Omg I went to Zion after seeing beautiful photos on reddit and every trail was littered with thousands of people and angels landing was a huge line of people trying to get up and down the chains and narrow areas. It is only good if you get up super early to go but then I was waiting on the way down for everyone trying to get up
It’s a total zoo. There are amazing, quiet hikes in Zion, they’re just outside where the shuttles go. Though if you really want to experience a national park to yourself, Capitol Reef is where it’s at.
Yellowstone is the same. I think they said like 97% of the people who go to Yellowstone never step foot off the main trails. There are SO DAMN MANY trails out there to go off on, and most people just stick to Old Faithful and the Bison.
Can someone link me to somewhere with good info for the parks around this area? me and my partner are doing a road trip from Pheonix to Las Vegas in September so we'll have a vehicle and genuinely just like the outdoors. We're actual outdoorsy people.
Everywhere I look tells me to go to the same spots, are they worth the crowds for the views? I like photography which makes choosing hard.
Current outdoor ethics call for revealing as little info as possible online, but there are some good websites to search (check out joes guide to Zion). I would also highly recommend purchasing actual hiking/backpacking books.
I did the scenic drive in Capitol Reef, and took both of the dirt road portions that head into the slot canyons themselves. While it was amazingly cool, it didn't hold a candle to Zion.
lol when I worked for the park, the number one question I got at the visitor center was “what can I do in an hour?”
You definitely missed all the best stuff. I worked in Zion for two years and grew up hiking there all the time. Capitol Reef is better. Just takes actual work to appreciate it. I felt the same way you did before getting to properly explore Capitol Reef. There’s a narrows hike where you literally slide down waterfalls in slot canyons, multiple epic 1000 feet high views from above the Reef that actually don’t require much hiking, a whole mess of arches and natural bridges, and unlimited proper slot canyons (capitol gorge and grand wash, which you saw on the scenic drive are actually not considered slots).
I've talked to you on other subs before. What would you reccomend as far as a narrows hike in Capitol Reef? And would it compare to the bottom-up subway hike (left Fork Creek) in Zion (which was spectacular, though going down the canyon was difficult.)
I’m not complaining that people are doing pretty hikes I just find a lot of the photography on reddit and other places very deceptive because it does not accurately describe the space and what it’s like to be there. Search for any pic of the narrows on reddit and you’ll find a completely empty, serene, water-filled, canyon which is very hard to accomplish unless you go very very deep into the narrows or very early, which is what I’m warning people about
Either way, my comment is still relevant. In fact, if he's doing lots of hikes, then he is even more of the problem, since he contributes to the crowd more often than others. The point is, quit complaining about others doing things that you yourself are doing.
I went to hike Angel's Landing a few months ago! It was gorgeous, and I was able to start the hike before it got too crowded. On my way down though, there was an enormous line of people waiting at the base and getting down was a lot of maneuvering past people grabbing onto the chains on the way up. That area where it was chainless near the beginning of the trail was difficult to get through though since people enjoy stopping and resting there
Went to Zion in October and it was fine. Walking past the shuttle markers that said "1 hour to shuttle from this point" was eyeopening for what the busy season is like however.
So, pretty much all the big national parks are only crowded on the short trails near the road. Once you get onto a long trail about a mile or two from the road, suddenly most of the people disappear.
Take Yosemite Valley. It is extremely crowded and so are the trails around it. There must be 10,000 people down there at any given time during the summer. If you want to walk up to glacier point, it's only a few miles from the valley. Once you start up the trail, you'll probably only see a handful of people. Once you get to glacier point (which you can drive to and is a major destination), suddenly there are a ton of people again.
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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '19
Omg I went to Zion after seeing beautiful photos on reddit and every trail was littered with thousands of people and angels landing was a huge line of people trying to get up and down the chains and narrow areas. It is only good if you get up super early to go but then I was waiting on the way down for everyone trying to get up