We packed up our stuff and reluctantly left the Bryce Canyon area headed for an RV park near Zion National Park. The drive was short; maybe 65 miles in all. West on UT-12 for a few miles before turning south on US-89 until we got to Mount Carmel Junction where we turned west on UT-9 toward Zion NP. In Mount Carmel Junction, our Garmin gave us some bad information (probably since I entered the data about where we wanted to go) and indicated that a big dirt vacant lot on the south side of UT-9 was our destination. Even dullards like us realized something was fishy so we pulled to the side of the road and called the office at Hi Road RV park and found we were only 12 miles from the place we were spending the next few days.
UT-9 climbs from about 3000′ elevation at Mount Carmel Junction to around 4500′ elevation where we found our destination. It also looked like a big dirt vacant lot but it did have power, water and sewer hookups so we knew we had finished the day’s drive. Hi Road RV Park is located right next to UT-9 and traffic noise can be heard during the daylight hours, particularly the racket from uncorked Harleys. At night it is very quiet probably due to a complete restriction on truck traffic through Zion National Park, the boundary of which is about a mile west. Hi Road does not have wi-fi except at the Trading Post across the street. There is no paving within the facility so I imagine it is quite dusty during the summer and muddy the rest of the time. It also has no pool and one restroom facility. There is little shade. There is also no other place to stay in the vicinity.
However, just a mile down the road is the entrance to Zion and the scenery around the park is stunning. We had a short drive today to get here so we arrived at our camping destination very early in the day and had plenty of time to fool around. After doing a minimal setup with our fifth wheel trailer, we hopped back into Charlotte for a spin into the park.
Entering the park from the east treats visitors to a spectacular drive along about 5 miles of road with towering rock mountains exhibiting fantastic colors on both sides of the road. Then there is a mile-long tunnel that exits into the main valley and it is magnificent. A series of beautiful switchbacks lowers you into the valley floor where you will be surrounded by very steep walls that extend thousands of feet above the floor. It is gorgeous. It is also quite crowded and the main road through the valley floor is only accessible by free park shuttle.
We continued on UT-9 until we exited the west side of the park and continued until we got to Kolob Terrace Road which goes north through BLM land and then re-enters the park far north of what you can see from UT-9. We started out at about 3500′ elevation but the road climbs through the BLM land running northeast, passes through Zion for a ways and then exits the northeast corner of the park, terminating at Kolob Reservoir. The road is a bit narrow and very twisty but the views along the way are stunning.
After many stops for viewing and pictures, we descended back to the main road and drove back through the valley floor, the switchbacks and the tunnel to our RV park. This place has probably some of the most majestic and extraordinary scenery of pure nature that we have visited to date. The vistas here are mind-boggling.
We took some pictures up at Kolob Reservoir area and in Zion Canyon which you can see if you click here