On the trip so far, we started in Vancouver, drove down to Los Angeles with stops in Eugene, Oregon and Sacramento, California. After spending a few days in LA, we drove east through the Joshua Tree National Park on the way into Las Vegas. From Vegas, we drove further east by the Grand Canyon to the edge of Arizona and Utah to the city of Page where we spent time in the surrounding areas checking out beautiful landscapes and rock formations. In last week's update, we started our return trip home with a stop on the edge of Zion National Park by Springdale in Utah where we pick up this week.

About Zion National Park

Known as Utah's first national park, the views at Zion National Park are simply incredible. At ground level, there are forests with a river cutting through, but the most breathtaking part of this park is the steep red cliffs that emerge out of the forest to give you this beautiful contrast of red and green. Having been driving and hiking through the desert for quite some days, it's nice to be able to see the greens of the forest with the beautiful rock formations that Utah's known for.

There are plenty of activities to do at Zion National Park including a number of trails and lookouts. Since this is a dog blog, we're only going to focus on the things that you can do with your dog and, well, there isn't much. Like many of the other national parks in the US, dogs are not allowed on any of the trails or wilderness areas. This is to help maintain the ecological balance in the park by not introducing new scents or waste that a dog brings to species that live there.

The Pa'rus Trail

The only exception to the dog rule is the Pa'rus Trail, which unfortunately we weren't able to do on this trip. The Pa'rus Trail is dog-friendly (dogs must be on a leash) and we recommend checking it out! It's actually known to be less of a hike and more of a stroll on a paved trail where strollers and wheelchairs are able to make the trek. It is also the only trail in the park that allows bicycles, so keep that in mind if you have a dog on a leash with you.

If you're planning on bringing your dog here, there are a couple of things you should know. The first is that although there are forests and greenery in the park, don't be fooled that it is still very desert-like. As such, the pavement gets incredibly hot especially during the summer. Keep that in mind if you're planning to take your dog through it and you might want to consider going earlier in the day when it's not so hot on your dog's paws.

The second thing is that as of the time of this writing, the state of Utah has issued a warning to visitors of the park after a puppy died of toxic algae bloom exposure after swimming in the water. Along the Pa'rus Trail, there are beautiful pockets of water, but you will want to keep your dog out for the time being until the park says otherwise.

What is there to do with a dog?

Aside from the Pa'rus Trail, there is honestly not much else you can do at Zion National Park. Since we knew this going in, we didn't make any plans to do any trails there. Our plan was to drive through the park wherever we were able to go in a car and stop at any lookouts along the way. Since the lookouts were paved, it meant that Markus was allowed to get out of the car to the areas immediately surrounding the lookout.

That's basically how we spent our time at Zion National Park with a dog. If you're hoping to do something more, we'd recommend checking out the Pa'rus Trail or consider that the stop at Zion National Park with a dog might not be for you.

What we liked

• The park is beautiful with the greenery and river on the lower parts of the park and the reddish steep cliffs emerging out of it.

• Along the main driving path, there were enough areas for cars to pull over, which was something that plenty of people were doing to enjoy the views of the park.

• We appreciated that there is at least one trail that's dog-friendly, which is rare for national parks.

What we didn't like

• There wasn't much we were able to do with Markus. We basically spent the time in a car stopping at any lookouts to enjoy the view. That said, that was enough for us.

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.