biking – Meanderings & Mind Munchies

We started our adventure in Zion National Park by riding our bikes to the visitor center early in the morning and then hiking the Watchman Trail.

The Watchman Trail is a 3-mile round trip hike to an overlook of Zion Canyon and Watchman Mountain.

Greg did amazingly well with the rocks and sand.

I love the various shades of blue and green in this photo (This is not a photo of the Watchman).

On the way down, we saw two deer.

After stopping in at the visitor center, we hopped on the bikes and rode the Pa’rus Trail to the main road through Zion National Park.

At this time of the year, the only ways to access this road are via park shuttle or bike.

Court of the Patriarchs

We rode as far as Court of the Patriarchs before turning around.

A view of the Virgin River, taken on the way back to the visitor center

Kolob Canyons

After cooling off at the camper, we headed to Kolob Canyons, which is in the northwest part of Zion National Park. It takes about 45 minutes to drive there.

The views were stunning. Better yet, we didn’t have to do any hiking!

After three very early mornings, it felt wonderful to sleep in. I got up at 6:30, but when Greg woke up later, I went back to bed for a nap.

Once we were both awake and functional, we hopped on our bikes and took a ride down the Mickelson Trail, heading in the direction of Hill City. There was a trailhead right from the campground.

Access from campground to Mickelson Trail

The Mickelson Trail is a 108-mile rail-to-trail that goes from Deadwood in the north to Edgemont in the south.

We rode about 16 miles, round trip. It was quite relaxing. The weather was 65°, mostly sunny, with a breeze that occasionally had a bit of a bite to it.

The scenery was lovely.