On the day after visiting Utah’s Hogle Zoo, my family and I did a short afternoon outing. We visited a few of the parks in Provo Canyon, as well as one park in Orem. We also drove deeper into Provo Canyon, in which we discovered a few more parks that I would like to visit this spring or summer. We tried to go to Sundance Ski Resort, but were unable to enter. They are closed until May 15th, as they are still trying to hire staff for the summer.
Bridal Veil Falls Park is an interesting one, mainly because it’s easy to forget that you’re in a park. The majority of your visit is, for most people, focused on walking the short, paved trail to get up to the waterfall. It feels much more like a trail than a park, although it is both. Starting in late April and going through October, I run through Bridal Veil almost every Saturday, unless I’m at Lagoon in which case I generally run on the Lagoon trail. During winter, the worst season, you often can’t run through Bridal Veil because of the icy snowpack that they don’t plow, which covers the majority of the trail.
While I am quite familiar with the park, I was still happy to be there with my family. It rained on us as we were walking to the falls, and we ended up taking shelter under the trees.
Walking through the park with the family.
Not the best picture I’ve ever taken of myself, but hey, check out that Royal Caribbean shirt!There are some nice benches on the way up…Take me somewhere nice, to some quiet island in your heart called paradise…Lovely views of the mountains. I love the Provo River. If we hook a dream, and it tows us back down this open stream…Ah yes, the majestic and inspirational bridge to the overflow parking lot. Bridal Veil Falls, in the flesh! After the long and arduous trek of like 0.3 miles, we have finally made it!Snowmelt water at the base of the falls. It’s freezing even in 100 degree August heat…trust me. It’s a great way to numb your skin though.
After Bridal Veil Falls Park, we ventured deeper into the canyon to…Vivian Park! My dad wanted to see the beginning of the Provo River Trail, which starts here.
We’re here!A beautiful view, indeed! I love springtime in Utah. Here are some trailheads we’ll have to check out in the future. The fishing pond. The parking lot across from it gets crazy crowded in the summer — it’s easy to get trapped in it. The trailhead to the Provo River Trail starts just beyond that road. Ah, yes. I, too, am good at speling.Let’s go check out the train tracks, eh?Hello tetanus, my old friend…It’s all over folks; we have COVID-19. Now, only 99.95% of us will survive! In which we examine the miracles of rail-based locomotion. “Fear is your only god”…Whoever graffitied this makes a really good point about the modern world. Yeeeeeeee
After checking out Vivian Park, we delved deeper into Provo Canyon. We checked out a few more parks, South Fork Park and Big Springs Park, but only drove through them on our way to Sundance. After realizing that Sundance was still closed, other than for food pickup, we headed down to Nielsen Park.
I think this was South Fork Park but I can’t remember. Big Springs. This one looks like it has a cool trailhead that comes out of it. I will have to try it out soon.
Nielsen Park was great as always!
Eight children in that tiny thing? Yeeesh.As a theme park designer, thou shalt never underestimate the importance of foliage features. I LOOOOVE the Nielsen Park swing! It’s been open throughout all the hysteria and we all swung on it at the same time. It’s much harder to move it around than it looks. ewwww a nerd (sitting on the swing)The swing I rode on! 😀 😀 😀 Goodbye swing; I’ll see you multiple times a week because I have to work from home now and going to Nielsen Park for lunch is the only way I am able to maintain my sanity. There is peace to be found in nature. It may be architecturalized and orderly here, but the spirit of it is there no matter what. Look at all those ducks. QUAAAAACK!!!Behold, The Bench (TM)The greenhouse. No, there are no plants in it. LAME. FREAKING. SAUCE. I love flower arrangements like this! Which is exactly why my theme park resort must have a botanical garden. My ghost took this picture of Mr. Nielsen, because I died of COVID-19 while I was at the park. So long, suckers.
Overall, it was a beautiful day here in Utah Valley and Provo Canyon. I had a blast with my family, exploring the community and natural parks all around us!
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