Picture of a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Updated 02/11/23 7:04 PM

Zion National Park

Zion National Park is one of the most amazing of all of the National Parks. The seven miles along the Zion-Mt.Carmel highway is among the most scenic drives in all the National Parks.

Utah

1999, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2106, 2017

The Park

Many times people have asked me what my favorite National Park is. The first park that comes to my mind is Zion. There is beauty, sometimes great beauty, in almost all of the national parks – that’s one of the reasons Congress made them National Parks. But when I think of Zion I think of magnificence.

Zion Canyon is a 15 mile long crack in one of the steps of the Grand Staircase. The 10-mile long park road, the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, has sheer 2000 foot high cliffs of red Navajo sandstone on both sides of the road and the canyon at its widest is no more than half a mile. Paralleling the road is the Virgin River which disappears into the Zion Canyon Narrows at the end of the road.

What you won’t find in Zion Canyon is solitude. With 4.5 million visitors (2017) Zion is the third most visited National Park. People are everywhere and traffic on some of the hiking trails can be heavy.

The traffic on the park road had gotten very heavy and parking at the trail heads was practically impossible. As a result the parks service banned cars in Zion Canyon in 2000. Since then you have to park at the visitor center, or in Springdale, since the visitor center parking lot fills up, and take free step-on–step-off propane powered shuttle buses into the canyon that make stops along the park road. It’s a great solution that solved multiple problems – traffic, parking, and pollution.

While Zion Canyon is impressive the most scenic part of Zion National Park is the 7-mile section between the eastern entrance to the park, on the Zion-Mt. Carmel highway (State Road 9), and the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel.

If you are coming from Springdale or Zion Canyon you continue along State Road 9, past the entrance to Zion Canyon, drive up the switchbacks and through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel to get to the eastern part of Zion.

The tunnel is 1.1 miles long, narrow, dark, with two-way traffic, and was opened in 1930. The opening of the tunnel greatly increased visitation to Zion. Without the tunnel it would be about a 100 mile drive to get from the eastern to the western part of Zion.

Zion gets frequent rock falls and occasional flooding which cause road and trail closures. Check the NPS website on the link provided below for up-to-date information before you go.

Wildlife

Desert Bighorn Sheep are commonly seen between the tunnel and eastern entrance to the park. Sometimes in herds of 6-12 animals. Mule deer frequent the area around the visitor center. The park is also home to cougars, bobcats, coyotes, badgers, gray foxes, and ring-tail cats. Smaller wildlife such as rock squirrels, pinyon jays, and whiptail and collared lizards can be often seen. Desert cottontails, jackrabbits, and Merriam's kangaroo rats are part of the nocturnal wildlife. Rattlesnakes can be anywhere and signs often point that out.

Lodging

Zion Lodge

The ideal lodging would be to stay at the Zion Lodge but you generally would need reservations about a year in advance. You could get lucky and call and walk into a cancellation but I wouldn’t count on it. They have a nice restaurant, the usual well-stocked gift shop, and a café with a fairly robust menu. The big lawn out in front of the lodge can have deer wandering around at any time of the day only feet from tourists sitting out there or walking along the paths.

If you’re not lucky enough to get a room at the Zion Lodge there’s lots of lodging in the town of Springdale which is literally right outside of the park. If you have to park in Springdale it’s just a short walk to the visitor center where the bus stop is. There’s also a number of good restaurants in Springdale and plenty of shops for the tourists. If you stay at the lodge you will get a pass in the mail allowing you to drive into Zion Canyon so you can park at the lodge and unload your bags. You are not allowed to park at any trail head nor even stop to take pictures.

Hiking

Riverside Walk and The Narrows

The easiest trail in the canyon part of Zion Canyon is the Riverside Walk leading to the Zion Canyon Narrows. It is a 2.2 mile out-and-back stroll on a paved walkway that leads almost to the entrance of The Narrows. Unless you’re willing to get out in the water, which is what you have to do if you want to actually hike the Narrows, you don’t see the entrance. But it’s an easy, pleasant, wheel chair accessible walk, reasonably scenic…with lots of people.

As for hiking into The Narrows you’ll need suitable footwear since you will be walking in cold, waist deep water while keeping a watchful eye on the weather since being in a narrow canyon is the last place you want to be if it rains. The torrent that floods the canyon could have been a storm 15 miles away and what reaches you will be a thick soup of dirt, rocks, shrubbery and tree trunks!

Emerald Pools

Some other popular hikes are the Emerald Pools hikes. The Lower Emerald Pool is an easy one mile walk on a paved trail with minor drop-offs. It connects with the Middle and Upper Emerald Pools trails which are not paved, gain more elevation and with drop-offs. These trails lead to waterfalls, pools and interesting scenery. Due to their relative accessibility and ease (Lower and Middle) they do attract the crowds. The Upper Emerald Pools hike is more rugged and steep. While there are drop-offs they are not the hundreds or thousand foot drop offs that you can find on other Zion Canyon trails.

Watchman Trail

There’s another nice easy hike that you can take right from the visitor center called the Watchman Trail. It’s a 3.3 mile hike with some moderate drop-offs and only a 368 foot elevation gain. It’s a pleasant hike that leads you up to a nice viewpoint where you are looking down at the visitor center area and Springdale but also with beautiful scenic Zion views.

Observation Point trail

Two trails where you will find serious drop-offs are the and the Observation Point trail and Hidden Canyon trail which share a trailhead but branch off further up the trail. Both of these are strenuous hikes. The Observation Point trail will take you to the top of the canyon and commands a view of almost every major attraction and the Canyon. It’s an 8 mile round trip.

