Your Travel Guide to Visiting Zion National Park

What to Know Before You Go – Zion National Park

For most traveling through Utah, it is essential to visit one of the state’s many magnificent national parks.

Unless you’re road tripping through all the Mighty 5 National Parks of Utah, most who only have enough time to visit one choose Zion National Park.

Even though we love all 5 National Parks of Utah we can understand why Zion hits the top of the list for so many nature enthusiasts. 

What Makes Zion National Park So Unique?

Zion National Park resides along the edge of a region called the Colorado Plateau. The beautiful rock layers within the park have been uplifted, tilted, and eroded, forming a feature called the Grand Staircase. These colorful cliffs stretch between Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon.

Upon entering the park, it’s hard to not be immediately awe-struck by these massive unique-colored cliffs. The most memorable characteristic being the reddish orange and black colored walls on most of the rock faces. One of the many charming attributes of the entire park.

🌻 Our content may contain affiliate links. If clicked through to make a purchase, the price remains the same for you and we will earn a small commission. This helps us to continue creating useful and valuable content for you and other visitors. 💜
     

Where to Prepare Before Entering the Park

Before entering a national park, it’s a good habit to stop in town and refuel (both your car and your body).

We stayed overnight in the city of Springdale, a charming little town located directly outside the main gates of Zion National Park. This small town has a few hotels for luxury lodging or affordable motels if you’re looking to save money and sleep cheap. 

For a small town, there is plenty to do. Dine at restaurants, enjoy a variety of shops, take in the incredble scenery, or grab lunch from the grocery store to bring into the Zion NP.

Best part, use the free shuttle service in Springdale that will take you directly into the park. Extremely convenient for those crowded summer months.

Basically, Springdale is your go to place for lodging, food, and supplies that you may have forgotten from your master packing list.

How To Navigate Around Zion National Park

There are two main roads that travel through Zion National Park:

1) Zion Canyon Scenic Drive – main road that runs through the center of park to majority of the hiking trailheads and main attractions.

2) Zion Mount Carmel Highway – provides access to a few attractions and is the only other road that takes you out of the park if you aren’t heading back to Springdale.

Make sure you stop in the Visitor Center to grab a map and ask any questions you may have about the park.

Why You Should Hike in Zion

National parks are great for all kinds of nature enthusiasts. Due to higher budgets and maintenance, some of the most beautiful views can be enjoyed with little to no effort.

We appreciate accessibility, but we still feel the best way to experience and immerse yourself in the beauty of a national park is through hiking. The trails of the park take you deeper into the enchanted parts of Zion you can’t see from your car.

Zion National Park has a wide range of hikes from flat and short, to long and strenuous.

If you planned a short visit, try to hike several of the smaller trails so you can enjoy a variety of Zion’s landscape. Trails include peaceful walks along the river, exploration of the unique rock formations, trekking through water, and climbing high among the cliff sides for stunning views of the park.

A Few Favorite Trails of the Park:

Out of the many hikes in the park, our favorites are the Emerald Pools Trail and The Narrows.

1. Emerald Pools Trail (Upper/Lower Pool Trails) – About 1 mile each

We hiked The Emerald Pools trail during the wintertime, both the Upper and Lower Pool trails. We were taken alongside frozen clear pools, between tight rock walls, and ended gazing up at a massive towering cliff.

This is one of those trails that offers a completely different experience by what season you hike in.

2. The Narrows Trail – 6 mile round-trip to Wall Street

Rated one of the top 10 hikes on Earth, The Narrows is a perfect hike if you’re visiting during summer or spring. Being open year round, hiking The Narrows is very doable in winter, but probably a lot more comfortable in warmer weather.

This trail takes you through knee-deep water (sometimes deeper) up the Virgin River, through tight towering canyons. The entire trail is pretty long and most hikers have their turn around point set at Wall Street, an iconic section of the hike.

For a more detailed review, check out our post specifically on The Narrows Hike of Zion National Park.

