Zion National Park

Spring and autumn are the best seasons, with warm days, cool nights and comfortable hiking, though they are also the busiest. Summer brings heat that often passes 38°C (100°F) on the canyon floor, plus the July to September monsoon, when afternoon thunderstorms can cause flash floods. Spring snowmelt raises the Virgin River and often closes the Narrows into June. Winter is quiet and can be lovely, with snow on the high walls, but trails can be icy, the upper roads at Kolob may close, and the shuttle runs only around the holidays.

St George Regional Airport is about an hour from the South Entrance, Las Vegas around three hours and Salt Lake City around four. During shuttle season the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive is closed to private cars, including before the first bus and after the last, apart from Zion Lodge guests with a reservation. The free Springdale Line links the town with the park's pedestrian entrance, and the Zion Canyon Line runs from the visitor centre to the Temple of Sinawava. You can still drive the Zion–Mount Carmel Highway, Kolob Terrace Road and Kolob Canyons Road. Since June 2026 vehicles taller than 11 feet 4 inches, wider than 7 feet 10 inches, longer than 35 feet 9 inches or heavier than 50,000 pounds may not use the highway between Canyon Junction and the East Entrance at all, so large RVs heading for Bryce Canyon must go around by another route.

• Entrance is $35 per private vehicle or $20 per person on foot or bike, valid for seven days; the America the Beautiful pass covers it.
• Non-US residents aged 16 and over pay an extra $100 nonresident fee unless they hold an annual pass; the non-resident America the Beautiful pass costs $250.
• Apply for Angels Landing in the seasonal lottery months ahead, or in the day-before lottery, which closes at 3pm Mountain Time.
• Arrive at the visitor centre before 8am in busy months, or come in on the Springdale shuttle; parking often fills early.
• Carry plenty of water and start long hikes at dawn in summer.
• Don't drink or swim with your head under in the Virgin River: toxic cyanobacteria have been found in it.
• Phone signal is patchy in the canyon; download maps and permits before you go.

Food inside the park is limited to Zion Lodge's restaurant and café, so most meals happen in Springdale, which has everything from coffee shops and pizza to Southwestern dishes with green chilli and Navajo tacos. Pack a picnic and snacks for long hiking days; there are drinking water filling stations at the visitor centre and several shuttle stops.

Zion Lodge, the only hotel inside the park, has rooms and historic cabins near the Emerald Pools trailhead and books up well ahead. Watchman and South campgrounds sit by the river near the South Entrance and need reservations in season, while small Lava Point is a high, seasonal campground on Kolob Terrace. Springdale has the widest range of hotels and guesthouses within walking distance of the entrance; Virgin, Hurricane and St George are cheaper bases further west, and Mount Carmel Junction and Kanab work for the east side.

Zion's narrow canyons drain a huge area of high plateau, and a storm many kilometres away can send a wall of muddy water, logs and boulders down a slot under clear skies. The Narrows, the Subway and the park's other canyons have no easy escape once the walls close in. The National Weather Service issues a flash flood forecast for the park, shown at visitor centres and online, and the park shuts the Narrows during warnings and for at least two hours afterwards. Watch for rising or muddying water, floating debris or a roar upstream, and climb to high ground at once if you see them. The monsoon from July to September is the main risk, but floods can happen in any month.

The canyon floor traps heat in summer, and the exposed climbs to Angels Landing, Observation Point and the Watchman get full sun for much of the day. Start early, carry more water than you think you need along with salty snacks, and rest in shade during the hottest hours. Heat exhaustion is one of the most common reasons for rescues here. Rockfall is a real hazard too: in 2026 a large collapse briefly closed the Zion–Mount Carmel Highway, and Hidden Canyon and part of the East Rim Trail remain closed after earlier rockfalls. Check the park's current conditions page before every hike.

People have lived in and around Zion for thousands of years, from ancestral Puebloan and Virgin Anasazi farmers to the Southern Paiute, whose descendants still live in the region. Mormon settlers farmed the canyon in the 1860s, and many of its peaks carry names from that era. The area was protected as Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909 and became Zion National Park in 1919. The 1.8-kilometre Zion–Mount Carmel Tunnel, finished in 1930, was one of the longest of its kind when built and opened a route east towards Bryce Canyon, which many visitors continue on to next.

Zion receives millions of visitors a year in a small canyon, so stay on trails and avoid trampling the fragile cryptobiotic soil, a dark crust that takes decades to form. Pack out all rubbish, never feed squirrels, and keep a distance from bighorn sheep and other wildlife. Leave rock art and historic sites untouched, and don't stack cairns. The Zion Forever Project, the park's official nonprofit partner, funds trail work, education and conservation, and its stores support those projects.