Our Zion Ponderosa and Zion National Park Vacation!

I can’t believe how fast the summer has flown by!!  Here in Louisiana we have just three weeks until school starts again.  This summer we spent half our summer vacation time in Utah.  If you haven’t ever been to Utah, I highly recommend a visit!

After a two-day road trip we started our vacation at my family reunion in Zion National Park in southern Utah.  It was one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring places I’ve ever been.  If a Zion National Park vacation isn’t on your bucket-list, it should be.

In planning our family reunion, my sister and I wanted to find a place that would offer outdoor adventure while also being family friendly–we would have 17 children under age 9–and within driving distance of some of my family.  After hours upon hours of searching and research we settled upon a privately owned vacation home at Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort.

I’d never been there before, and I was sooo nervous (seriously, I was having major anxiety for the two weeks leading up to our reunion) that the cabin wouldn’t be as great as I had hoped or that the kids would hate the activities we had planned.

Wouldn’t you know it turned out to be one of the most awesome vacations I’ve had with my family?!  My husband, who I think is difficult to please when it comes to doing fun stuff vacations, even commented about how well our trip turned out and how much fun it was!

Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort is conveniently just a few miles outside of the east entrance to Zion National Park.  Anytime we wanted to visit the park we just had a few minute drive.   Within the resort there were lots of fun activities to keep all ages busy having a great time!

The moms (myself included) treated ourselves to a horseback ride (FYI–if your rear isn’t used to riding upon a saddle I suggest selecting a ride shorter than 2 hours.  Ohhh, my poor backside.)  My oldest loved the climbing wall.  And my youngest thought driving the club car was pretty awesome!

We rented a seriously awesome vacation home at the Zion Ponderosa Resort (I have to put a plug in here because it was such a perfect place to stay).  If you ever plan to vacation in or around Zion National Park with a large family or group I highly recommend the one we stayed in.  The home was beautiful, well stocked, with a ton of upgrades–more luxury home than cabin.  Our group of 33 stayed very comfortably together in the 6,000 square foot home.

We scheduled hikes for every other day so everyone would have a chance to chill a bit and recuperate from one hike before embarking on another.  –As a side note, do you know how much chaos effort it is to ready 17 children for a hike in a desert climate? The preparations for that many children were enough to warrant recuperation.

I found, though, that the drive into the park was enough to rejuvenate me and energize me for the hike ahead.

Can you guess where “Cars Land” at Disneyland was modeled after?

 My favorite hike was our hike up the Zion Narrows.  We “hiked” (paved walking path) along the Riverwalk until we reached the entrance to the Narrows, and from there we hiked in 6 inch to 3 foot deep water.  Because we went in mid-June the temperature was perfect, in the high 80’s.  Utah is in a drought this year so the water was low enough and calm enough for my 4 year old to walk most of the way with holding my hand as his only assistance (we only went as far as the waterfall, and there was one part that I carried him because it was too deep for him to walk).  –By the way, if you’re planning on visiting Zion in the summer I highly recommend investing in a pair of Keen sandals.  They are great for hiking and can be worn in the river and on the dry trails.

He was so proud of himself!

I can’t say enough of what a perfect vacation this was!  The natural beauty of Zion National Park.  The fun and activities at Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort.  The beautiful Zion Ponderosa vacation home.  We can’t wait to visit again!