Utah’s Zion National Park offers scenic family fun By Carrie Wheeler • Photos courtesy of the Wheeler-Wiggins family
M
y family has never been particularly outdoorsy. Sure, we take the occasional spin on a bike or venture out on a (well-traversed) hiking path. Camping
trips only happen with my 10-year-old son’s bi-annual Scout campouts. In non-COVID times, our family vacations generally revolved around big cities,
restaurants, shopping and sites. This year, obviously, things are different. COVID numbers are fluctuating, new variants emerging and travel is still unavailable in many places internationally. Even though my husband and I have been vaccinated, my son hasn’t, so we are not comfortable flying, dining inside restaurants or visiting crowded areas. With these parameters in mind, we figured that the safest course of action was a destination accessible by car where we could spend most of our time outdoors. Bonus if we could try something new and different — not a tall order considering we’ve done a whole lot of nothing for the past year. Basically, we were ready to test the traveling waters, so we decided to do it at Zion National Park. Zion National Park in Utah is a mere 6.5 hour drive from Phoenix. The massive, crazy and wondrous canyons and rock structures are awe-inspiring and filled with hiking trails, wildlife and a whole lot of natural beauty. The closest town, Springdale, lies at the south of the national park and has the feel of a smaller version of Sedona with restaurants, bars, art galleries and little shops. In the past, I filed national park vacations away as aspirational — something I should want to do, but probably more meant for people excited to pitch a tent and squat in the forest who are able to exude calm in the presence of bears. In Zion, we definitely found provisions for those looking to rough it. But there’s also room for those who require a certain amount of luxury (like private toilets) on their vacations. On our trip, we opted for a sliding scale of adventure. It started at Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort (zionponderosa.com), a family-friendly enclave and a destination on its own. Located about 15 minutes east of the park proper, Ponderosa has vacation rentals and cabin suites (the only options with private bathrooms), cowboy cabins, glamping options that ranged from spacious tents to
30 June 2021 RaisingARIZONAKids.com