Hidden Canyon trail

We hiked up the Hidden Canyon trail and had to quit at a point where you are on a narrow ledge with a pronounced downward slant, with chains bolted to the side of the canyon wall to hold onto, and a fatal drop-off. My wife drew the line at that. I told her to hold on while I moved further down the chain and snapped a picture and came back and we descended. So we never did get to see Hidden Canyon. You can see the picture in the photo gallery and understand why one might not want to go any further.

Angel’s Landing trail

These trails, and the Angel’s Landing trail, have signs at the bottom that warn anyone contemplating taking this trail that if they have any fear of heights they should not take the trail. You will be on narrow ledges with 1000 foot drop-offs.

I put the Angel’s Landing trail hike on a separate page because it is in a class all its own. It is considered to be one of the most, if not the most, dangerous hike in America. It is not for everyone but if you have an interest in hiking it, or are just curious about it, the link above is to the page on this web site describing it. That web page also contains a link to a photo gallery showing what the hike is like. You can see what you can expect to encounter and decide if this is a hike for you.

Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel

If you drive away from Zion Canyon up the switchbacks to the Zion-Mt.Carmel Tunnel you’ll find yourself driving through some of the most unbelievably beautiful and interesting scenery in the country. From my point of view the 7 miles from the tunnel exit to the eastern entrance station is the most scenic road in any National Park. The road winds through buttes, mesas, red rock sandstone formations offset by the greens and browns of the trees and occasionally the sight of desert bighorn sheep. If you want to hike in solitude this is where you can find it. You are free to pull over at any pull-out and get out of your car and walk wherever you want. Most people however just pull over and take some pictures.

The National Park Service brochure and park newspaper never mention that you can do this on their pages detailing Zion’s hiking trails so few people do. You can spend hours hiking around and barely lose sight of the road and the scenery is more picturesque than hiking in the canyon where due to the closeness of the canyon walls there aren’t dramatic vistas. The exception to this is if you hike up the walls of the canyon on trails that warn you at the trail head that if you have any fear of heights do not take this trail.

Canyon Overlook Trail

There is one marked hiking trail on the east side of the park. It is the 1-mile round trip Canyon Overlook Trail which is literally right at the eastern exit from the tunnel. The parking is very limited. If you enter the tunnel from the west then you have to plan this hike before you go into the tunnel because the parking lot is directly on your right as you exit the tunnel and is a right turn only. For those who didn’t plan ahead, or are coming from the east and traveling westward, there is no way to get to this lot. You can park on the side along the road traveling west but there’s not much parking on that side either. As a result parked cars are typically lined up a good distance along the road. The trail itself is interesting and scenic and ends at an overlook looking down on Pine Creek Canyon and lower Zion Canyon. You’ll also see the switchback leading up to the tunnel. You won’t be disappointed with the view!

There are two other parts of Zion National Park that, if you have the time, are worth seeing.

Kolub Terrace

Kolub Terrace Road is about 15 miles west of Springdale and heads about 24 miles up to the Kolub reservoir. The road rises 4000’ in elevation and takes you to the little seen west rim of Zion. You get to look down on the temples and towers normally viewed from the canyon floor. The last few miles are graded but easily drivable in a street vehicle. The scenery is still typically Zion beautiful. There’s some nice houses and ranches on the west side of the road and I had to envy those people the beautiful views that they wake up to and have all day long.

Northgate Peaks trail

We hiked Kolub Terrace’s Northgate Peaks trail which is a 4 mile out-and-back hike with almost no elevation gain to speak of. About a mile of the hike is through a not very dense forest that protected us from the summer sun. It’s an easy hike suitable for families and children with the usual beautiful views that ends at a point with views of Zion’s canyons. It was a nice place to stop and have our lunch and soak up the scenery.

Kolub Canyon

The other part of Zion, which not too many people get to see, is the Kolub Canyon
area of Zion National Park. It is south of Cedar City, Utah right next to Interstate
15. You can drive to it from Springdale for a day trip since it’s only about a 40 mile drive. It’s interesting and scenic but not nearly as much as the rest of Zion.

Timber Creek Overlook trail

The Timber Creek Overlook trail is a short (1 mile) out-and-back hike at the end of the park road to an overlook with beautiful views of the Kolub Canyons and Kolub Terrace.

Kolub Arch

The park also has a hike to Kolub Arch, the second longest arch in America, but it’s about an eight hour out-and-back hike into the back country and we didn’t hike it.

*NOTE* Parts of the Kolub Canyon section of Zion were closed due to road re-paving starting in May 2018 and access to certain trails and parts of the park may not be available. This appears to be re-opened but check the NPS.gov link below for up-to-date-information before planning a visit or call for information.

Zion National Park Photo Gallery

Angel’s Landing Hike - Zion’s Most Famous and Most Dangerous Hike

Other Resources

Zion National Park on the National Parks Service website - NPS.gov

Zion National Park - Wikipedia

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument - Utah.com

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument - Wikipedia

Picture of beautiful sandstone buttes along highway 9 in Zion National Park

Other National Parks and National Monuments Within a Day’s Drive

Bryce Canyon National Park You can see the hoodoos and the magnificent Bryce Amphitheater about 106 miles away and about a 2.5 hour drive.

Grand Canyon National Park - North Rim This is the side much less traveled but no less awesome and is about 110 miles away and about a 2 plus hour drive.

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim The drive along the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument is quite scenic. It is about 280 miles away and around a 5 hour drive.

Cedar Breaks National Monument is often called a mini-Bryce Canyon and is 78 miles north and about a 1.5 hour drive.
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