Eleven days, three national parks, one national forest, and one giant staircase of rock. This series covers eight days exploring Bryce, Zion, and the Grand Canyon with Natural Habitat Adventures, followed by three days in Sedona with Mom, Dad, Auntie Candy, and Uncle Jim.
Our Natural Habitat Adventures trip officially started in St. George, Utah. We arrived the night before so we’d have time to explore a bit. Last night’s Uber driver told us to eat lunch at Cliffside, a restaurant perched right on the cliff with giant windows overlooking the whole valley, and to explore Pioneer Park, a 52 acre red rock park above town with trails, little slot canyons, and views all the way to Zion.
We woke up exhausted and managed to get moving in time to eat lunch. We called another Uber to head to Cliffside! He told us we’d made a great choice!
On the way to lunch, the first thing that caught my eye was a painted bison standing outside a car dealership.
We jumped out of the car at Cliffside, so excited to see its famous views. We ran up the stairs hoping to grab a seat by the window, only to find the doors locked! The Uber was long gone. We walked around the side, sure there was another way in, and found a few workers who told us it was Sunday and they were closed.
I quickly started looking for another lunch spot. Most were in town, and this time I made sure it was open! Tim walked around to take in the views while I called a new Uber.
Lunch
When our new Uber arrived, the driver was just as surprised to learn Cliffside was closed. Every Uber driver seemed to know it was a great place to eat, but few knew it closed on Sundays. We ended up eating at Café FeelLove, a French bistro. Tim had a grilled sausage sandwich, and I had a grilled chicken, bacon & avocado sandwich. Both were delicious.
After lunch we walked outside to the parking lot and called an Uber to take us to Pioneer Park. While we waited, I spotted my new favorite piece of art: a life size horse built entirely from scrap metal. Look closely and you’ll find gears, springs, engine parts, and even pot lids. We also realized this was where we’d be coming back for dinner tonight.
Now I can’t stop singing “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat & Tears. There’s a line in it about riding a painted pony, and it has been stuck in my head all day!
As we got closer to Pioneer Park, our Uber driver suggested a change of plans. The park has no shade, and in the middle of the afternoon it would have been brutal. Instead, he dropped us a little farther down the road at Red Hills Desert Garden, which has plenty of shady spots.
Red Hills Desert Garden
The garden follows a winding stream past red rock, cactus beds, agave gardens, and shady paths. Right away I spotted a sign for dinosaur prints and went looking, wandering past just about every plant in the place.
About halfway through, I finally found the dinosaur tracks, and they were the highlight of the whole garden for me. They’re so subtle I almost walked right past them. Best of all, they’re real and right where they were made, discovered on site when the garden was built and preserved with help from the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site. These are swim tracks! About 200 million years ago, this spot was the shallow shoreline of a lake. As dinosaurs moved through the water, their toes scraped the mud and their tails dragged behind them, leaving long grooves and three toed prints. Over time the mud turned to stone and preserved them for us to see.
A sign nearby explained that, based on the size and shape of the tracks, paleontologists believe three different dinosaurs passed through here. Scutellosaurus was a little guy, only about 20 inches tall and 25 pounds, a plant eater with rows of protective plates running down its back. Megapnosaurus was about 10 feet long and weighed 65 to 85 pounds, a meat eater that likely hunted in packs.
Dilophosaurus was the big one. It stood a little taller than an adult human, stretched 20 feet from head to tail, and weighed about 1,000 pounds, making it the top predator of its time. Standing there looking at footprints that old, right in the middle of a city garden, was one of those moments that just stops you.
The cactus garden was pure fun, with rows of golden barrel cactus lined up like little round soldiers. I couldn’t resist a photo with the CACTUS sign.
A few more favorites: a bison sculpture sprouting grasses and succulents like a living shaggy coat, a walk through a sculpted sandstone arch, Purple Heart spilling over the rocks, and yuccas in full bloom.
The path ends with a small man made slot canyon, with a hanging garden growing right out of the wall. The stream running through the whole garden is more than pretty scenery. It’s fed by untreated water from the Virgin River and Pine Valley and was built to recreate the natural habitat of the six fish species native to the Virgin River, several of them endangered. The Virgin River itself flows from above Zion National Park all the way to Lake Mead, and it’s the lifeline of this whole county. The last stop is a set of viewing windows where you can watch the fish, but the glass was too murky for a good photo, so you’ll just have to take my word that they’re in there!
Before we left, I spotted a giant white “D” on the Black Hill across the road, framed perfectly by a Joshua tree. It stands for Dixie, the nickname St. George earned after Brigham Young sent pioneer families here in 1861 to grow cotton in the warm climate. The letter became a symbol of those pioneers and the local college, and it’s still a beloved landmark today.
We were hot and ready to go, so I called another Uber to take us back to the hotel.
Orientation
In the late afternoon, we met our group and guides for the trip orientation. The guides walked us through how the Grand Staircase connects Bryce, Zion, and the Grand Canyon as one giant series of rock layers across the Colorado Plateau. Bryce sits at the top with the youngest rock. The top layers of Zion match the bottom of Bryce, and the bottom of Zion matches the top of the Grand Canyon. It’s like one giant staircase of rock, and we’d be working our way down it.
The trip is rated moderate. Most days include more than one hike, with each hike about 1 to 3 miles, plus early mornings for sunrise and evenings for sunset and stargazing. The highlight hike will be the Queens Garden and Navajo Loop at Bryce Canyon, about 3 miles with 630 feet of elevation gain. We’ll be staying at Bryce Canyon Lodge and Zion Lodge, and there’s even a helicopter ride in the plans. I’m already excited.
When we sat down at orientation, Laura and Toni had a name tag and three little gifts waiting for each of us: a reusable coffee cup, a utensil set to keep in our backpacks, and Carmex for the dry desert air. They stayed in our backpacks all week, and trust me, the Carmex came in handy!
Laura also shared how a few conversations with Marriott hotel managers about cutting back on plastic helped push the whole chain toward recyclable materials and real, washable dishes. It’s clearly catching on. Even our Hyatt had recyclable supplies and washable dishes instead of piles of throwaway plastic.
Dinner at Painted Pony
Our welcome dinner was at Painted Pony Restaurant in Ancestor Square, and it set the tone for the whole trip. The glowing sign out front, the stained glass pony window, the fall garland, and the quirky paintings on the walls made it feel warm and a little whimsical.
I went with the charbroiled ribeye topped with fig butter and crispy Brussels sprout leaves. Tim ordered the juniper brined pork chop, which came with a blue cheese and walnut stuffed pear and chipotle cornbread pudding. They even pour a Painted Pony Pinot Noir made from grapes grown right up the road in Dammeron Valley, Utah.
By the end of the night we were full, happy, and already getting to know our fellow travelers. Tomorrow we head to Bryce Canyon, with stops along the way.
Want to relive the whole day in about a minute? Here’s a quick look at everything from Cliffside to the Painted Pony, including a few photos and videos that didn’t make it into the blog.
