So to continue to day 3 of our trip (only about 18 more days to write about!), our first national park was Zion in Utah.  We started the day a bit late (past noon) since we wanted to enjoy our first day of no driving and take it easy in the morning.  In the last post I mentioned we stayed at an RV resort, which is basically a really nice trailer park (with a higher price tag) but it's worth it.  There are clean laundry facilities, a pool, and each RV space is a bit bigger, giving you a little bit more privacy.

Anyway, since we started the day late we decided to do some easy hikes around the park.  There's a great shuttle system within the park since parking at different trailheads is limited (also cuts down on traffic through the park and the amount of pollution).  At the Zion lodge stop (which is somewhere I definitely want to stay at in the future), are the trailheads for the Emerald Pool hikes (upper, middle and lower).  I would say that this was one of the best easy hikes in the park.  For a relatively short distance and very little elevation gain, you get some nice views and cool experiences (like walking underneath a waterfall).

Our first hike started at the Zion lodge shuttle stop

Lower Emerald Pool Hike (ok so it doesn't quite look like a waterfall here but there was definitely water falling--just not a lot).  I think during wetter seasons (years?) it's more prominent).

I think this was the middle Emerald Pool?

We wrapped up this hike, which took us about 2 hours or so at a very leisurely pace.  And then headed over to the east side of the park to do the Canyon Overlook trail.  This was an easy half mile hike that gave us amazing views.  The best time is at sunset since it's quite easy to get back down in the fading light and on a clear day you're probably awarded with some spectacular views (unfortunately for us it was a bit cloudy that day).