Visiting Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

While visiting Vegas, Scott and I wanted to explore the Red Rock Canyon National Conversation Area, which was an easy 25 minute ride (17 miles) from the Vegas Strip. We enjoyed a 13-mile scenic drive and stopped at a few different spots to take pictures (no hiking this time, check out when we hiked Zion); and we saw quite a few desert tortoise crossing signs, hoping to catch one, but no luck!

You can choose to just drive the scenic route, or park alongside the road or in one of the designated lots and hike or do other recreation activities within the Red Rock formations. The cost to visit the park for one day is $7/Private Vehicle, see all of the other Amenity Fees and Passes here. The Visitor Center was also very informative and houses innovative exhibits to share knowledge about the Red Rock's geology and surrounding area, and has a bookstore (a major plus that there are clean restrooms as well).

This was a great nature detour before continuing onto the rest of our stay at Downtown Las Vegas; can you believe that more than a million people visit the area every year and can experience more than 30 miles of hiking trails, rock climbing, horseback riding, mountain biking, road biking, picnic areas, and nature observing? All in all, Red Rock Canyon should be a definite stop when staying in Vegas; and check out my outfit from this trip here.

Zion National Park Emerald Pools Trails

I finally fulfilled dream of visiting and hiking in Zion National Park in Springdale, Utah a couple months ago with my now boyfriend, Scott. We first traveled to Vegas for one night, then onto Zion for a day, then back to Vegas. Since most of the day was spent driving to Zion from Vegas (2.5 hours), grabbing lunch, and the time change, we only had time to do a short hike; so we chose to do the Emerald Pools Hike, which totaled 2.6 miles. We stayed at the Bumbleberry Inn approximately 1 mile from the Zion National Park entrance gate. Since it was the winter season, there weren't any shuttles available to take us into the park, so we drove.

The gate has two lanes for entry, those who are entering the park for the first time and need to purchase a recreational pass ($25 for our car) and the other for those whom have already purchased a pass and are returning. There are weekly, annual, and lifetime passes available, see all of the fees here. Upon receiving our pass, we also received the park newspaper which included a comprehensive hiking map and guide. Scott and I had researched beforehand and decided to do the Emerald Pool Trails since it was at a beginner level and we could enjoy the scenery and know we could easily complete the hike. The newspaper map was a great guide, allowing us to see where we were in relation to the other landmarks and trails within the park; and the park itself was easy to navigate with signs posted.

We had just enough time to complete the hike before sunset; we didn't want to lose light before climbing down from the mountain. Although the Emerald Pools were not as turquoise as some photos have depicted them to be (which I'm guessing the water has more color during the spring/summer months), the overall hike was beautiful and peaceful. Everything that surrounded us, nature in all of its glory was very humbling; it was quite the majestic sight to see water flowing freely off the top of a rock ledge into the Emerald pools, as well as how the light of the sun setting perfectly highlighted the top of the mountain rock range.

Upon leaving the park, Scott and I were starving and it turned out that restaurants closed fairly early (around 8pm/9pm), so we were glad to be able to stumble upon a grocery store to be able to buy microwaveable foods. So note to self if you're planning your visit, also plan for your dining accommodations. 

For our next trip to Zion, we definitely want to camp as well as hike the Narrows, the narrowest section of Zion Canyon and an awe-striking gorge in which hikers walk through the Virgin River.