Winter escape to Zion National Park — in a pandemic

The plan was for my mom to fly from Palm Springs to Denver about a week prior to Christmas Day. My immediate family of four would lie low in the week before she arrived. Once she arrived, we’d basically not leave the house for 10 days and have a grand ol’ time baking, cooking, making our annual gingerbread houses, playing cards, drinking a lot of prosecco.

Then my husband and I were going to drive my mother home to Palm Desert (13 hours one way; not in BB the RV, she’s getting work done), stopping for a couple nights at Utah’s Zion National Park on the return — adding a little sightseeing to our road trip, as safely as we could.

Alas, mom canceled her trip out here just days before she was set to get on a plane. I TOTALLY get it. And supported the decision wholeheartedly. Though we thought we’d made the safest plans possible — reducing her flying to just one leg instead of four — the Covid-19 risk to my 77-year-old mom wasn’t worth it!

So… my little family hunkered down at home through the Christmas holiday, and opened gifts with my mom via Zoom. Honestly, it was good. Relaxing. Stress-free to do, really, nothing!

But when it came to canceling our cabin reservation in Zion, we decided not to. My husband and I figured we’d road trip to a neighboring state — avoiding people, packing our own food, etc. — the same way we did in May, when we visited Moab for a much-needed (okay, wanted) dose of getting out of our house and adventuring in the outdoors.

And it was great. And I’d do it again. But here are a few things to keep in mind if you, too, are planning trips to national parks this year.

First up: Red Mountain Resort & Spa

I have a love affair with Red Mountain Spa going on, though it’s been 10 years since I visited. Adjacent to Snow Canyon State Park in Ivins, Utah, this resort is known for its all-inclusive program. Pay one fee, and get 3 meals a day, plus access to daily hikes and fitness programs.. (Pay extra for spa services.) Once I’m vaccinated, I’m going back for the full treatment.

But since we weren’t planning to eat indoors, or get massages, my husband and I booked the room-only rate for the one night we spent about 90 minutes outside Zion National Park. We strolled through the property’s lava-rock fields the afternoon we arrived, ordered yummy takeout for dinner, and hiked for a couple of hours at the state park before checking out the next morning.

Hiking in Zion National Park

At Zion, the goal was to a) revel in the majestic red cliffs and bright blue skies b) get some solid outdoor exercise and c) avoid people.

Because we booked a cabin at the Zion Lodge, we were able to drive our car from the South Entrance to the lodge, halfway up Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. Otherwise, in the holiday week we visited, reservation-only shuttles carted visitors from the visitor’s center to key scenic points and trailheads in the canyon.

We could have used our shuttle tickets (just $1 each!) to motor up the Scenic Drive to see the sights north of the lodge and pick up hiking trails up there, but opted out. We found plenty of hikes within walking distance of the lodge, no packing into buses (albeit at 50% capacity) necessary.

So, we traipsed around the short Grotto Trail and the Lower Emerald Pools Trail one afternoon — actually turning away from the West Rim Trail, with so many people at the trailhead. After each shuttle arrived at the bus stop — and they came and went every 5 minutes or so — throngs got off and all headed to the same place! The large majority of folks were masked, and kept their distance.

Still, it’s hard to escape crowds during a holiday week at Zion — even in chilly temperatures. I can only imagine how crowded the trails are at this popular park in the summer months — be forewarned if you’re planning pre-vaccine travel to the national parks this summer!

So, we figured we’d get up early the next morning to avoid other hikers. We were out the door at 8:15 a.m. with the temperature about 25 degrees. Yes, there were fewer people on the West Rim Trail to Scout Lookout that early in the day — but many folks had the same idea! By the time we’d turned around at the top around 10 a.m. (opting not to venture out to the long drop-offs of Angel’s Landing!), and started heading back down, there was a steady stream of people heading up.

Dining, lodging at Zion National Park

Funny, when we first road-tripped from home, earlier in the pandemic last year, the masked hotel front-desk employees and plexiglass shielding me from them struck me as so unusual. Now, it’s old hat — along with hand sanitizer in the lobby and stickers every 6 feet on the ground. At Zion Lodge, loitering in the lobby was not welcomed, so no one was around when we checked in.

Employees at the next-door gift shop also limited the number of folks entering the small space — we waited a while to go in to quickly pick up a souvenir sticker for my laptop.

The on-site restaurant at the lodge is closed, and people had to wait outside to place an order for take-out at a make-shift kiosk. We ended up not ordering any food from the grill, having packed sandwich fixings, breakfast bagels, snacks, and drinks (though we did venture into the town of Springdale for one midday meal outdoors).

And as far as our “cabin” went, indeed, it was styled like a cabin, but part of a four-plex of three other adjacent rooms, so not free-standing. This felt a little safer than walking through the lodge — and passing folks — to get to a standard room. No air was being recycled or circulating among the cabins, as each had its own wall unit to heat the room, as well as a gas fireplace. Bottom line: This felt perfectly fine to us, with little risk of breathing in virus-filled air!

What’s next?

Until Covid-19 is under control — worldwide — my family has no plans to hop on a plane for kicks anytime soon. (Though Kaylin will fly back east to college later this month.) The method of travel we’ve enjoyed since last May — weekend road trips, longer RV travel — is working for us, for now.

That said, I’m certainly dreaming of international trips. At this point I’d welcome airport delays, people crowded around a baggage carousel, jet lag, missing hotel reservations, confusedly navigating foreign streets, and all the other inconveniences that come with traveling and exploring a new-to-me place!

Next up, once the kids return to college, Quent and I are considering another BB road trip, this time to the southwest. Unfortunately, right now with California cases spiking, the state isn’t allowing campgrounds to host overnight guests, so we’ve yet to book anything. I sure would like to visit my mom in toasty warm Palm Desert, but we’re waiting to see how things shake out in the next couple weeks — the low percentage of available ICU beds in southern California and parts of Arizona is certainly unnerving.

So, we sit tight for a bit, wait for BB the RV to get her new flooring (yay for ripping out the 14-year-old shag carpet!), and dream of hitting the road again, to warmer climes (it’s 14 degrees outside as I type this). While this season of empty-nesting is nothing like I thought it would be, I can certainly wait a while longer to be a bit more footloose and fancy free!

I’d love to know what sort of travel — if any — you all have planned for the coming months…. let me know in the comments!