TRIPPING WITH PHIL
Philip Andelman's Incredibly Infrequent Travel Newsletter™
(eating and) SKIING THROUGH THE ITALIAN ALPS
For this second installment of Tripping With Phil I’m going list-style, allowing you to build your own adventure.
Cortina D’Ampezzo
For this second installment of Tripping With Phil I’m going list-style, allowing you to build your own adventure. I’m always happy with feedback, so if you prefer a day-by-day itinerary format, let me know and I’ll favor those in the future.
A few notes before diving in:
The easiest airport to fly into is Venice. I would recommend booking a couple nights there beforehand as the ski season is also one of the quieter times to visit (though beware of the week surrounding Carnivale!).
This is a region where you will definitely want to have your own car so rent one straight from the Venice airport and make sure it’s all-wheel drive (and automatic if you don’t drive stick!).
One of the best meals you’ll have is minutes away from the airport. Make sure to score a table at Trattoria Al Passo. Off the side of the freeway and with a website that links to a dead Facebook page, it may not seem like much, but it’s a locals secret that is exceptional.
There are two towns in the area that we love equally for different reasons. Cortina has better food but the hotel and variety of slopes in San Cassiano is unbeatable. The two towns are about 30-40 minutes from each other, so perhaps stay in each for 4-5 days.
You can get your ski passes that cover both domains in advance here. Kids under 8 ski free!
All of the restaurants listed here require reservations. The best thing to do is a month before the trip tell the concierge of your hotel(s) which tables you want when and they will sort it all out. Seriously, it’s crazy how it gets, the first trip out I couldn’t even score a Snickers bar on the mountain the first day. But it’s all worth it for the meals you’ll enjoy. Also, make sure to be precise that you want to eat outdoors otherwise they’ll sit you inside like a chump.
Alpinn Restaurant atop Kronplatz
SAN CASSIANO
THE SLEEPING
Our favorite hotel here, The Rosa Alpina, has recently become part of the Aman collection, and while its scale is much quainter than the brand’s other offerings, it is still a really nice spot to spend a few days. It is currently under renovation (the bathrooms could use some Aman-ification), with plans to open for the 2024-25 season.
If you’re trying to get here sooner, the only other spot in this tiny town would be the well-located but more pedestrian Hotel Armentarola, whose outdoor deck is one of the best spots to grab lunch between runs. Finally, the adjoining town of Corvara is really charming and shares many of the San Cassiano slopes. I haven’t been to the Hotel Sassongher there but it seems okay if a bit dated.
THE SKIING
There are a few different zones around to choose from, most accessible straight from the hotel, with the third (that you must visit) an hour’s drive away.
Cassiano/Corvara/Colfosco/Sellaronda
This is the main area right out the door. A great variety of slope—though none too challenging—all linked together from the Piz Sorega lift in town. You can easily spend 2-3 days here, hardly repeating a slope.
Lagazuoi
This is just awesome. A proper- half day adventure. You’ll need to take a taxi or shuttle to get to the start (you’ll end up back at the hotel so taking your car doesn’t make much sense), which is a gondola right out of a Wes Anderson film. From here, ski down to THE GREATEST MEAL OF YOUR LIFE at Scotoni.
One of the few places to not accept reservations, you’ll want to get here on the earlier side. On a nice day, score a table outside and bask in the sun, on a cold one cosy up to the monster grill inside. Either way, make sure to get a big-ass steak and a heaping portion of Kaisherschmarnn, a scrambled pancake soufflé that is an Austrian speciality.
From here, follow the crowds down the mountain until you find yourself in line to take the most unique chairlift in Europe: a horse-drawn carriage with a big piece of rope trailing behind it that skiers just latch onto and are pulled all the way back to Armenterola where you can connect with the bulk of the slopes that will eventually get you back to San Cassiano. Note: this ride costs a couple euros, paid in cash to the sleigh driver, so make sure to have some spare coins on you!
Kronplatz-Plan de Corones
About an hour’s drive from San Cassiano, this huge resort is always deserted when we go despite having tons to offer. We really don’t get it, but you should hop in your car and drive here for the day.
