Today we went to Zion National Park for a quick visit.  We only had a few hours and I wanted to try and find a ruin that I have passed by dozens of times throughout the years.

The shuttle was shut down for the winter and we were hoping to drive up the road instead.  If you haven’t visited Zion in the winter you NEED to!  Less traffic, fewer visitors, and better hiking weather await you in the winter!  Of course, there will be snow and mud in parts, but we rather enjoyed the 50 degree day.

When we got to the park entrance gates, we immediately noticed the signs that said “parking lots full”.  We scanned down to the parking lot at the Visitor Center and saw plenty of open spots and wondered what the signs were talking about.  We had planned to drive up to the Temple of Sinawava and then explore along the way down at all the little stops.  We quickly discovered that the parking lots beyond the visitor center were full!

We saw several rangers guarding the road that goes up to the lodge and then to the Temple of Sinawava.  They were blocking cars from entering and we went back to the Visitor Center to hang out and see what was going on.  We spoke to a ranger who told us that they open the road once cars begin leaving.  I asked how we would know if the road was open again and the ranger said to just try our luck.  Ok…

Waiting around just didn’t seem like the thing to do, so we hurried to our car and back to the road block.  Just as it happened, the road was reopened and we were on our way!

It was a beautiful winter day and we enjoyed driving slowly up the canyon and stopping at all the pull outs for pictures and admiring the beautiful scenery.  We saw some wild deer and turkeys too!

Eventually we got to the part where the ruin is located.  We got out and I switched to my 300 mm lens.  I finally saw it!  The ruin that is hidden in plain sight!  I have been to Zion so many times and had never seen this before until now.  It was great to see and made me appreciate this park even more.

We got back in the car and went up to some secret waterfalls.

What a great trip!