Springdale, Utah

Markus looking like he naturally belongs in Zion National Park, Utah

We wanted to take the time to say this trip that we're writing about was taken well before restrictions were set due to COVID-19. We've been back in Canada for weeks and we're only just sharing about our trip now. We have been in self-quarantine ever since and we wanted to share our trip with all of you who are staying indoors with us.

This week, we wanted to continue our special road trip series. At this point, we've made our way from Vancouver to California, stopped by Joshua Tree National Park on the way to Las Vegas, through the Grand Canyon on the way to Page, Arizona. After spending time in Page and its surrounding areas, we now head towards Springdale, Utah to visit a few more national parks.

This update will include the major stops that we made and we'll add more detail to each of these stops in the upcoming weeks.

About Springdale, Utah

From the Page leg of the trip, our next planned stop was in Springdale, Utah, which is right on the edge of Zion National Park. This was a great place to stay because it allowed us to kick the day off at Zion National Park without too much travel. This is great if you like using up the full day to your advantage or if there are multiple things you're planning to do at the park.

Holiday Inn Express Springdale

Type: Hotel (3-star)

Pet Fee: $25/night
Suite Available: No

We absolutely enjoyed this location. It had a cabin-like feel and it looked and felt like it was newly built. With the amenities like the pool and with a beautiful backdrop of Zion National Park, the area felt like a calm mountainside vacation spot where you can spend your days enjoying the park. We think you'll likely want to spend more than one day here.

What’s nice about this location is that there are great views all around you. Since you’re already basically in Zion National Park, you’ll be able to see the mountains where you are. For us, it was especially neat because we arrived later in the evening when it was dark already, so we didn’t actually get to see the mountains and how big they were until the morning.

The rooms were on the older side and there really weren't anything special about the rooms themselves, but it was quiet (we were towards the end of a hallway) and Markus slept well through the night, so that's really all we need. Around the hotel, there are plenty of grassy areas for your dog. If you're in the area, we recommend checking out the Holiday Inn Express Springdale.

Our Recommendation for Reactive Dogs

Even though our room was towards the end of the hallway (they put us there because we requested for a quieter room), there’s actually quite a bit of traffic going through the hallway because our hallway had doors at the end that was quicker to go outside than going back all the way to the front. That said, we didn’t have issues throughout the night, but we did notice that people were getting up earlier than we were and Markus was starting to make a huffing noise he makes prior to barking, but never actually barked.

Things to Do around Springdale, Utah

Most of the things we did in this area centred around Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park. To really enjoy both of these areas appropriately, we'd recommend spending more than a day, but you can definitely squeeze it into one if you wanted to.

Zion National Park

At Zion National Park, we spent most of our time driving through the park. Much like our visit to the Joshua Tree National Park and the Grand Canyon National Park, we were limited to staying within a certain distance from the parking lot or the paved roads. We kept within the rules which was limiting, but we were still able to enjoy the park as a whole.

We couldn't go very far into the park with a dog, but the park is one of those you can sit there for a while to bask in its grandeur. We would hop in our car and drive around and pull over with Markus where there were parking lots or areas to pull out. Wherever we went, the view was amazing and it really makes you feel so small.

There are also plenty of trails and hikes to do at Zion National Park, but unfortunately if you have a dog with you, you're limited to only the Pa'rus Trail. As it is with many national parks, dogs are limited to where they can go, so it's already a plus that there were even trails that you can do with your dog. We didn't end up doing this trail since we had a packed day, but if you're planning on staying for longer and you have a dog with you, this would be a good one to check out.

We'll go into a little bit more detail for our time at Zion National Park in the upcoming weeks.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Our experience going to Bryce Canyon National park was a lot like the visit to the Grand Canyon. We were only allowed to go to the main areas with Markus, but it was certainly enough for us to bask in the beauty and magnitude of Bryce Canyon. Most of the tourists stayed in this area anyways, so unless you're in adventurist and want to go down into the canyons, the area around the visitor center would be enough for you.

Along the path where we were allowed to go, there were great viewpoints all along the way. It was quite busy with a lot of tourists, but there were also a lot of quieter areas where we were able to quietly sit and enjoy the beauty of the rock formations. This was one of the favourite stops that we made with Markus and we highly recommend it to anyone in the area.

We break down our full visit to Bryce Canyon National Park in a few weeks.

Disclaimer

Markus is a reactive, but not aggressive dog. His instinct is to avoid other dogs and he may growl, bark or lunge if provoked, but will not attack. We normally do not have issues with leashed dogs when both sides are controlled, but we will be on guard when an oncoming dog is not leashed. There are varying levels to a dog’s reactivity and only you can decide if this park, trail or hotel is appropriate for your dog. Our visits generally will not include off-leash areas; most experiences shared on The Markus Project are within leashed or undefined areas.

Please remember that our past experience visiting a park, trail or hotel may not be the same as your experience at the same park, trail or hotel. We have no control of who visits the park and whether they adhere to park rules - like leashing their dogs on leash-required paths - or not. Please use your discretion with the information provided and with your personal knowledge of your dog’s reactivity when visiting these parks, trails or hotels.