Beyond empty slopes (some of the steepest in the region) and plenty of state-of-the-art lifts to get you around, the real draw is what awaits at the top of the mountain. First, the Messner Mountain Museum, a stunning contemporary bunker designed by Zaha Hadid. The space is small and will only take you about fifteen minutes to walk through (20 if you’re in your ski boots), but the views and the architecture are a marvel.
Second is the equally impressive Alpinn restaurant, an all-glass structure cantilevered over the top of the mountain, suspending you into sweeping views of the entire Dolemite region. The kitchen is run by Norbert Niederkofler, the three-star chef of the Alpina Rosa Hotel and now the Aman in Venice. When you’re done with your meal walk across the hall and take a quick tour of the second museum on the mountain (bonkers to think that there are TWO separate museums on the top of this peak!!), the Lumen Center for Mountain Photography. Two of their permanent installations are really impressive, especially the huge circular window that opens and closes like a camera lens’s aperture.
THE EATING
Scotoni - see above. Really only feasible for lunch due to its sole accessibility via the slopes.
Alpinn - see above. Ditto about it being only a lunch spot. If they have the onion and trout roe pasta, GET IT!
Hotel Armentarola. The outdoor deck is perfect for a schnitzel and a beer, I can’t vouch for the dinners but considering the lack of options around, if you stay here you may be eating here at night as well. Not the end of the world, it’s tasty. Note that the terrace is first come-first serve, no reservations so it’s best to get there EARLY on a nice sunny day (like, say 11:45).
Bioch On the San Cassiano/Corvara slopes, they have two menus, including one with recipes from the region’s best restaurants. Order a speciality pasta from this menu!!! From the restaurant ski down slope 7 to La Bata, then take the lift up to Pralongia and explore slopes 28 and 25.
Col Alt Also on the Corvara side of the slopes. Make sure to get the pasta with sausage and perhaps a cured meat plate. Skip the carbonara and the desserts.
Punta Trieste. Get the ribs here and ONLY the ribs.
DO NOT GO TO THE FOLLOWING RESTAURANTS: L’Fana Grill, Edelweiss, Las Vegas. Finally, there is a super-fancy restaurant in the Hotel La Perla called Stua de Michele. Imagine if the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo tried to charge you $250 for a tasting menu. If you want to revel in the kitsch, go for it, otherwise skip it.
El Camineto at Socrepes
CORTINA
THE SLEEPING
The obvious choice here is the Cristallo, a grand old palace hotel located high above the town with sweeping views of the mountain. Speaking of, make sure to get a room with views of the mountain!!! Also, make sure you book the hotel via this link, because there’s a shitty hotel a half hour away with almost the same name that a bunch of our friends got stuck in. This one’s wood-paneled rooms and suites are all named after the great luminaries who stayed here over the years. A warning though: many of the rooms—and even suites—are tiny. We were in the Nabokov suite the first year, but between its view of the parking lot, the sound of the recycled glassware being smashed at 5am, and the tiny size of the bedroom that made it impossible to open the closets due to their proximity to the bed, it felt more like the Kafka suite.
That said, I see it is also being renovated and turned into a Mandarin Oriental. (Do you sense a pattern here of everyone catching on to how great this region is??). Either hold off a year or reserve the more modern, beautifully understated Hotel De Len. The only tradeoff can also be a bonus: you’ll be right in the heart of town. There are no views to speak of and not much natural light, but you will be one door down from the best winebar in town, a block away from the best spot for hot chocolate, and five minutes closer to the slopes. Not a bad tradeoff, especially as you’ll be out all day anyways.
None of the hotels in Cortina offer ski in-out and the parking lots are a nuisance so rely instead on the complimentary shuttles the hotels run throughout the day.
THE SKIING
Like San Cassiano, there are three different regions here (Socrepes being the most central, Faloria the most overlooked, and Cinque Torri the most far-flung), but unlike San Cassiano, all of them are interconnected via gondolas. In anticipation of the Olympics they have been adding new lifts every year and it is IMPRESSIVE, even as the snow continues to disappear.
As I mentioned earlier, the slopes here are all on the easier side, nothing too challenging. After all, you can’t hit the bumps too hard after a three-course lunch. So instead of breaking down the three areas by terrain, I’ll just launch into the meals. Because this is where Cortina shines and blows away every other resort in the world.
