Family Travel and Autism

The Grand Canyon Synopsis - South Rim - Hot, crowded, more hotel rooms, more camping spots and more to do.  North Rim - colder year round, fewer people, fewer rooms and sites and less to do.  The view is the same from either side.  There you have it in a nutshell.

We left after several days of exciting, beautiful time viewing the magnificient Grand Canyon.  Next stop, Zion National Park.  I was really looking forward to the next part.  I know that the Grand Canyon is what everyone thinks of but for me it is just too immense to contemplate.   Zion is a canyon approached from the bottom of the canyon.  The canyon also winds so that views unfold before you as travel along it.  Easier I think to process.

We slowly descended from the 8,000 foot altitude to the base of Zion at 4,000 foot.  That descent created an immense rush in all of us.  By that evening in the park, we were all, and I mean all, giggling and laughing far into the night.  After hours of this (yes, we were literally laughing at nothing) I realized that it was the altitude.  The sudden rush of oxygen was making us giddy.  What fun we had that night!

Zion camping is beautiful.  The river winds along the edge with the town just on the other side a short walk away.  The sites are level with trees shading many of the sites.  There are several hotels in town with anything from an ordinary hotel room to cottages and suites.  Be warned though, hotels are very expensive.   In fact, much of the town is expensive.  Springdale is a small artsy town catered purely to tourism.

On the plus side, transportation is a snap.  You cannot drive in the canyon itself.  There is however, buses that run from sun up to sun down through the whole summer.  The stops are frequent and rarely completely crowded.

The visitors center is beautiful and worth a stop itself.  There unique towers anchoring the corners of the building are actually designed to cool the facility.  There are educational exhibits all over the plaza which my son found fascinating.

An important tip, August and September is tarantula mating season.  Is this a real problem?  Not really but if you have a child into bugs, this is the time to go!

My son sure was fascinated!