Zion National Park

About

Zion National Park was Utah’s first national park and remains the most visited, drawing close to five million people a year to its steep red and cream sandstone cliffs in the southwestern corner of the state. The Virgin River cut this landscape over millions of years, carving canyons a thousand feet deep through Navajo Sandstone and leaving walls that change color through the day as the light moves.

Zion Canyon Scenic Drive runs along the river through the heart of the park and, from roughly March through late November, is accessible only by the park shuttle system. The main canyon feeds into forest trails, the Emerald Pools waterfalls, and the Weeping Rock hanging garden. The Narrows hike follows the Virgin River deep into a slot canyon where the walls close in to less than 30 feet apart in places, and hikers wade through water for most of the route. Angels Landing, reached by a chain-assisted scramble up a narrow rock fin, is one of the most recognizable day hikes in the country and now requires a permit.

Beyond Zion Canyon itself, the Kolob Canyons, Kolob Terrace Road, and the East Side via the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway offer quieter, wilder experiences that most visitors skip.

A Zion road trip fits naturally into a Utah Mighty 5 tour and pairs especially well with Bryce Canyon, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas as a Southwest retreat loop.