This was the best hiking experience I have ever done. The 360 degree view is absolutely worth the hike. It's only a 2 mile hike up but it dumped snow a few days before and it took us 3 hours to break trail and find the trail for that matter. Thank god we had a offline trail map with us. The road to drive up to the trail was pretty sketchy, we had 4WD so we were the only car that made it the twin lakes. We got married at the top of this mountain and it was worth it all! No one one was there that day but us, however this hike does get very popular when it's not snowing. WORTH IT.
The Jedediah Smith Campground is one of the cleanest campgrounds I have ever been to. The camp sites are spread apart enough to have privacy. The showers had hot water, and the toilets flushed! We stayed in one of the 4 cabins and it was brand new. They were built about two years ago and still in great condition. The campsite is close enough to great trails and the clearest river I have ever seen.
You can see this gigantic waterfall from the highway. The parking lot is very close and it's just a walk up to the beauty for all ages. A very popular stop but the view looks great in all seasons and in all angles.
This was a great stop during our stay in Mount Rainier. The trail is very easy for all ages. It's a quick loop with lots of beautiful large trees. When you get to the loop the Grove of the Patriarchs are gigantic! This stop is very popular and we did have to wait for a parking spot, however on the trail it was spread out enough to not feel like there was a lot of people there.
I heard this place is closed permanently.
We stayed at Watchman Campground this past weekend (Aug 12-13).
It's the campsite inside the actual National Park. I was worried that it was going to be really crowded, but it wasn't too bad, and the sign said the campground was full. It was very clean, the bathrooms were clean, the sites were reasonably spaced apart, which was nice. We stayed at LoopC-17 and it was right next to the bathroom. I wanted convenience, but I didn't realize how close it was. So just keep that in mind when booking. I loved how we just walked from our site directly to the Zion Center, and to the Zion Canyon strip with stores. I felt it was very convenient. We showered at Zion Outfitters, very clean showers. The night photo I posted, is right from our campsite. Beautiful.
We stayed at Watchman Campground this past weekend (Aug 12-13).
It's the campsite inside the actual National Park. I was worried that it was going to be really crowded, but it wasn't too bad, and the sign said the campground was full. It was very clean, the bathrooms were clean, the sites were reasonably spaced apart, which was nice. We stayed at LoopC-17 and it was right next to the bathroom. I wanted convenience, but I didn't realize how close it was. So just keep that in mind when booking. I loved how we just walked from our site directly to the Zion Center, and to the Zion Canyon strip with stores. I felt it was very convenient. We showered at Zion Outfitters, very clean showers. The night photo I posted, is right from our campsite. Beautiful.
We drove through the Valley of Fire on our way to Zion National Park in Utah. It was approximately 30 minutes off the highway. Well worth the detour. It was $10 per vehicle to drive through the park. We drove through and came out on the other side back on the road to Utah. Beautiful rocks and bright fire red. We did not get time to stop and venture the park, but we do plan on going back. Even if you only have an hour to spare, driving through is an experience itself.
Cozy and Nice!