One quick note: the best ski school for the kids (and adults!) with both private and group lessons is Scuola Sci Cortina. Again, book far in advance…
THE EATING
On the slopes…
At Socrepes
Baita Pi Tofana. I actually know someone who’s been coming to Cortina for over twenty years and when he discovered one year that it was being renovated, he canceled his trip. It’s insane. Even if you don’t ski, it’s worth the trip just for this place and San Brite. It’s absolutely tiny, and the deck isn’t that spectacular as you really just look out onto a parking lot. After the renovation the interior was glammed up a bit which takes you out of the romantic charm of the region, but by the time the antipasti arrive, you will be on another planet anyways.
El Camineto This is the ultimate deck to bask in the sun, enjoy a bottle of wine, savor exceptional pasta. It is suuuuch a scene yet happens to have amazing food to boot. This is also one of the toughest tickets in town to score so make sure to book early. As I went to pay inside once I overheard a regular talking up the owner and caught her name. I tried go in two days later without a reservation and said “Maria?”, absurdly hoping to trick her into thinking I too was a regular she simply hadn’t seen in awhile. I don’t speak much Italian, but I think her answer loosely translated to “and who the fuck are you?”
Also, a little pro tip: there are some great lunch spots off the slopes. The only way to get to them is to have a car. As I mentioned, parking in the lots is impossible BUT, there is a secret lot adjacent to the one for El Camineto so come here with your skis in your trunk, hit the slopes, and then jump back in your car for lunch at Lago Ghedina or El Brite.
La Loconda di Cantoniere Culinarily, this is the least interesting of the bunch but the most fun to get to. It is only accessible from the mountain by taking a secret little turn off a slope and gliding stealthily through the woods for ten minutes (there’s very little off-piste in the region so this is the one time you can glide between the trees). It’s a blast. If memory serves, take the first chairlift up, then the second one (The Shark), then the third. At the third, exit left and then stay on the right on Slope 38. Half way down on the right be on the lookout for a tiiiiiny little sign with the restaurant’s name and follow the signs for the next ten minutes. it’s so much fun!!!
At Faloria
Rio Ghere It might not look like much but back in the 50s-70s, this spot was the jam. It’s in the less-populated region of Faloria. I would recommend shuttling (or taxiing) to the restaurant in the morning and skiing the slopes on that side of the road (Son Forca), grabbing lunch, and then spending the afternoon on the Col De Varda side, before taking the Faloria gondola right back to the center of Cortina (where your hotel can pick you up). There’s a great local dish you get here and many other spots that consists of homefries, crispy proscuitto, and sunny-side up eggs. It’s incredible.
At Cinque Torri
Refuggio Averau. This one is a winner day or night. In the daytime you are on the top of the mountain, overlooking the alps, eating a plate of homemade tagliatelle soaked in butter and littered with white truffle, and at night a chairlift takes you half way up while a demented posse of outlaw snowmobilers take you the rest of the way. It’s absolutely terrifying, thoroughly thrilling, and you will either die or claim it was the greatest thing you’ve ever done. Either way, you’ll have a great great meal and a story to share.
Off the Slopes…
Two of the best restaurants in the region are partners, San Brite and El Brite de Larieto. El Brite is the less formal of the two, housed on a working farm that still smells like manure, but the food is out of this world. San Brite meanwhile is worthy of Top 50 in the World status. I don’t want to say anything more than this, but just know that both are some of the most specials meals I’ve ever had.
Lago Gehdina Tucked away in the woods by a frozen pond this place is magical and always abandoned. I can’t figure out why. The food’s great, the setting is fairy-tale-like, everything about it is wonderful. Oh well, guess it’s our secret.
Hotel de la Poste. While I wouldn’t stay here for the night, I would stay here all day on the terrace to soak in the rays and be served a perfect meal by waitstaff in classic white tuxedos. Doesn’t get more iconic Euro than this. Also great for an Spritz after ski.
Enoteca A great winebar in the heart of Cortina, this is the perfect spot to go around 6 or 7pm and order some small paninis before they all sell out, alongside a killer bottle of vino.
Lovat For the best hot chocolate and a delicious bombolini, this iconic pastry shop never fails to disappoint after a tough day on the slopes.
