- Where
- South-western Utah
Washington, Kane and Iron counties - Coordinates
- 37.30° N
113.03° W - Zion Canyon
- 15 miles long
up to 2,640 ft deep - Protected
- National monument 1909
national park 1919 - Visits
- About 5 million in 2025
- Getting there
- South entrance at Springdale;
Las Vegas 170 miles - Best visited
- Spring and autumn
- Advisory
- United States
(no State Department level)
The walls rose and rose, red at the bottom and pale as cream at the top, with a green river far below that had plainly made the whole thing. I rode in on the bus with everybody else, which felt right; nobody should have a canyon to themselves. Later, holding a chain fixed to the rock, I learned that I am braver with both hands.
The short answer
Zion National Park covers 146,597 acres of south-western Utah, mostly in Washington, Kane and Iron counties, Wikipedia records. Its centre is Zion Canyon, 15 miles long and up to 2,640 feet deep, carved by the North Fork of the Virgin River into cliffs of Navajo Sandstone 1,600 to 2,200 feet thick, coloured red low down by iron oxides. President William Howard Taft proclaimed the area Mukuntuweap National Monument on 31 July 1909, and Congress made it Zion National Park on 19 November 1919. The park recorded 4,984,525 visits in 2025. Its elevations run from 3,666 feet at Coal Pits Wash to 8,726 feet on Horse Ranch Mountain. The name Zion came from Isaac Behunin, who settled on the canyon floor in 1863, and the Temple of Sinawava, at the canyon’s head, is named for the coyote god of the Southern Paiute, whose subtribes lived here from about 1300.
Why it's worth knowing
A canyon that had to be rationed. Traffic jams in Zion Canyon became a serious problem in the 1990s, and in 2000 the park began running propane-powered shuttle buses up the canyon’s scenic drive (Wikipedia); for most of the year private cars are no longer allowed on it, and the Park Service says visitors may not drive their own vehicles on the drive during the shuttle season. The shuttles are free and need no ticket. The same pressure produced the park’s best-known rule: after hiker metering in 2019 and 2021 and shuttle tickets in 2020, the Park Service built a permit system for Angels Landing, and since 2022 everyone who climbs its chained final section has needed a permit drawn by lottery.
Angels Landing. The trail, cut into solid rock in 1926, climbs from the canyon floor up Walter’s Wiggles, 21 tight switchbacks built that year by Walter Ruesch, Zion’s first superintendent, to Scout Lookout, Wikipedia records. No permit is needed that far. From there the route follows a narrow fin of sandstone for half a mile to the summit, 5,770 feet up, with chains fixed along parts of it: 5.4 miles there and back, with 1,488 feet of climbing, about four hours for most hikers, the Park Service says. Wikipedia counts 18 deaths at or near Angels Landing as of 2025, more than on any other hike in Zion or Utah, and in April 2026 a hiker died after falling from the chained section, the first such death since permits began in 2022, regional news reported.
A river for a trail. At the head of Zion Canyon the walls pinch in to the Narrows, a gorge only 20 feet wide and up to 2,000 feet tall, where the river is the path (Wikipedia). Day hikers wade up it from the canyon’s head; the full route from Chamberlain’s Ranch, at the top, is 16 miles and takes about twelve hours. The Park Service closes the Narrows when the river flows above 150 cubic feet per second and whenever the National Weather Service issues a flash flood warning: in September 2015 a flash flood in Keyhole Canyon, elsewhere in the park, killed all seven members of a hiking party.
The field notes
A tunnel with windows
The Zion–Mount Carmel Highway, begun in 1927 and opened in 1930, climbs out of the canyon to the east through a tunnel 1.1 miles long, cut through the sandstone cliff with six large windows opening onto the gorge (Wikipedia). The Park Service restricts large vehicles on the highway between Canyon Junction and the East Entrance; check its rules before driving a motorhome through. On the far side, Checkerboard Mesa shows the cross-bedding of the old sand dunes that became the Navajo Sandstone.
Condors over the canyon
California condors, reintroduced on the Arizona Strip to the south, have spread to the park, and the first successful breeding inside it was confirmed in 2014, Wikipedia records. The park lists 289 species of bird, 79 of mammal, 19 of bat and 28 of reptile.
Zion Canyon with the Virgin River winding between red walls, April 2017.
Photograph: Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash · Unsplash licence
Angels Landing and the Great White Throne, February 2012.
Photograph: Óðinn · Angels Landing and the Great White Throne · CC BY-SA 2.5 CA
The chained section of the Angels Landing route above Scout Lookout, August 2025.
Photograph: Andrew Heneen · CC BY 4.0
An alcove in the Narrows, where the route is the river itself.
Photograph: Zion National Park (NPS) · Public domain
- Ride the first bus of the morning and get off wherever the light is.
- Wade a little way up the river where the canyon narrows, in shoes you do not mind ruining, and look up more often than down.
- Enter the draw for the chained ridge. If your name is not picked, stop at the lookout below it; the view there is not a consolation prize.
- Sit down at the top, or wherever you stop, and let the canyon have a good look at you too.
- Look properly at every wall in the canyon. (Looked up for so long the list slipped out of my hand. A passing squirrel inspected it closely and declined to add anything.)
