Zion National Park, UT

Lots of people swear by Bryce National Park.  My personal favorite is Zion.  My reason is

hiking the Narrows.

We loved that hike.  For us Zion was the Narrows.  We didn't hike any other hike though we went several times.  We just went to the Narrows over and over again.

And honestly, what is not to love?  You get to hike through water.  That is fun enough.  It is cool and wet.  It's has a some challenge simply because of the water resistance and the bobbily nature of walking on rocks.  Still everything feels easier when it's hot out, you're surrounded by nature's beauty, and you're having fun in water.

Unless you are growing little hikers, you may have experienced some times when your kids are less than enthusiastic about hiking. We surely have.  We didn't have that issue at the Narrows.  We hiked 5 miles with the boys without even the hint of whine.

As always, the kids found ways to have fun that no one else seemed to think of.  This time the toy of choice:  The Shirt.

Through the course of several trips, the boys discovered that they could throw their shirt on this small waterfall and watch it 'walk' (okay, fall down) the rock wall.  You might think this game would be exclusive enjoyable to my kids.  You'd be wrong.  One time, they were tossing their shirts up in front of a bunch of teenagers.  Very soon we saw a bunch of shirts flying up and fall down the wall until one shirt got inexplicably stuck on the wall.  Then everyone was throwing shirts at the stuck shirt until it fell down.  And then we slipped away.

Here we have Pound the Shirt.

Whip the Shirt.

Drench the Shirt.

And my personal favorite, Watch the Shirt Float.

You can also jump off rocks, 

Lay in the water,

Swim in the water

And just enjoy finding the deepest water you can.

The blend of hot summer air and cool river was perfect.  You can have fun even if you prefer to wear your shirt.  

And if you really just want to stick to the business of hiking the Narrows, you can hike here.

Manuel and I hiked here on my birthday.  It was good fun, a great way to celebrate life on earth and a day in Utah.

There is tons more to do in and around Zion though.  Read about all of it, not just my favorite, here!