A high sun, a canyon view drive and hike, and the ghost towns of south Utah? These are the stops we made on our first day in Zion National Park. Yes, please. After Stéphane’s and my weekend in Austin, we flew to Las Vegas, drove to St. George, Utah, and the very next day we found ourselves exploring Zion National Park with my family. We got a late start, but the kids were able to hike up to the canyon overlook (the road on the way there featured crazy holes in the side of the mountain!). It was a small hike (couple miles total?) to the spectacular overlook with a view straight down the epic canyon of Zion.
From there, we headed out of the park to seek out various ghost towns and found two: Grafton and Silver Reef. Interesting about the Grafton cemetery was that there were a couple tombstones that had been replaced, with the old ones simply laid down behind. At Silver Reef, past an abandoned silver mine, across a ravine, sits a wall and a chimney. Relics of a very different time.
Finally, we ended our day back in St. George to relax and prepare the rest of the week.