Stay Away from…Al Camin, super disappointing and over-hyped. Magla Federa is another spot where you will be ferried to dinner via snowmobile but Avereau is wayyyy better. Tivoli is fine but I’d sooner go to any of the other spots twice.
Finally, make sure to run through La Cooperativa for all your shopping essentials: food/home/everything, and bring back one of the iconic 70s style shopping bags.
Okay, that’s it. You’re sorted. Yummiest ski trip ever. Have a blast.
HOW TO HIKE UTAH’S FIVE NATIONAL PARKS IN A WEEK
This particular itinerary is neither for the 5-star-only folks out there, nor the nomadic RV-types. It’s right in between, a mix of motels, hotels, and fancy tents.
A few notes before beginning…
This particular itinerary is neither for the 5-star-only folks out there, nor the nomadic RV-types. It’s right in between, a mix of motels, hotels, and fancy tents. I’ve tried to give multiple options for as many places as possible, but a lot of these spots just don’t have that many options! Adapt as you wish…
Similarly, the hikes covered are right down the middle. There are strenuous days, there are easier days, but none of these are casual strolls nor so technical as to require special skills beyond the ability to walk.
I highly recommend grabbing a subscription to All Trails where you can look up all these hikes and others (easier ones, harder ones…), and VERY IMPORTANTLY, download the maps ahead of time! This is crucial when hiking without cell phone reception. The app works incredibly well and between this and overall well-marked trails, you will never be lost.
Additionally, pairing this with an Apple Watch will allow you to keep closer track of distances, elevation gains, and more for better accuracy, knowing when to expect a turn in the trail, etc…
A final purchase a month or so in advance is a National Parks parking pass. You can get one here for $80.
The ideal time of year for these hikes is mid-fall or late spring. Too early in spring and there will be too much snow or heavy mud from the melting snowpack, and too late into the fall and the weather risks becoming too cold/wet. Basically end of April-late May and October are the sweet spots. Do not try this trip mid-summer!!!! And some of the roads to access the parks/trails are closed in winter.
Let’s dive in!
DAY 0 - THE FLIGHT IN
Fly or drive into Vegas. If you’re coming from anywhere other than Los Angeles, take a flight that gets you into town just in time to grab a bite and head to bed early (or conversely an early flight that can have you jump directly into Day 1, below). I prefer hotels without casinos so The Four Seasons and Waldorf Astoria are decent bets, though it’s my firm conviction that there are no great hotels in Vegas.
For an exceptional meal off The Strip, check out the legendary Thai restaurant Lotus of Siam. If you are coming from LA, just start your day extra-early by driving out in time for lunch in Vegas and roll right into tomorrow’s itinerary.
DAY 1 - TRAVEL DAY
If you’re coming from LA, pack a proper cooler, otherwise make sure you have a good thermo-bag, something that can keep a couple bags of ice and snacks cold for a full day.
In the morning go to the Whole Foods on Las Vegas Blvd. and stock up on trail treats and any fresh foods you love. The first couple days before you hit Moab will be rough food-wise and you’ll want some tasty treats that can be kept cool. We stocked up on yoghurts, cheese, cold cuts, berries, and fruit, for a picnic at Capitol Reef (Day 3), but you do you.
From here, drive four hours to Bryce Canyon. Along the way in St. George there’s an exceptional Peruvian rotisserie chicken spot, Viva Chicken, that looks like a chain but tastes like heaven. Alternately, you can hit the Peppermill in Vegas for a breakfast so obscenely large you won’t have to eat for the entire next week on the road.
The sleeping options in/near Bryce are scant. We stayed at the Stone Canyon Inn and while their “treehouses” are fun and offer a great view, the place is NOT great, but rather sufficiently adjacent to the park to pass muster. Their restaurant, the Stone Hearth Grille, is the one “upscale” meal in town. It’s fine.
The best hotel option, which requires up to a year’s planning, is the Lodge inside Bryce Canyon. The rooms aren’t terrific there either but it gets you inside the park and about 100m away from the trailheads. You can’t beat it. And of all the lodges inside all the National Parks of Utah (all of which are run by a service company on par with Best Western), it’s the only one to retain the original structure dating back over a hundred years.
Finally, you can find some Western rococo at the Bryce Canyon cabins...
