Thank you! A much appreciated comment :-)

Thanks for commenting. Good luck on your planning.

Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate your comments!

Grazie!

Thanks for the kudos!

Thanks for saying that. So many people discount Zion because of the increased visitation. It's simply so fantastic that everyone wants to see it!

You're very welcome. Thanks for commenting.

Many thanks!

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for commenting.

You're welcome. Thanks for commenting.

Thank you!

You're welcome!

You're welcome and thanks for commenting!

Thanks Karri. That was my "tour guide" voice. My "narration" voice is a little different ;-) If you're planning on hiking Canyon Overlook, just be forewarned that you can't park an RV there (you'll see why), so you'll need to find another way to get there. The shuttles don't go there. Enjoy your visit!

@@BackRoadsWest1 ok gotcha. Maybe we will have to skip that one then, since we won’t have a vehicle suitable to park over there.

LOL - hopefully the Virgin wasn't too "non-Virgin", is it's usually pretty dirty. Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon - they're all different and all magnificent.

You're welcome. There's other places in Zion without the crowds.

Zion in Winter is great and no crowds

we just came back from Zion and it was amazing!! it seems they already figured out how to be faster there's wasn't lines no crowds early when we saw more people it was around 2pm to 3pm . enjoy !!

Thank you very much for the kudos!

Thanks! The video was shot with multiple cameras and difficult to explain. Maybe someday I'll create a video on it...

@@BackRoadsWest1 I went to Zion last August 2022 ... I wish you could have some good memory of video footage for my own journey and kids. Will come back again with full gear loaded 🙂

You can only drive the main canyon in winter when the shuttle bus is not running. You can drive up to Canyon junction in the canyon and then up the Mount Carmel highway up to the east mesa section which is an amazingly beautiful drive. You can also drive to the Kolob Canyon and Kolob Terrace sections of the park to the north west. For the main canyon, even if you are not hikers it would be fun to ride the shuttle bus and get out at all the stops to look up and enjoy the scenery inside the canyon. And at some stops you can take a short stroll down the start of the trails to get a better view without doing any "real" hiking. Like at Emerald Pools across from Zion Lodge or at the Grotto if you take the trails in about a hundred yards you can cross the bridges over the Zion River and get scenic views without anything harder than walking on a sidewalk. Have fun!

@@brightonluke3280 Thank you 😊🙏

The canyon's scenic drive doesn't open until after Thanksgiving. Try Kolob Terrace Road on your motorcycles.

5:30 is probably too early. Check the NPS website when the first bus departs. The last few weeks (June 2023), we've arrived by 7:15 and there is enough parking.

@@BackRoadsWest1 thanks for the feedback. We are shooting for next Monday. I’ll stop in Sunday afternoon and get some advice from them

Keep in mind that the park service changes things all the time. Hwy 9 and the roads are open 24/7. However, the buses do not operate 24 hr. The canyon road (Scenic Dr) has a gate, so you can always walk or bike past it when buses are not running. The gates are not stationed until 7 or 8am, so you can just drive in before that. If you want to buy a pass, naturally you have to talk to a ranger at either the gate or visitor center. Good luck!

I'd recommend checking the park (NPS) website.

It's still there! Look at www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm

Yes it is. I just don't recommend doing it on a weekend. Too much traffic.

They're not bus tours. The bus is simply there to take from point A to point B. If you don't like crowds, find somewhere else to go.

@@BackRoadsWest1 Or go in winter

Thanks for commenting. Visiting tourist destinations are just like working retail. You can never guess when it will be busy or slow. I lead a tour with 6 people into the Narrows on May 25, a Wed, 2 days before Memorial weekend, walked right onto a bus with my group, the Narrows was medium crowded, I've seen it worse, and when we headed back, walked right onto a bus again. There were no lines. You just never know. But summer time is insanity at Zion or any popular destination.

Yup!

Yes

I'll simply say one thing...COVID...the reason for there is now over 5 million per year visiting Zion. In 2019 there were probably 4.3. Zion seriously needs a reservation system like they had in place over COVID. See kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m518Y819s57GaYk.html

Don't get too bummed. There's plenty of places one can go where you won't see anyone else (well, maybe one other person). Leave places like Zion and Grand Canyon South Rim for those that enjoy Disneyland. Living next to Zion, we know when to visit the canyon when there are few people there.

Ah, you caught that! Yes, and that was my buddy I was hiking with no less. We've both walked that trail many times and that's what happens when you don't expect ice!

Apparently you're not the only person thinking that way. According to numbers I just heard, visitation for Zion in August 2022 is way down. It could be because all the rain, but I think it is more of the hype on how busy it has become.

It's overcrowded at times. But you should have gone this week: not many people here, weather clear and in the 50s. It will probably be busy during Thanksgiving week again. If you wanna go, you just have to pick the optimum times.

Yeah very true, I have lots of photos though, I like to explore places I have never been, off the crowded trails, but that's just me, but love your trips, glad I found your KZfaq

That's Walter's Wiggles. It's the switchbacks built by 'ol Walter and his crew around 1928. It is a statement of outstanding craftsmanship done back then. Walter later became the first superintendent of Zion National Park.

@@BackRoadsWest1 Thanks, I couldn't imagine that you know such details of that structure. Interesting

@@manooch - I didn't know, I read various books about it, so now I know, and now you know 🙂

You mean resolution? It was posted at 1920. Perhaps something wrong at your end.