mom camp: zion edition

My two youngest and I just got back from a few epic days at what we like to call Mom Camp: Zion Edition. I had some of you asking questions as I was sharing our adventures on Instagram, so now sharing all the details for you here in one big blog post.

During the pandemic when most things were shut down, including summer camps, some of us created a “bubble” of close friends so we could still socialize without too much exposure to that virus we knew very little about. When we all got restless (like everyone else), we decided to take our bubble and change the scenery for a few days.  We rented an Air BnB together in the White Mountains area of Arizona to keep ourselves and our gaggle of kids entertained. We dubbed it a “mom camp” and this year we picked Zion National Park, so therefore this is the Zion Edition!

Since then, our same group of friends continued the tradition of a mom + kids trip in the summer. After our family moved away, it became a bit trickier to figure out a middle point and organize it, but we finally settled on Zion National Park. Which just so happens to be almost equidistant for our family and our Arizona friends.

stay

Based on a recommendation one of my friends got, we stayed at Zion Mountain Ranch, which I honestly can’t recommend highly enough. (Not sponsored or hosted)

The ranch has a great location, close to the Zion National Park entrance. They advertise that it’s about 10 minutes from the park, but do note that is the park ENTRANCE, and to get to the visitor center is about 45 minutes to an hour+, depending on traffic, time of day you go, and time of year as well.

ZMR offers smaller cabins for couples or small families, but this unit was one of their newer and bigger lodges that sleeps up to 16. There was double master suites upstairs, as well as a third queen bedroom, another king bed with an ensuite bathroom downstairs, and a kids’ bunk room with two sets of double bunk beds in the downstairs as well.

There is also a farm-to-table restaurant, Cordwood, on site where we had dinner one night, which is nice feature because there isn’t much else as far as resturaints in this immediate area.

One of the major highlights for all of our kids were the animals on property. There is a herd of protected buffalo – even a baby buffalo who’s mama had abandoned him who we got to see during a feeding! Also horses, pigs, chickens, and the sweetest Great Pyrenees guardian dogs. The kids spent hours with the animals and probably would’ve spent even more, had we had more time here. It made me a bit nostalgic for our backyard chickens!

 

play

There is so much you could do and see both in and around Zion National Park. As we were a group of 4 moms and 9 kids (ages 6-10), we were looking for things that would be fun and do-able for all ages and abilities in our group.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

On our first full day in the area, we decided to try sand boarding at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. This state park of Utah was a pretty cool experience, where you can climb/hike the dunes and the park also offers these wooden boards to rent, that are specific for “sledding” down the sand on. They also have a snowboard style board available, but we all opted for these boards, as they seemed easier. The rentals are $25/each and it worked pretty well for us to have one per kid.

For this adventure, my best advice is to go early in the day (we were there in late June where daily highs can be in the 90s), bring lots of water, and be prepared for an excellent leg workout! We had some pooped kids by the end, but all in all, I would still say worth it and lots of fun!

Rapelling in a Slot Canyon

This was another activity that was recommended to us through a friend, and one we were all really looking forward to. These slot canyons made of sandstone are unique to the southwest, and were formed by water millions of years ago, as well as wind in more recent times. Our guide said that a seahorse fossil was even found at the top of one of these cliffs a few years back, indicating this area was at one time part of the ocean floor!

We chose ROAM Outdoor Adventure Co. for this tour, as they offered at 2.5 hour tour for ages 4+. This is what they called the “Ladder Slot Canyon,” although that name was just given by the tour company as they are the only ones who offer a tour in this particular canyon. It also came with a UTV ride to the trial head, which the kids thought was pretty fun. They were screaming like it was a roller coaster, haha. But honestly it was relatively mild and mom-approved.

 

With our bigger group, there was a lot of downtime between rappels, but the kids had a blast just playing in the sand, climbing the canyon walls, and even making slides out of some of the rock faces. Again I would suggest morning time is best if you go during the summer, although all of the canyon is shaded all day long, and it was pleasantly cooler down in here.

hiking the narrows

This hike inside Zion National Park is probably the most well known and popular within the park. It also had a lot of buildup for our group, as again we had various ages, sizes, and abilities.

