Last week I had the opportunity to take a drive up through Zion. During the wintertime Zion is a different place as it’s much quieter and calmer, but no less stunning. In fact there is beauty found in Zion during winter that most people overlook, but you should not be one of those people.
One of my favorite parts of it is the fact that since there is so little traffic in comparison to the summer months, that the shuttles don’t run and you’re allowed to take your car up to the top (well anywhere the buses go). This offers for greater flexibility and means you don’t have to be dependent on a bus coming by at the right time, or have to carry all of your gear with you in one bag. It also means that the crowds are substantially less.
As you can see from this image I was able to capture (above), the scenery is still stunning and just waiting for you to take a drive up to see. Especially if there’s been a recent snow storm (unfortunately when I went there was little snow), when you get those canyon walls with a fresh coat of white snow, they completely change and it puts a real sense of newness to them.
In all my time in Zion I have rarely seen any longhorn sheep, but this time was the exception as I saw two separate herds. I stopped to snap some pictures and although I was fairly close to them, they acted as if they could care less about my presence. I guess that’s what happens when you grow up in a national park and almost no threat from humans.
I then headed up towards Checkerboard Mesa on the east side of Zion. It was great to be up a little higher and to see a little snow accumulation on the checkerboard.
As I began driving back down in to the main part of Zion the higher hills began to pop as the sun went down and I was greeted with a tremendous sunset view as I descended. I love it when the orange and red rock walls of Zion turn bright as the sun starts to drop down. Makes for an ever changing view for all of us.
This is also when I was able to snap the main photo in this post, just off of the bridge. There were several other photographers snapping away at the view, but I still think I was able to capture it just perfect.
So if you’re coming to southern Utah during winter, don’t be afraid to take a little drive up into Zion to see what there is to offer.
