Your friendly guide to national parks, road trips, and all things outdoors
I went back and forth for so long on how to do this post for spending one day in Zion National Park. For some parks, like Canyonlands, it's easy to pick the best things to see and do in one day. Others, like Arches, that's a lot harder so I pick different combinations of things…
Continue reading ➞ A Choose Your Own Adventure Hiking Guide To One Day In Zion National Park
Over my last winter in Utah, technically Arizona, I wanted to do as much as I possibly could. While we didn't make to all five Utah national parks, we did make it to three. I already have posts about Arches in winter and Canyonlands in winter and now that I finished my Zion hiking posts,…
Continue reading ➞ Winter In Zion: Top Tips For Utah’s Most Popular National Park In The Off-Season
On my first Utah road trip in 2015, we stopped at Zion and I hiked to the Emerald Pools with my friend Danny. I know we had fun but, looking back, I don't know if I was like, blown away it at all. I don't think I was disappointed by it either though. I just…
One of the things I knew I had to do on our winter trip to Zion was hike the short Petroglyph Canyon Trail because I love rock art and will probably try to see it anywhere if I know it's there. I just love it. The only issue was, the Petroglyph Canyon Trail is on…
Continue reading ➞ Petroglyph Canyon Zion: Hike To The Secret Petroglyphs Of Zion
On our January Zion trip we weren't prepared for so much snow and ice on the east side of the park so we ended up doing most of the main canyon hikes, including the easy Pa'rus Trail from the visitor center. We were running out of main canyon hikes after already having done the Sand…
Continue reading ➞ Pa’rus Trail Zion: The Perfect Easy Zion Hike To End Your Day
Next up in my posts from our January Zion trip is the Watchman Trail. I had been to or through Zion no less than a dozen times before this trip and I had never heard of the Watchman Trail. I don't know how, but I hadn't. I am so glad I did find out about…
I'm finally making my way through my Zion trip posts, the last posts from my time out west. It's sad but exciting and I'll have plenty of lists coming still but only a few more hikes out there. I think we did the Sand Bench Trail before this one and had a little time before…
Continue reading ➞ Lower Pine Creek Waterfall Hike: Zion National Park’s Hidden Waterfall
Death Valley is amazing and huge and overwhelming. There is so much to see and do there, it can be hard to know where to start. Well, that's what I'm here for, at least if you're looking for things to do in Death Valley besides hiking. Some of these things are just quick stops on…
Continue reading ➞ 19 Awesome Things To Do In Death Valley That Aren’t Hiking
My goal on our January 2022 Zion trip was to do as many hikes as possible that I hadn't done yet. And we did it! Mostly. I think we actually did do all of the hikes in the main canyon and near the visitor center but we were only able to do one on the…
Continue reading ➞ Sand Bench Trail: Zion National Parks Most Underrated Trail
Visiting national parks in the off season is my favorite. I love visiting them when they're in their prime, too, but there's just something about visiting them in the winter, and Canyonlands is no different. I've visited Canyonlands National Park in the winter twice now, once in December and once in February. Both were wonderful…
Continue reading ➞ Top Tips For Visiting Canyonlands National Park In Winter
Driving Scenic Byway 12, sometimes called Scenic Highway 12, is a must-do on any Utah road trip. This is not only one of the best scenic drives in Utah but one of the best scenic drives in all of the USA. I really can't believe I haven't written a post about this drive yet. I…
Continue reading ➞ Scenic Byway 12: One Of The Best Scenic Drives In The USA
Ive been to Tucson twice now but both times the main priority was visiting Saguaro National Park. But the second time, this time with my parents, I wanted to try and do something else, too. That "something else" ended up being driving the Mount Lemmon Scenic Byway! I didn't know anything about it (shocker) and…
Continue reading ➞ Frogs And Fall On The Mount Lemmon Scenic Byway In Tucson, Arizona
I love visiting Arches National Park in winter. It's my favorite time to visit and I actually avoid going both Zion and Arches in summer for a lot of reasons (it's so busy, so expensive, and so hot.) There aren't really specific things to do in Arches in winter that's different than summer, hiking is…
Continue reading ➞ All About Visiting Arches National Park In Winter
After Zion, Arches is the most popular national park in Utah. It's not the second most visited, that's Bryce Canyon, but I think it's the one that people most want to visit after Zion. I feel like Bryce gets more visitors than Arches because of it's convenient proximity to Zion. But I still think Arches…
Continue reading ➞ Four Awesome Ways To Spend One Day In Arches National Park