Cascade Falls...

We drove a new route for me on our way from Zion to Bryce, a very scenic Utah Highway 14. From this overlook you can see Zion Canyon, 56 miles away.

Zion National Park, seen from UT Hwy 14.

At the next overlook we could see Navajo Lake, the source of the Virgin River that flows through and created Zion Canyon. 

Amazing!

WE could see a National Forest campground across the lake and decided to come back after visiting Bryce for a few days to hike and kayak.

But first we will hike one of the trails here...to Cascade Falls, the headwaters of the Virgin River. The water leaves Navajo Lake through sinkholes and emerges through a cleft in the rock as Cascade Falls.

A smooth gravel road leads to the trailhead.

View from the trailhead.

Let's go!

Thistle is happy this is a National Forest and he is allowed on the trails.

There are spectacular views all along the trail as it follows the rim.

Views from the trail.

Looking for birds.

Nearing the end of the trail and falls overlook.

Falls overlook ahead.

A little water was seeping out here too.

It levels out up here, Birdie.

Almost there!

From the cleft in the rock flows Cascade Falls, headwaters of the Virgin River.

And from there it cascades down the mountain.

It means a lot more having seen Zion Canyon and the Virgin River as it flows there.

A crooked picture

And then we retraced our steps back along the trail.

A view of Zion Canyon from the trail.

56 miles away

Whew!

That was fun!

Watchman Trail, Zion NP

This is the last post from Zion National Park. Here's the description of the Watchman Trail:

The trail begins across from the Visitor Center.

The sun was just peeking over the mountains.

Split rock

We passed a group on a Ranger led hike.

Views of the trail:

Hikers ahead on the switchbacks.

From a distance, these stone reinforcements blend right in with the rest of the rocks.

A few steps here and there.

Looking back at the view from part-way up.

Danger below

Black-headed Grosbeak

View from the trail

The trail comes out on top of a mesa with great views all around. The pointed mountain is The Watchman.

There is a loop trail around the top of the mesa.

This side looks down on the campground and up Zion Canyon.

Looking back on the trail we came up.

On the other side you can see the town of Springdale.

And a good view of The watchman.

A snaky-looking tree root.

A little flora: cactus blooms

And fauna: Desert Whiptail

Back down in the canyon it was getting very hot...high 90s. Time to get in the river or leave for cooler climes. We left...heading north to higher, cooler places.

But we had a great time exploring Zion, and left several trails not hiked.