Scenic Drive, Zion National Park, UT 84767, 888-297-2757,
Rates: Based on double occupancy and including the $1.35 National Park Service utility fee but not the 10.15 percent sales tax, rates are $153.35 for a motel-style room and $166.35 for a Western cabin. Winter rates are less (note that Nov. 1-Nov. 24, guests who stay two consecutive nights can get half off the second night; mention code BOGO when booking). Parking is free.
Stay here if you: want to be snugged right up against the magnificent sandstone in the middle of this glorious national treasure of a park.
It’s close to: everything Zion has to offer; it’s the only lodging inside the park.
The rooms are: typical of a national park — simple and sparsely decorated but comfortable. They do not have TVs, but do offer telephones, radio alarm clocks, hair dryers and air conditioning. The cute, rustic Western cabins sleep up to four, if you can score one (call early and often, because they do sometimes have cancellations), and have gas log fireplaces and little porches, which are ideal during sunrise and sunset to watch the colors changing over the looming cliff walls as deer meander through the property and the breezes waft through the surrounding trees.
They put all of the money into: keeping the delicate system within these canyon walls as ecologically sound as possible, especially considering that during peak season, an awful lot of traffic moves through here. With the exception of lodge guests, who can drive to the parking lot only, Scenic Drive is closed from March to October to all motor traffic and visitors must take the propane-powered shuttles all the way down to the Temple of Sinawava. They’ve upgraded the suites to include as many environmentally sound components as possible (such as bamboo wastebaskets and recycled everything); the goal is eventually to convert the whole lodge.
The bottom line: Even folks who aren’t staying at Zion Lodge want to hang out here, and they spend time browsing the souvenir-laden gift shop or dining at the excellent Red Rock Grill (I can vouch for the chipotle tilapia, the Navajo eggplant and the margaritas), and when there aren’t too many tourists clogging up the walkways, the front lawn can be a heavenly place to sit and watch the deer (some of them so used to the hordes, they will get thisclose).
Kyle Wagner