The chains on Angels Landing. Beyond Scout Lookout, the last half-mile of the trail runs along a narrow sandstone fin to a summit 5,770 feet up, and chains are fixed along parts of it for hikers to hold, Wikipedia records; the trail itself was cut into solid rock in 1926. Since 2022 the chains have been reached only with a lottery permit, which the Park Service issues for set days, and they are hiked in both directions on the same narrow line.
Tally, in the marginI kept both hands on it and watched only the next post, and was well along before I realised the whole line of us was doing the same, quietly, strung along it like beads. Nobody minded being a bead.
Getting there
How to get there. By road. The South Entrance is at the edge of the town of Springdale, with a pedestrian entrance beside it; the East Entrance is 13 miles west of Mount Carmel Junction on State Road 9; the separate Kolob Canyons section is reached from exit 40 on Interstate 15 (Park Service). The nearest airports are St. George (49 miles), Cedar City (60 miles), Las Vegas (170 miles) and Salt Lake City (300 miles), by the Park Service’s distances. A free town shuttle runs through Springdale to the pedestrian entrance, every 10 to 15 minutes in season.
When to go. Spring and autumn are the comfortable seasons; summers are hot on the canyon floor. The shuttle up Zion Canyon runs from 7 a.m. daily, with the last bus out of the canyon at 7:15 p.m. until 24 October and 6:15 p.m. from 25 October to 28 November; there is no service from 29 November to 25 December, then a holiday service from 26 December to 2 January (Park Service, updated 4 October 2026). Snow closes Kolob Terrace Road and Lava Point Road for months each winter. On 16 September 2026 the Park Service listed the East Rim Trail as partly closed by a large rockfall, Hidden Canyon closed and Observation Point reachable only from the east.
What to arrange ahead. Angels Landing: as of 20 October 2026, the Park Service’s permit page (updated 8 October 2026) says everyone who climbs the chains beyond Scout Lookout needs a permit: $6 to apply, for up to six people, and $3 a person if drawn. Seasonal lotteries open three months ahead (for hikes from 1 December to 28 February, apply 1 to 20 October; for March to May, 1 to 20 January), and a day-before lottery runs daily from 12:01 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mountain Time. The entrance fee is $35 per private vehicle for up to seven days, $30 per motorcycle or $20 per person on foot, and each visitor aged 16 or older who is not a US resident pays a further $100 unless entering on an annual or America the Beautiful pass; the non-resident America the Beautiful pass costs $250 (fees page, updated 6 June 2026). Book lodging in Springdale well ahead in spring and autumn.
Safety. The State Department’s travel advisories cover other countries, so none applies here; the hazards are the park’s own. Angels Landing follows a narrow sandstone fin with sheer drop-offs, and the Park Service closes the Narrows when the river flows above 150 cubic feet per second or under a flash flood warning. Park operations depend on federal funding; the park’s alerts page lists current closures.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where is Zion National Park?
Zion National Park is in south-western Utah, mostly in Washington, Kane and Iron counties. Its South Entrance is at Springdale; the National Park Service puts St. George airport 49 miles away and Las Vegas 170 miles away.
Do you need a permit for Angels Landing?
Yes. Since 2022 everyone who hikes the chained section of Angels Landing in Zion National Park, from Scout Lookout to the summit, needs a permit from a lottery: $6 to apply for up to six people and $3 a person if drawn, the National Park Service says (permits page, updated 8 October 2026).
Can you drive through Zion Canyon?
For most of the year, no. During the shuttle season the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive in Zion National Park is closed to private vehicles and served by free shuttle buses, which need no ticket; the National Park Service has run them since 2000. The Zion–Mount Carmel Highway through the park stays open to cars.
How much does it cost to enter Zion National Park?
Entry to Zion National Park costs $35 per private vehicle for up to seven days, or $20 per person on foot, and visitors aged 16 or older who are not US residents pay a further $100 unless they hold an annual or America the Beautiful pass, according to the National Park Service’s fees page, updated 6 June 2026.
What are the Narrows in Zion?
The Narrows is the gorge at the head of Zion Canyon, Utah, where the North Fork of the Virgin River runs between walls up to 2,000 feet tall and only 20 feet apart, and hikers wade up the river itself. The National Park Service closes it when the river flows above 150 cubic feet per second or during a flash flood warning.
What is the route up Angels Landing like?
Angels Landing in Zion National Park, Utah, follows a narrow sandstone fin with sheer drops for its last half-mile, with chains along parts of it; the National Park Service has required a lottery permit for the chained section beyond Scout Lookout since 2022. Wikipedia counts 18 deaths at or near it as of 2025.
When was Zion National Park established?
Zion was proclaimed Mukuntuweap National Monument by President William Howard Taft on 31 July 1909 and became Zion National Park on 19 November 1919, Wikipedia records. The name Zion is credited to Isaac Behunin, who settled on the canyon floor in 1863.
How many people visit Zion National Park?
Zion National Park recorded 4,984,525 visits in 2025, by the figure Wikipedia gives. Crowding led the park to run shuttle buses in Zion Canyon from 2000 and to require permits for Angels Landing from 2022.