that is mostly without shade. The views were spectacular, and the misty waterfall at the Upper Emerald Pool was a refreshing sight.
There were lots of wildflowers of all different colors and varieties, so apparently mid-April is a good time to visit Zion.
We headed back to the visitor center to enjoy our lunch along the Virgin River, where numerous Southwestern Tent Caterpillars shared the area with us. Click the short video below to watch this colorful caterpillar move.
Next morning we headed out on our ebikes to ride through Zion Canyon, but after a couple of mishaps (skinned knee and low battery), we went back to the RV to get bandaged and recharged. Round Two: Our afternoon bike ride took us all the way to the end of the road at the Temple of Sinawava, enjoying more stunning red rock sights all along the way.
And because we’re all about the critters, we were happy to spot a couple of wild turkeys, a rock squirrel, and a plateau lizard on our ride.
At the Temple of Sinawava, we locked up the bikes and hiked along the Riverside Walk (2.2 miles round trip), enjoying the Virgin River and lots of people! This is the place where many folks put on waders and carry big wooden sticks to hike The Narrows, where the Virgin River goes through a slot canyon and you literally have to walk in the water. Since the water temperature was 47 degrees, we opted to just enjoy the view from land, having done a short walk in the river through The Narrows when we visited 35 years ago.
Our third morning in Zion got us back into the car to drive along the scenic Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, through the 1.1-mile tunnel and past Checkerboard Mesa. We had hoped to hike the Canyon Overlook Trail, but there was no parking available.
Late in the afternoon, we headed up the Watchman Trail, almost 4 miles round-trip, for striking views of The Watchman, Zion Canyon, and Springdale.
Next morning, we got up really early to try again for the Canyon Overlook Trail. Arriving just past the tunnel at 7:15, we snagged a parking spot because an early riser had finished up and backed his car out. The hike was steep, as advertised, but not very long (1-mile round trip), and gave us more beautiful views of Zion Canyon.
Our last Zion excursion was on our bikes, where we rode into Watchman Campground in hopes of finding the campsite where we stayed 35 years ago. Our memories aren’t that good, so we couldn’t pinpoint the site, but we discovered that A and B loops have electricity hookups, so that was good to learn for future reference. And we saw some mule deer that were relaxed and enjoying hanging out in the campground.
St. George, Utah
Our next campground was less than 40 miles away, but we wanted to check out some bike trails in St. George, so we decided to spend two nights there. What a great opportunity it was to visit Snow Canyon State Park, do the scenic drive through the park, and hike the very short and spectacular Jenny’s Canyon trail to a very cool slot canyon (thanks for the terrific recommendation, Dee!).
Next morning, we drove to Sunrise Valley Park in Washington, Utah, and began our 25-mile round-trip ebike ride along the Virgin River Trail. This paved trail was well-marked and well-maintained, so we had a great time enjoying the red rocks, marshlands, lizards, quail, and other sights. We tried to go up the very steep Hell Hole side trail, but alas, they were doing maintenance work, so we had to abandon that portion.
We capped off our time in St. George by having dinner with Fiji dive buddies Dee and Steve at Cliffside Restaurant, which had delicious food and a sublime view of the red rocks near St. George. This was a great way to close out our time of searching for red rock!
We headed home through Yermo/Barstow (near Calico Ghost Town), where Tierra and Luna (our 8-month-old kittens) got more comfortable with being outside in their harnesses. And we rounded out our trip with a new annual tradition when camping near Barstow, burgers and frozen custard at Freddy’s (thanks, Susie, for that introduction in Wichita 9 years ago!).
We went in search of red rocks, and we definitely found them on this trip! Until our next excursion this summer, thanks for reading and enjoying our red rock adventures along with us!
Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your wonderful journey!
Such an inventive and beautiful trip – lovely photos. An inspiration to all to see the extraordinary beauty and plenitude of our parks. Thank you so much for sharing.
Diane
What beautiful pictures! Such smazing hiking and biking in spectacular places!
Such a fun getaway! Sometimes I wish I was one of your kitties, hanging out and enjoying the motorcoach life!
Looks like a great trip. Beautiful pictures, those hikes look awesome!
Some of our favorite places when we lived in Las Vegas. Valley of Fire was one of them (I know, next time!), but Zion National Park was what helped us love and appreciate living in the desert. Red Rock Canyon and neighboring Spring Mountain Ranch, too! Congrats on your retirement, Cindy! Let the Wild Rumpus (or, actually, just more of it!) begin!!!!!