Good Hikes in Zion?

I am taking a family trip to camp and explore in Zion this weekend. I have not been in the canyon for about 6 years. Even then it was a quick deal. It has probably been 8 since I really looked around. I will have my 2 year old son (45lbs) in a child backpack and my wife. I would like to hit some trails with the family. So nothing to difficult, I want to keep the wife nagging to a minimum. :haha:

I am going to start searching around today. Any help from people on the board would be appreciated. A slot would be cool! I know there are some ponds and such. Any fish? Probably not! :ne_nau: I may hit the new reservoir outside of Hurricane with a float tube one morning. Any advice for family outdoor stuff? Thanks. :mwink:

First of all it's Zion not Zion's the bank. Just get a phamlet from the VC and do the tourist thing.

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Originally Posted by Wasatch

First of all it's Zion not Zion's the bank.

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OK fixed! :haha:

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Originally Posted by Wasatch

Just get a phamlet from the VC and do the tourist thing.

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I am afraid that if I did that I would be bored to death. I don't want to walk around and look at stuff the whole time. I want to show up with a plan. Then the wife cant avoid the hikes and just do the overlook stuff. :nono: Because we already have it all worked out with the plan. :five: Get it? :lol8:

I think an excellent hike will be the Emerald Pools trail. I talked to my friend Sean, (he was the guy we tried to hook up with in Mesquite). He did that trail on that weekend and the 3 waterfalls were ROARING.

If you do this trail, be sure to go all the way up to the top pool. I can't remember how high the top waterfall is, but it's probably atleast 200 ft.
It's usually trickling down the wall, but it should be quite the site to see right now.

The hike is mild, and I think it's about 3 miles for the whole loop? :ne_nau: Most of the trail is paved, until you go to the top pool.

Here's a link, no pictures.
http://www.nps.gov/zion/WalksAndHike...eraldPools.htm

A general info page on some hikes:
http://www.nps.gov/zion/activities/DayHiking.htm

You will see the different distances to the Lower, Middle, and Upper pools. I would suggest doing all three. You could probably do the whole loop in 3-4 hours. It's a mild hike. Highly recommended right now.

Also, I would check out Angel's Landing. Everybody gives this one a bunch of hype, but it's still pretty good. I was a little thrown off by the descriptions everybody gave, but I was still impressed by it.

This is a little more difficult. The trail is still paved for most of the way, until you start clinging on to the chains near the drop offs.

If I remember right, this took us about 3 hours. You could do this trail and Emerald Pools trail on the same day. Just be sure to start one of them by about 9 or 10 o'clock.

Post on Angel's Landing:
http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=111

Thanks for the replies.......good input. The Emerald Pools hike sounds cool. I will for sure hit hat one. I can already taste the crab in Mesquite. :bootyshake: I am not sure about Angels Landing with a two year old? Is the whole hike on a cliff with those chains? Kinda scary with a 2 year old and with a kid backpack? :ahhh: What do you think?

Emerald Pools is easy, and good for what you are looking for. If you're lucky you'll get to see some hard core Canyoneers rappelling down 450 feet into the Emerald Pools from Heaps canyon up above. :dropmouth:

Angel's Landing is cool, but a little dicey with a two year old!!

Maybe hike up Pine Creek Canyon from the bottom as far as you are able to go, and your wife will allow, :haha: then return. I've heard that's a good hike, and you don't need a permit if just coming up from the bottom.

Actually, on Angel's Landing, those cliffs are only about the last half mile. There's a good stopping point with a great view even before you get to the cliffs.

This picture is well before the cliffs.