Definitely one of the more unique trails we have done as we don’t usually hike an entire trail through water!

3. Angels Landing – 5 mile round-trip

For a more strenuous hike that ends with an incredible view, most would recommend Angels Landing. We have not had the chance to do this hike just yet, but have heard nothing but great things.

This is one of those hikes where you have to have a “No Pain No Gain” attitude otherwise you may be asking “What did I get myself into?!”

We’re talking 1500 Feet in elevation, 21 switchbacks, and a heart stopping stretch of rock to make it to Angels Landing.

You can read more detail about all the hikes in the park from the Zion Hiking Guide created by the National Park Service.

Seasonal Shuttle Services To and Around the Park

To combat traffic jams during peak seasons, Zion National Park has two shuttle systems to get you in and around the park. When the shuttle is in operation, no private vehicles are allowed on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. The shuttle system is active from March through November. 

There are two shuttle loops available for visitors:

1) Springdale Shuttle – picks up from multiple locations in Springdale and takes you to the entrance or visitor center of Zion National Park. 

Once in the park, you then take:

2) Zion Canyon Shuttle – provides transportation around the entire park

The shuttle service is free and stops about every 7-10 minutes. Overall, it’s very easy to navigate within the park using these shuttle systems.

Visit During Winter to Avoid Crowds and Shuttles

If you’re looking for a more private and relaxing time within Zion National Park, then we highly recommend visiting during winter.

During this time, the park has little visitors. You can also take your own vehicle in and around the park since there are no shuttles in operation. It’s a lot easier to travel and go at your own pace when visiting during the off season.

Honestly, we prefer to visit national parks in winter over summer. There are a huge amount of perks when visiting during the “quiet season.”

Obviously it’s much colder and there will most likely be snow, but the tranquility found within the park makes it all worth it.

Travel bloggers Esther and Jacob, of Local Adventurer, expand on some of the other top National Parks to visit during winter.

What Other Activities Can You Do Within The Park?

If you have the time and are able to snag a site, enjoy camping within Zion National Park.

There are three main campgrounds to choose from.

1. South Campground – near south entrance, mainly desert camping, takes reservations
   
2. Watchman Campground – same as South Campground
   
3. Lava Point Campground – over an hour drive from Zion Canyon on the Kolob Terrace Road, in the northern area of the park

Outside of hiking and camping, you can also visit the Zion Nature Center or the Zion Human History Museum. Both have informational exhibits where you can learn more details on the history and geology of the park.

When visiting large national parks such as these, we like to reference travel guides to help plan our best itinerary.

You can learn more on the best things to do (or not do) within the park with the help of this Zion National Park guidebook from Lonely Planet. A wonderful travel tool that has shown us things to do in the park that we would have never discovered on our own!

Enjoy the Seemingly Endless Possibilities at Zion National Park

As you can see, there’s a lot to do and see within Zion National Park! We are just barely scratching the surface.

Enjoy the numerous scenic spots, hike the many beautiful trails, picnic below the massive canyon walls, wander alongside the Virgin River, or camp under the stars.

We recommend spending at least a few days here, if you can. We’ve visited a total of 3 times on separate occasions and still feel we have so much left to see!

Roaming The Mighty 5 National Parks of Utah?

Are you traveling along the Mighty 5 National Parks of Utah? Zion is just one of the five magnificent national parks of the state!

With so many parks to explore, it may be difficult to find the best locations all on your own. One of our favorite ways to discover the top (and sometimes hidden) spots of an area is through a guided tour. You can find a list of tours among the Mighty 5 (including price and reviews) here at GetYourGuide.

I use GetYourGuide when I want to find new things to do at my chosen destination. They’re extremely easy to use and book.

Maybe you’re looking for a break from the crowds? Visit the magical grounds of Dixie National Forest. Located only an hour north of Zion!

Have you been to Zion National Park? What were some of your favorite things to do in the park? Share with us in the comments below!

Like this? Pin it!