One of the rangers in this extraordinary country in southern Utah said the Native Americans referred to the surroundings as the Straight Up Land.  It is easy to see why.

To me, visiting Zion is like being down in the Grand Canyon.  Of course it is not as big, but maybe that’s the point. The way to reduce the Grand Canyon to manageable size, in my experience, is to go in.  Not far. Just a little walk is all it takes, but it’s a way to begin to bring its immensity to scale.

In Zion National Park, as in Yosemite, you spend most of your time, if you follow the standard approach, looking up from the valley floor.  Zion has a great shuttle system to control the flow of visitors inside the park.  Though we groused at first–we usually skip them when they’re optional–we loved the shuttle. We could get off and on to do short hikes whenever we pleased, and the shuttle ran often. Thankfully, it also had a sun roof, since one spends a great deal of time in Zion looking–right–straight up.

We also saw an elk, who was less impressed with us than we of him. Or her.

The next day, we visited another product of the unique gyrations of the Colorado Plateau over the last 60 million years–Bryce Canyon National Park. There, a perky young ranger at the information desk assured us that the  Queen’s Garden was an easy hike for a four-year-old.  Fun for the whole family, she beamed!

Bryce Canyon, the land of hoodoos and other whimsical feats of Ma Nature.  Zion and Bryce would both be on our list of recommended parks.  Not too far apart, but different as night and day. And both worth a trip off the beaten path to explore.

We now have a rule that before we ask about hiking trails for youngsters, we ask if the rangers have children of their own.  We also have decided that when the park service labels a hike moderate, the designation is to make a point about how out-of-condition most of us are.  I get that.