Sunrise at Bryce Canyon
DAY 2 - BRYCE CANYON
There are two great hikes to do in Bryce Canyon and you should do both. Depending on when you arrived the day before, you could tackle the shorter hike below (Wall Street-Queens Garden) on Day 1 around magic hour and the longer one (Fairyland) today. Or, if you’re game, do both on Day 2. If you park at the Sunrise Point Parking lot near the park’s General Store, you’ll be a stone’s throw from both trailheads.
Wall Street and Queens Garden Loop Trail
As with most of the trails on this trip, you’ll want to start as early as possible to maximize your time in the shade (I’ll keep repeating this throughout).
The Wall Street portion is by far the most stunning and challenging, and it was actually closed for repairs when we hiked it. But even if it’s closed, HIKE IT! There was a bit of deterioration along the path’s final switchbacks, but it’s wholly doable. This is a quick hike, probably done in a couple hours. If you start at 8a, you’ll be done by 10:30 at the latest. Which gives you time to fuel up back at your car, take a break at the general store, and then do the Fairyland Loop Trail.
Do this trail counterclockwise, so from Sunrise Point head left and follow the trail signs. The most beautiful part of this long, tough hike (8 miles, about 4-5 hours at a good clip) will be at the beginning, allowing you to savor the sights with all your energy intact. By the time you reach peak exhaustion at the end, you’ll simply be walking the final two miles on a flat trail along the rim of the canyon at sunset, marveling at all you accomplished below.
For dinner, reward yourself with some decent BBQ in the town of Tropic at IDK BBQ. And for a little side field trip, check out the photogenic town of Panguitch, where you can grab an ice cream cone at the local movie theater and maybe even catch a screening.
Arriving at Capitol Reef National Park
DAY 3 - CAPITOL REEF
Get a good start the following morning and set your sights on Capitol Reef National Park, the most overlooked of the five found in Utah, but a real sleeper hit in our books.
As a side note, if you have time, stay an extra day and night en route here and hike Grand Escalante National Monument. Lower Calf Creek Falls takes leads you through canyons to a stunning waterfall (in springtime). You can spend the extra night in a renovated airstream at Yonder Escalante.
As you drive through sweeping Route 12, make sure to pull over at the scenic overlook to learn the story of how the road was built. And grab a breakfast burrito at Magnolia’s in the tiny town of Boulder. Their converted schoolbus is parked in the lot of the Anasazi Museum. While you wait for your order to be ready visit the museum and the ruins of ancient dwellings.
When you reach Capitol Reef, make a beeline for the Gifford Homestead store, and score one (or many) of their delicious homemade pies. One of the best culinary treats on your trip.
From here, lace up and hike the Cohab Canyon Trail. The first 15 minutes are intimidating but then it plateaus out into a fun, flat little Canyon scramble. You can do a there-and-back jaunt that shouldn’t take more than a couple hours. Return to your car for a lovely picnic with the last of your fresh produce from Whole Foods LV.
It’s now a long dull slog until you make it to Moab, the longest drive beside the one to Zion in a few days. Luckily your few hours in Capitol Reef will have broken up the route.
Heading towards Moab
You’ll be in Moab for the next three nights so choose your accommodations wisely. There are three different ways you can go.
Heart of Town. Moab is a fun town reminscent of a mini Boulder, CO. Many of the towns near National Parks (Bryce, Springdale, etc…) feel like they are built solely around the business of the park. Not so at Moab which feels like an all-around mecca for outdoor types. In the center of town, the Gonzo Inn is a generically-bland motel with great signage, but little else going for it.
If you want the poshest room in the area, head out of town 30 minutes to Sorrel Ranch. We chose not to stay there because it looked a bit contrived. But it’s got great reviews and little cabins (that feel a little overly art-directed), and upon reflection, maybe we should have stayed here…
Middle of nowhere. Ulum Moab feels like a millennial’s Amangiri at a fraction of the price. 50 “luxury” tents with hot showers, flushable toilets, and Aesop products, beds with Pendleton blankets, and quaint wood-burning stoves. All centered around a main restaurant and set a quarter-mile from the picturesque Looking Glass Rock. We stayed here and the tents were the perfect size for a couple, a bit cramped with a kid. The resort is very environmentally “aware” so time your stay here right: in summer the tents will be sweltering, during winter ice cold. We had our woodburning stove lit all night but by 1am it had died down and I was forced to stoke it twice each night, not ideal when you’re exhausted after a nine mile hike. Ask in advance for a tent on the farthest end of the resort, with an uninterrupted view, otherwise you’ll simply be looking out on scores of other tents or the parking lot!
