Zion National Park offers superb recreation, even in the winter

Zion National Park in scenic Southern Utah provides year-round recreational opportunities for Southern Nevadans since it lies just 170 miles distant. Although a large percentage of the park's 2.7 million annual visitors must travel during the traditional summer vacation season, Southern Nevadans enjoy the option of off-season visitation. Discover the joys of visiting Zion in winter when roads, trails, campgrounds, and other services are not crowded.

Good highways provide access from Las Vegas in less than a three-hour drive. Follow Interstate 15 north through St. George, Utah, to an exit onto Highway 9. This scenic road through Hurricane and several other little towns with pioneer roots leads to the main park entrance at the mouth of Zion Canyon near Springdale. Another park entrance provides access to the spectacular Kolob Canyon portion of the park. To reach it, continue north on I-15 to the Kolob turnoff, where there is a separate visitor center and a five-mile scenic drive.

Park entrance fees of $25 per family vehicle apply at all entrances. Visitors arriving on foot, by bicycle or motorcycle pay $12. Investigate the advantages of one of the annual or lifetime park passes to save money on entrance and camping fees. Visitors using recreational vehicles or motor homes pay an additional $15 fee for escort through the famous Zion Tunnel on the Mount Carmel highway past the park's eastern entrance.

Visitors seeking solitude prefer the quiet that winter brings to Zion. Gone are the throngs that crowd every viewpoint and trail. The shuttle system instituted to eliminate heavy vehicle traffic during peak visitation shuts down in winter, closed this season from the end of October to March 21. Visitors at this time of year may use their own vehicles to drive the six-mile Zion Canyon Scenic Drive.

Winter drivers must watch for icy conditions following storms or in places with runoff where soaring cliffs shade the pavement. Plows keep key roads clear, including the Zion Canyon Drive, Kolob Canyon Road, the Mount Carmel Highway and the first 14 miles of the Kolob Terrace Road from the town of Virgin. Heavy snows close the back country beyond that point.

Although many high country trails lie buried under snow or slicked in ice, portions of other trails remain open in Zion Canyon and in the park's lower desert areas. Winter hikers often use the Chinle Trail and trails in the Coalpits area and in Huber Wash. Inquire at the park's visitor centers about accessible winter routes and backpacking fees.

When winter arrives, the popular horseback trail rides pack it in, but many facilities and services in Zion remain open all year, including the main visitor center, open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. One of the park's campgrounds in Zion Canyon stays open to welcome winter visitors.

The historic Zion Lodge remains open all year with cabins, motel-style rooms, dining room and gift shop. Call for reservations at (888) 297-2757 or visit zionlodge.com on the Web. Many visitors opt to stay in nearby Springdale, sometimes enjoying the benefits of off-season rates. Computer-check the possibilities with the Zion Canyon Visitors Bureau at ZionPark.com.

Even in winter, the Zion Canyon Field Institute offers an educational approach to the park through workshops, lectures and service projects. Explore its offerings online at zionpark.org. Call for a free catalog at (800) 635-3959.

Off-season visitors experience a Zion unknown in other seasons. Zion in winter displays unforgettable calendar scenes at every turn. Although snow touches Zion Canyon lightly, it heavily covers the high cliffs and ledges like thick white frosting on a layered wedding cake. Before the sun gets high enough to touch it, ice outlines the quiet reaches of the Virgin River with frosty traceries and stills tributary seeps and streams with icicles. Winter-bare trees reveal views of ramparts and canyons concealed behind the foliage of other seasons. Melt-off streaking the stone turns to sheets of ice or sends waterfalls tumbling down cliff faces that remain dry at other times of the year.

Margo Bartlett Pesek's Trip of the Week column appears on Sundays.