As we got closer to the trip, we started to learn more on how busy the park can get, especially in the summertime. Zion National Park is busy year round, with some estimates at as many as 5 million visitors per year! So we opted for this shuttle service for $15 per person, which left directly from our accommodations at ZMR to the Park Visitor Center. This way, we wouldn’t have to be worried about parking, which we were told can be full by 8 am daily.

However, I will say having done it this way, in the future I would recommend leaving on the earlier side and getting there as early as possible. The “before 8am” marker is probably a good idea. The reason being, when you get there a bit later (we arrived at the park visitor center around 9:15 am from our private shuttle) the delays start to domino. After bathroom breaks and water refills, we then had to wait in the free shuttle line for about 45 more minutes. The free shuttle system within the park is the only way to access the park and hiking trails, there are no private cars or shuttles allowed past this point. If you take the shuttle to the last stop 9, the Temple of Sinawava to hike the Narrows a we did, it takes another 30 minutes or so. The first part of the “trail” is a paved path, which is more accessible for all abilities. By the time we got to the water trailhead, some in our group had to change into water shoes, get snacks, we didn’t start in the water until after 11 am.

The point being, plan ahead accordingly, and earlier is better!

Someone likened these shuttle lines to “like Disneyland” and honestly, I would say that is an accurate description. In my mind, I didn’t think it would be that bad, but it was pretty wild! The shuttle line did move quickly though, with several big charter busses serving the public that they packed to standing room only for every trip.

Ok but despite the crowds and delays, I have to say, hiking the Narrows was FUN still and worth it! I just felt like I needed to preface with the crowd situation because even though I had read “it can get crowded” I, personally, was not prepared for the amount of people we experienced! The public was out public-ing so hard. 😉

The weather was really warm that day (again, highs in the 90s), but the water was cold (around 40°) so it balanced out well. I also want to say: I think most anyone can do this hike! The deepest the water got for us on this late June day us was up to my waist (I am 5’9″) and my 8-year old literally swam through that part, while I held our pack over my head. Some of our smaller friends got carried across the (very breif) deepest part.

gear for the narrows

This was another topic we did a lot of reading and research about as a group. I definitely recommend trekking poles or a walking stick for balance, and shoes that will drain water. You can rent these at many local outfitters, and also at the Visitor Center. Some of our friends rented neoprene socks and hiking boots and were very happy with that choice. But our family was fine with wool socks. My kids wore their Keens and I wore my Ultra trail shoes (which are not waterproof or even water shoes, per se, but they worked just great). Quick dry shorts/sun shirts are also a good idea.

eats

This is the part of my travel blogs where I usually like to share the great eats we found while on our trip. However, as I mentioned, there wasn’t much around where we stayed at Zion Mountain Ranch. One of the good things about renting the bigger cabin a the ranch was that we had a full kitchen, so we could make all of our meals and pack lunches easily every day. We did a little meal planning and it was pretty easy, overall, to feed our crew that way. As I mentioned above, we did eat the one night at their on-property restaurant Cordwood. I would say the food was only ok, but the convenience was great!

The closest town to Zion National Park is Springdale, however Zion Mountain Ranch is on the other side of the park, so we never made it there! But there are many other restaurants in that area. I will leave the recommendations to other bloggers though, since we didn’t actually experience them.

pack your bags

 

Overall, this trip was a wonderful way to explore together and spend some quality time with our friends who we don’t get to see nearly as much anymore. But to be real, going on a trip with kids to a new place none of us have been to before was not easy. In fact, it was a lot of work to plan. However, I am so happy with all the fun and adventure we packed in to just a few short days, and that’s why I wanted to share with you all that we did! I hope you can learn from us, take some tips, and plan your own Mom Camp: Zion Edition with more ease.

As always, lmk if you have any questions in the comments section below!