The minimal elegance of Arches National Park
DAY 4 - ARCHES
Besides Capitol Reef, this is one of the easiest (yet busiest) parks to hike. Since the ideal activity is to watch the sun set over the Delicate Arch, spend the day walking through Moab. A few highlights…
Coffee and breakfast at Moab Garage Co.
A burger and milkshake at Milt’s Stop&Eat
The toy and tchotchke aisles at Walker Drug Co.
The donuts at Doughbird
If you need to restock your snack supply, Moonflower Community Co-op
Arches is the only park of the five that requires an advanced, timed parking permit, which can be procured here. Once you’re in the park however, you can stay as long as you like. You could conceivably go crack of dawn and be the first to Delicate Arch and then have the rest of the day free, but we decided to sleep in one day and get into the park in the late afternoon.
You’ll want to be at the Delicate Arch parking lot about two hours before actual sunset. This will allow you one hour to do the hike (it will prob. only take you 45 minutes), and then another hour to take in the view and watch the sun change the rock’s colors. Beware: you will not be alone! This was by far the busiest of all the spaces we visited, a pilgrimage of sorts. One octogenarian who was doing the hike in overalls and without water (both bad ideas) stopped me to say that if I didn’t believe in God, I would after witnessing the arch. He wasn’t too far off the mark.
The park does not close, so while there will be a mass exodus once the sun has set, if you bring headlamps and feel brave, you could always stay to watch the star-filled sky before returning back. You will be the best judge of whether or not you could pull this off while hiking to the arch. Either way, make sure to pack a good headlamp for this one!!
You should have time for at least one other hike before this one and there are sooooo many to choose from. We hoofed it along the Double O Arch Trail to Landscape Arch as this is the most fragile of all the arches and there is a strong chance it won’t last much longer. On the short walk there you will also have the option to branch off and hit a couple other arches including Pine Tree, the only one you can walk beneath. The Double O trail can either be done as a really long loop (6 miles) or just out-and-back as far as you want. The loop area begins right around Landscape Arch.
Driving through Canyonlands National Park
DAY 5 - CANYONLANDS
This park is so big there are three separate entrances and regions: The Maze, Islands in the Sky, and the Needles. The most interesting topography can be found at The Needles down south which is where today’s hike, Chesler Park Loop Trail, is situated. It’s also fully exposed to the sun so again, START HIKING EARLY!!! It’s fairly remote and the longest of all the hikes so plan on at least 2.5 liters of water per adult.
Another reason to start early is to score one of the precious few spots at the Elephant Hill parking lot. The day we arrived—foolishly around 11am (wayyy too late sun-wise)—there were only seven spots left. If you can’t find a spot here, the only real option is to park illegally and get a ticket (they won’t tow you and think of the ticket as a further donation to the parks!).
The first half of Chesler Park Loop Trail is a straight in-and-out through insane rock formations that make you feel like you’ve landed on an alien planet. The first half of the first half is fairly flat and straight ahead but soon you’ll be dropping in and out of the Needle formations, scrambling up and down rocks for an hour or so.
Take a nice long lunch break at the halfway mark when you rise through a pass between the two massive rock formations that greet the entrance to the “park” area. Now you will have an approx. five mile loop ahead of you. If you don’t think you can hack it, just U-turn back, you’ll still have 3 miles before you get back to your car.
If you continue, proceed counterclockwise to start with the most challenging terrain before shooting through narrow slot canyons (check with the visitor center to make sure there are no risks of flash floods!), and finally a dirt road, before returning right back at the two large rocks and hour and a half hike back to the lot.
If you stay at Ulum on this day, you’ll probably be too dead to do anything else but go home and eat something simple before collapsing in bed. If you’re staying in Moab though, reward yourself with a tall one at Woody’s Tavern or pizza at Antica Forma. It’s not Lucali’s, but after today’s hike it will be the best pizza you’ve ever eaten.
