Skiing — Zion National Park, Utah — Three more walks — The Riverside, The Watchman and The Archeology

Three trails in one morning

February 2015

The Riverside Trail

At the top of the main Zion National Park canyon is the Riverside Walk that moves from the wide canyon into a more narrow gorge. This change in landscape was caused by the underlying geology and the action of the water.

Walking up through the gorge is possible, but you should have the correct equipment — drysuits, suitable footwear and poles. It is also advisable to watch the weather as it is prone to flash flooding.

The poles and dry suits could be hired in the local town of Springdale for around $40.

The Watchman Trail

The Watchman trail was great, and we were lucky to have it pretty much to ourselves for the 2-hour hike — except for the last 10 minutes when we bumped into two other people. The trail started at the visitors’ centre and headed up along the river. It was a fantastic morning for a hike — cool with sunshine. The trail was also great as it allowed us to get up close to the geology, plus it had some excellent views.

A splendid hike and well worth the effort.

The Archeology Trail

Well, the Archeology Trail was a letdown. It was ‘billed’ as a 30-minute hike of 0.5 miles (0.8 km) to see some ‘Archeology’ showing early human activity in Zion National Park. The trailhead was hard to find as it was pretty well hidden around the back of the visitors’ centre, near a large carpark that was being used for the park buses.

The trail was short. Very short. And took all of 5 minutes. At the top, there was quite a nice view up the park.

The only possible evidence of some archaeology was a row of stones.

And, that was it…. Not really worth the effort.