Visiting The Stunning Zion National Park In Utah

We’ve visited many National Parks during the first 4.5 years of our road trip and, following our visit to Zion National Park in Utah, I might have a new favorite.

Zion National Park is a simply stunning park with amazing views, a beautiful drive, great hiking and much more.

There is one downside for pet-owners though – it’s not very dog-friendly. As a result, we decided to leave Truffles back at our Airbnb while we explored Zion because otherwise we’d have been able to see very little of it.

We were staying in Kanab, UT which is on the border of Arizona. As a result, we drove in to Zion National Park from the eastern side; on the western side of the park are Springdale and St George which are also popular places for people to stay nearby. Springdale and St George are both a little closer to Zion than Kanab is, but Kanab was a better location for us overall as it put us closer to Bryce Canyon National Park which we were also visiting that week.

When entering Zion from the east, one of the first things you’ll see is Checkerboard Mesa. As you can see in the photo below, there’s an obvious reason for its name as the rock formation has squares that make it look like a checkerboard. This is caused by cross-bedding of sand dunes for the horizontal lines, with the vertical lines caused by cracking that occurs in the winter when the sandstone expands and contracts.

The entire drive through Zion is pretty, with State Route 9 taking you through the canyon with rock walls lining both sides of the road.

The road then leads to Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, a 1.1 mile long tunnel that takes you through the cliff wall. The tunnel is large enough for cars to fit through in each direction, but not large enough for RVs, tour buses, etc. to fit within their lane. As a result, anyone driving a larger vehicle like that has to pay a $15 permit fee, with the tunnel being closed in the opposite direction while you drive your vehicle down the middle of the road.

That service is only provided from 8am until 6pm-8pm (depending on the time of year), so be sure to check the Zion National Park website for more information if you’ll be driving an oversized vehicle through the park.

While driving through the tunnel, you’ll see occasional windows on the right hand side. They were created to provide light and air, but also served as a way to remove rubble while the tunnel was being constructed. When you’re out the other side, you can look back up at the cliff wall to see at least one of those windows.

Once through the tunnel, the road continues downhill along switchbacks with some tight corners. There are several pull-offs along the way to stop and enjoy the beautiful views.

One of the most striking features of Zion is how green it is. The red rock of the cliffs makes it seem like it should have a desert-like feel and, with the park only getting 16 inches of rain each year (versus the US average of 38 inches), it certainly seems like it should have more of a barren landscape. However, the canyon was carved by the Virgin River which still flows today, helping ensure there’s more vegetation than you might expect.

We visited Zion towards the end of April 2022. That’s an ideal time of year to visit because the weather is like the porridge Goldilocks preferred – not too hot and not too cold. It didn’t seem to be prime tourist season either, although there were enough people there for all the parking at the visitor center to be taken.

As a result, we had to leave the National Park on the other side and park in Springdale. Zion runs a complimentary shuttle bus through Springdale that has six stops, so it’s not a big issue if you end up having to park further away from the entrance. We found a parking lot next to FeelLove Coffee Zion and Zion Peddler which cost $30 for the day (find it here on Google Maps). That wasn’t ideal compared to the free parking in Zion itself, but we didn’t want to waste time driving around trying to find something cheaper.

The parking lot was only a half mile or so from the park’s visitor center, so we decided to walk there rather than wait for the shuttle bus to pick us up.

The exhibit area of Zion’s visitor center was closed off during our visit, so the center served as more of a gift shop than anything else. Outside of the visitor center was a water refilling station that serves up spring water.

When originally entering the park, we were given a leaflet with information about the park, including all the hiking trails.

Next to the visitor center were a couple of rows of information boards providing even more information about each of the hikes available in Zion. A couple of them were helpfully noted with a warning that the trails were closed, I think due to weather and trail conditions.

Although you can drive along State Route 9 through Zion, Zion Canyon Scenic Drive which heads north is off-limits to visitor vehicles. As a result, if you want to see the rest of the park you have to take their free shuttle bus.

The first stop we got off at was Court of the Patriarchs. There’s a short, steep paved trail up to an overlook that gives you a better view of these rock formations. From left to right in the photo below, they’re Abraham Peak, Isaac Peak and Jacob Peak which stand at 6,890 ft, 6,825 ft and 6,835 ft respectively.

We hopped on the next shuttle bus and continued up Zion Canyon Scenic Drive to the Zion Lodge stop. As the stop’s name suggests, this is where you’ll find Zion National Park Lodge which is the only lodging within the park itself. There are a couple of restaurants there, along with large grassy areas where you can stop to have a picnic if you want.

This stop also serves as the trailhead for Emerald Pools which is why we’d gotten off there. To get to the trails, you cross over the road and then over the bridge across Virgin River.

The trail splits in two, with the left trail taking you to Middle Emerald Pool (1 mile away) and Sand Bench Trail. The right trail takes you to Lower Emerald Pool (0.6 miles) and Upper Emerald Pool (1.5 miles) which is the route we took.

Seeing as we’d left our dog Truffles back at our Airbnb, we wanted to fit in as much as possible during our time there, so once we reached Lower Emerald Pool we turned back rather than adding a two mile round trip hike up to Upper Emerald Pool.

We did stop for a picnic lunch on the way back to the shuttle bus stop though. Rather than eating at one of the grassy areas next to the lodge, we stopped beneath the bridge as this provided both shade and a beautiful spot by the river to have our lunch.

One of the most popular hiking trails in Zion National Park is Angels Landing. Due to its popularity you have to get a hiking permit ahead of time, so be aware of that if you want to hike up there. Also be aware that it’s one of the most dangerous hiking trails in the US as 14 people have died over the years after falling while hiking Angels Landing.

We therefore stayed on the shuttle bus when it arrived at its trailhead, continuing on to the end of the route where we got off at Temple of Sinawava. We then hiked/walked the 2.2 mile round trip Riverside Walk trail through the canyon alongside the Virgin River.

Even though Riverside Walk is an easy trail, it’s incredibly picturesque with the canyon walls rising high above you while listening to the river running through.

At the end of Riverside Walk you can continue up-river – quite literally – to hike the popular trail known as The Narrows. This takes you ever-deeper into the canyon; with the canyon walls only being 20 feet apart, very little sunlight reaches the canyon floor.

Seeing as The Narrows trail takes you through the river itself, at the start of the Riverside Walk trail you can rent waders to ensure your shoes and clothing remain dry. We didn’t hike The Narrows during this trip, but we’d love to return in the future to get the full experience.

After hiking back along Riverside Walk, we returned on the shuttle bus to the visitor center and walked back to our car. That took us back along the route we’d driven in on which was no bad thing as it meant we got to enjoy the views from the opposite direction.

We’d been a little disappointed that we’d missed seeing wildlife in the park, but we got lucky as we left. My mum spotted some bighorn sheep on top of a rock, so we pulled over nearby to stop and watch them for a while. Shae has a camera with a great zoom, so she managed to get tons of excellent photos of them from a distance.

Final Thoughts

Zion National Park is one of the best National Parks that we’ve visited so far and might even be my favorite. There aren’t enough superlatives for it – its landscape is epic, there are beautiful views throughout, many incredible hiking trails and much more.

If you’re planning a trip to Utah and are trying to decide which of its National Parks to prioritize, I’d put Zion high on your list.