The Islands In The Sky region of Canyonlands Park
DAY 6 THE LONG DRIVE TO ZION
The least fun day of all. A five hour drive on the interstate to make it to Zion. If you want one last fill of Canyonlands and Arches, you could tack on a couple hours to the drive and head to the Islands in the Sky region of Canyonlands and do the ten minute Mesa Arch Trail. You’ll be rewarded with sweeping views of the park from above that contrast with the labyrinth down below that you navigated the day before. You could also be crazy and tackle the Shafer Canyon 4x4 trail for some adventurous driving. But remember, you got almost five hours of driving to go.
Finally, just before Islands in the Sky is a turn-off for Deadhorse Point Park, a separate state park that offers beautiful vistas of the horseshoe bends of the Colorado River. It’s just as long a detour as Canyonlands and just as beautiful. I wouldn’t do both though. I wish I could give you suggestions of other things to do along the way to break up the monotony of this day but there’s not that much.
As for lodging near Zion, again the pickings are slim. The main town of Springdale is filled with crappy chain motels and crappier non-chain motels. There are some decent Airbnbs available—like this one—but they book up fast. An impressive new luxury resort, Spirit Zion hadn’t opened yet, but perhaps when you get around to booking this trip it will have. There is a more rugged version of the Ulum tents of Moab called Under Canvas, and if you stay there, insist on Tent #5, the only one with unobstructed views of Zion. You will truly feel all alone in the world watching the sunrise here.
Like Bryce, there is a lodge operated by the park, right in the heart of it. But it sells out about a year ahead of time so if this is your pick (and again, you will be 100m from the trail heads), plan your trip early!!!
Camping on the edge of Zion
DAY 7 - ZION
The lines to get into the park in Springdale and access their parking lot begin EARLY so you’ll want to reach the entrance by 7:30am, which will also come in handy if you are planning on hiking any of the more challenging, sun-facing trails. Most of the good stuff is only accessible via a road that has been closed to the public for some years, so after parking at the visitor center hop aboard a tram to take you to and from the trailhead (the trams are really well run, and arrive every 5-10 minutes). Below are a few trail possibilities.
The Narrows and Subway Trails
Two of the most iconic, thrilling trails in the park. Be VERY careful when planning to hike either of them. Depending on time of year they will be closed due to high water levels and—regardless of time of year—will involve you getting wet (best time for these is in the early fall before the rains). If you want to hike them, reach out to Zion Adventures Company and they will rent you the appropriate gear (drysuit, sticks, etc…) and for an astronomical fee, they can guide you themselves (not required as these are popular hikes that are well-marked). Again, check the day before and day of to ensure that the trails are safe and open before embarking on them.
Kayenta Trail to Emerald Pools
An incredibly short and easy trail that is best done in the spring as the snowpack melts and the waterfalls are at their most impressive, this trail will take you from the 6th stop on the shuttle tram straight to the Zion Lodge/5th stop, while hugging the riverbanks and zig-zagging past stunning little pools of water. A light casual stroll that you could even double up with Scout’s Landing as the two share the same trailhead.
Scout Lookout and Angels Landing
Angels Landing is the only trail in Zion that requires a permit to climb, due to the very narrow path and hordes of people wishing to hike it. You can try for the permit a few months out and there is a last-minute lottery that opens up each day, 24 hours ahead of time. However, it’s good to know that Scout Lookout is the same trail minus the final quarter mile to the Angels viewpoint. Even if you don’t score a pass to Angels, you can continue at the junction to the West Rim Trail and follow that, up to three more miles. After a half a mile you’ll actually be above Angels and have sweeping vista views all around you.
NOTE: this is not the longest trail on the itinerary but it is the steepest!!! If you start much past 9:30/10a you will be in full sun climbing up endlessly. The trail is actually paved which is a bit of a letdown after all the wilderness you will have discovered over the past week, but don’t let that fool you. It’s allllll uphill, with countless switchbacks. And just when you think it’s over and you walk quietly through the narrow canyon that is home to Mexican Owls, you will actually only be half way up the brutally steep climb!
Depending on which trails you hike, and how early you start your adventure, you can jump right back into your car and drive the short distance (2.5 hours) to Vegas and be there in time for a red-eye to the East Coast or the hour flight to LA.
That’s it. You did it. Five of the greatest national parks all in one state, all in one week!
