Travel With Teens and Tweens | Best trip archives

Start Your Visit to Zion National Park with a Stroll on the Pa’rus Trail

Best trip archives, Southwestern US No Responses »

May 092012

Start Your Visit to Zion National Park with a Stroll on the Pa'rus Trail

The Pa’rus Trail at Zion National Park is a recent addition (1995) to the park’s trail system. It connects the Campgrounds near the Visitor Center, the Human History Museum and the Canyon Junction shuttle bus stop. Since private cars are not allowed to stop along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive from April through October, families staying in Springdale generally grab the town shuttle to the Visitor Center than hop on a Park Shuttle for the ride deeper into the Park. The Pa’rus Trail offers an accessible, dog and baby stroller friendly option to begin or end your visit with an hour long 1.7 mile one way stroll criss-crossing Oak Creek, Pine Creek and the Virgin River. Bikes can be rented from Zion Outfitter located near the Visitor Center, sharing a parking lot with the Giant Screen [...]

Zion’s Riverside Walk Offers Easy Access to Park’s Wonders

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May 032012

Zion's Riverside Walk Offers Easy Access to Park's Wonders

During our recent visit to Zion National Park we explored some of the easier hiking and walking trails including the Emerald Pools Lower Trail, the Pa’rus Trail and the Riverside Walk. The level, lightly paved Riverside Walk begins at the Temple of Sinawava shuttle bus stop, the last one along the Canyon road. The trail travels a mile along the banks of the Virgin River until it disappears into the river itself. It is a this point that the sides of the Canyon quickly close in and the famous Narrows Trail begins, allowing adventurous hikers to walk through the water for miles deep into the narrowest parts of the canyon in the summer when water levels are low. In the Spring, the Narrows are off limits but the Riverside Walk is a [...]

Emerald Pools Lower Trail Great for All Ages at Zion National Park

Best trip archives, Southwestern US No Responses »

Apr 292012

Emerald Pools Lower Trail Great for All Ages at Zion National Park

Zion National Park is known for challenging hiking trails such as the trip to Angel’s Landing that rises almost 1500 feet in 2.5 miles and requires the hiker to cross near vertical rock faces using small footholds and chains bolted into the rock. Another classic, the Narrows, involves miles of strenuous walking in the Virgin River – it is only open in the summer and fall when spring water levels drop to safe levels. For those visitors with smaller kids, older adults, and others that don’t see themselves tackling those more challenging trails, Zion still offers some lovely options including our three favorites for all ages: The Emerald Pools Lower Trail, The Pa’rus Trail, and The Riverside Walk. Each of these trails is suitable for all ages yet allows access to some [...]

April Has Our Vote as the Best Time to Visit Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks

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Apr 262012

April Has Our Vote as the Best Time to Visit Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks

With or without teens, April has our vote as the best time of the year to visit Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Both parks are relatively small and prone to crowding during peak summer months, due to the fact that a single road provides access to each Park’s iconic sites. In April, you have an opportunity to quietly experience each Park’s unique and beautiful transition from winter to spring. This timing also aligns well with Easter and spring break holidays from many schools. Zion Canyon is located at approximately 4,000 feet elevation with popular trails like the hike to Angel’s Landing rising much higher. Bryce’s high point is over 9,000 feet, meaning that snow is still possible even in early April. On our recent visit, sans teens, we found both parks [...]

Travel to Zion National Park with(out) Teens!

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Apr 132012

Travel to Zion National Park with(out) Teens!

In the category of the day we thought would never arrive, Camera Guy and Mary T are about to head out on their first vacation without kids in 18 years! With no close relatives nearby we’ve never had the opportunity to drop the kids off for a few days of grownup time. So why now? Because the teens are heading out on their own Spring Break church service trip. So, while they are in Miami helping out at homeless shelters and food banks mom and dad have decided to check Zion National Park off the bucket list. We’ll be flying into Vegas, driving to Zion and staying a couple of nights in the Park with a daytrip to Bryce Canyon if the snow expected this weekend leaves the roads passable. We’ll [...]

Taking Teens Out of School for Family Travel — The Recovery Continues

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Apr 092012

Taking Teens Out of School for Family Travel -- The Recovery Continues

The question about whether to take kids out of school so they can travel always evokes a firestorm of discussion in the family travel blogsphere. Parents of younger children often feel the kids learn more while traveling than they do in the classroom. For some parents, family travel is such a high priority that they embrace homeschooling or even unschooling so the family can travel year-round. Still others plan a year off to travel the world and figure their kids can pick up where they left off when they get back. Alternatively, for many of us more traditional traveling families with teens and tweens, family travel options often get squeezed by the demands of school, sports, sleep away camps and the pull of teenage friends at home. Our family has a standing rule [...]

The Vatican Museums Through the Eyes of a Teen

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Mar 312012

The Vatican Museums Through the Eyes of a Teen

As part of #1 Son’s recent school trip to Italy, the group spent a day at the Vatican Museums. Although perhaps best known for the Sistine Chapel and the works of Michelangelo and Botticelli, the Museums are actually a vast interconnected complex of museums and chapels housing centuries of artwork collected and managed by the Catholic Church. From ancient Egyptian art to modern day sculptures, the Vatican Museums have it on display. The Vatican Museums do not permit flash photography in order to help preserve the art. #1 Son took hundreds of non-flash photos during his tour and wanted to share his favorites with our readers. They include some of the Museum’s most famous works including Michelangelo’s Pieta, a sculpture of Mary holding a dying Jesus. It was completed in 1499. [...]

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