Taking a stroll around the property at Cliffrose Lodge can feel like you’re leaving the busy modern world behind. The Virgin River lazily flows across the back of the resort, while lush gardens line pathways that wind through the trees and the beautiful, low buildings of our timeless resort. While our resort might be a welcome break from high-rise chain hotels and busy cities, it’s still a far cry from what the region’s first tourists experienced.
Tourists first made their way into what would later become Zion National Park in 1909. That’s when President Taft set aside 16,000 acres to create Mukuntuweap National Monument.
While we might not have visitor numbers from those early years, one thing we do know is that visitors had a vastly different experience than they would just a few decades later. With no hotels, restaurants, or shops, visitors largely camped, first in the wilderness and later in established campgrounds. Now, over 100 years later, visitors to Zion have no shortage of options when it comes to where to stay.
With hundreds of options to choose from, narrowing down your options for the best Springdale, Utah hotel can be a challenge. If you’re ready to start planning your visit to Zion, keep reading to learn how to choose the best place to stay.
1. What Type of Accommodation Do You Want/Need?
The first thing to consider when choosing the best Springdale, Utah hotel is the type of accommodation that you’re looking for. If you’re dreaming of a comfortable, luxurious stay, you’re not likely to have a very good trip if you book a stay at a rustic campground or roadside motel. While there are plenty of standard chain hotels, most offer basic rooms with few features.
Staying at the unique and beautiful Cliffrose Lodge can help elevate your next visit. With no busy, overcrowded lobbies or entranceways and plenty of wide open space on our landscaped grounds, you’ll enjoy a more relaxing experience. Plus, the resort has a variety of room types to choose from, making it easy to customize your stay.
2. Consider the Convenience of Staying Close to Zion
For most national parks across the country, planning a visit is relatively simple and straightforward. You travel to the national park, pay an entrance fee, and drive in. Zion is a little more complicated.
Most of Zion’s most popular features and attractions, including the Zion National Park Lodge and trailheads for hikes like Angels Landing, are located in the Lower Canyon. This canyon starts at the South Entrance to the park and gets progressively narrower as you travel deeper into the canyon. The road into the Lower Canyon ends at Riverside Walk. To go deeper into the canyon, you’ll have to hike through the Virgin River on The Narrows trail.
The narrow Lower Canyon doesn’t leave much space for parking or for traffic on busy days. That’s why in the early 2000s, the National Park Service implemented the Zion Canyon Shuttle System. For most of the year, if you want to visit the Lower Canyon, you’ll have to hop on a shuttle to do so. You won’t need a reservation to ride the shuttle. But you will need to find parking, which is limited in the park and in nearby Springdale.
Choosing places to stay near Zion that let you walk to the park or allow you to ride the Springdale Shuttle from your resort can save you the time and hassle of finding parking. Cliffrose Lodge is located less than a half mile from the entrance to the park. This means you can easily walk to the park. Or, use the convenient Springdale Shuttle stop located just steps away from the resort to ride to the entrance.
3. What On-Site Amenities Would You Use During Your Stay?
The last thing to think about when looking for places to stay near Zion are the available on-site amenities. Most standard chain hotels and motels have little more than a pool. Having other amenities available can not only enhance your visit, but can also allow you to enjoy a restful day at your resort between visits to Zion, without feeling like you’ve wasted a day of your vacation.
One thing that makes Cliffrose Lodge the best Springdale, Utah hotel is the wide range of amenities located on site. Multiple swimming pools and hot tubs offer a place to cool off on a hot day and feature views of Zion’s peaks. Our garden-filled grounds are great for taking a relaxing stroll. Our on-site spa, Five Petals Spa, is the most luxurious spot in Southern Utah for a massage or facial. We even have an on-site patio restaurant, Anthera, where you can grab a delicious, healthy meal before heading out on another adventure.
Choosing the Best Springdale, Utah Hotel
With so many options to choose from, narrowing down your options and choosing the best Springdale, Utah hotel can be a challenge. But following these tips can help you choose the best option for your stay.
Ready to see for yourself what makes Cliffrose Lodge the resort Southern Utah has to offer? Book your 2024 stay today!