Before we get to the adventures, I have to bring up Bryce Canyon Inn again. It was so much fun staying in a log cabin, and these were in such a great location, clean, and super comfortable! 10/10 would recommend to anyone wanting to stay in the Bryce Canyon area.
Okay moving on! We did one last hike right outside of Bryce Canyon National Park – Mossy Cave. The hike was only 0.8 miles round trip, but it followed next to a creek/river, which was a refreshing change of scenery!
The trail forks and leads to either Mossy Cave or Water Canyon Waterfall. We of course had to see both!
After this little excursion, it was time to get back on the road and head to our next and final national park, Zion! There was still a little bit of Scenic Byway 12 to finish on this driving day, so we decided to stop at Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest area. But first, we drove under the Red Canyon tunnels!
We decided to do the Pink Ledges Trail, a short 1 mile loop through hoodoos and ponderosa pines and highlights of the incredible geology Red Canyon has to offer. It started at the Visitor Center with the entrance sign and good ‘ole Smoky the Bear.
We then learned about the ponderosa pine. Let me tell you about these trees.
The ponderosa pine is a reddish-brown barked tree that can grow over 250 ft tall. And the BEST part about them is that the bark smells like vanilla or butterscotch!
Unfortunately, this type of pine only grows out west in the United States, so we took our time walking through these pine forests and breathing in the fresh, vanilla-scented air.
As for the rest of the hike, we had fun posing with all the hoodoos and taking in the remarkable sights.
Knock Knock! 
Again – love the trees! 
Dani for reference – these trees are HUGE!
Another chipmunk friend! 
These hoodoos are named Salt and Pepper!
Three (really tall!) ponderosa pines 
Welcome to my rock throne 
In the distance, you can see cinder cones, the remnants of ancient volcanoes, which erupted within the last 10,000 years 
The black rock that the top of this cliff is known as “basalt” and is evidence of a volcanic eruption!
We finished the hike at Red Canyon and got back on the road. UT-12 connects to HWY 89, which then connects to SR-9, the road that actually leads to Zion.
We entered the park from the east entrance – the only section of the park that you can drive through right now. The shuttle operates from the south entrance and through the park’s scenic drive, but more on this later.
The first landmark we reached was Checkerboard Mesa. It was named for its checkerboard appearance caused by the horizontal cross-bedding of ancient sand dunes and vertical cracking due to expansion and contraction of the sandstone in the winter. It stands 6,670 ft tall, one of the largest mesas we’ve seen.
The next couple pictures are of the drive to the Canyon Overlook Trail, the only hike on the east side of the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel.
These mesas remind me of Jabba the Hut 
We finally found a parking spot along the road for the Canyon Overlook trailhead – the actual (tiny) parking lot was completely full. The trail starts right next to the tunnel, so we got a fun overhead picture of the entrance.
The hike climbs steeply up and across the canyon walls, leading to an amazing view of Zion Canyon and the surrounding mountains, mesas, viewpoints.
You can see across the canyon where we were hiking! 
People hiking along the rock wall 
The view below us!
A bridge on the side of these rocks 
Where the bridge leads – sweet shade! 
You can see the bridge from across the valley!
We climbed back down to our cars and got ready to drive through the 1.1 mile Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel. The tunnel was completed in 1930 and was designated a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2012 due to its masterful planning, skills, materials, and overall design and engineering.
I actually recorded us driving through it because it has these windows to view Zion from the tunnel. During the construction of the tunnel, the windows served as holes for rock debris to fall through from carving the tunnel, as well as supplying much needed ventilation and lighting to crews working inside the tunnel.
The biggest window in the tunnel 
Two little windows
Once we reached the other side of the tunnel, it was time for the Zion switchbacks.
They thankfully rewarded us with an amazing view of the Great Arch, one of the only blind arches named in the park. The cool thing about this arch is we were standing directly above it at the Canyon Overlook!
After this little mini adventure through Zion, we reach our hotel in Springdale, the town right outside of the park. We grab some dinner across the street at Bit and Spur Saloon, that did an amazing job with COVID outdoor seating! (We still got takeout, though). After a delicious meal, we get ready for bed to continue our Zion adventure tomorrow!
MILES DRIVEN: 90
STEPS: 13,925
ROCK TUNNELS DRIVEN IN TODAY: 4 (which was actually quite a lot)
