Utah's National Parks. Ron Adkison
RVs. Hot showers, a laundry, and a market are also available.
Zion has two large campgrounds, one of which remains open through the winter. Watchman and South campgrounds are located a short distance north of the South Entrance. Overnight camping fees are collected at the self-registration station at each campground.
Watchman Campground is Zion’s largest, with 246 campsites on a bench above North Fork Virgin River at 3900 feet. Young boxelders, velvet ash, netleaf hackberry, and Fremont cottonwoods shade campers, but are still small enough to allow fine views of the canyon walls, including the fluted cliffs of The Watchman and Bridge Mountain. South Campground, at 3950 feet, is considerably smaller, with 141 campsites. Large netleaf hackberry and Fremont cottonwood provide ample shade for campers at this pleasant riverside campground. These two campgrounds often fill by early- to mid-afternoon during the spring-through-fall peak season, so come early if you plan to camp here.
Lava Point Campground is a stark contrast to the desert-like campgrounds in Zion Canyon. It rests atop the lava-capped mesa of Lava Point at 7900 feet. This is a primitive campground, and since no water is provided, no fee is charged. Its six campsites are shaded by white fir, ponderosa pine, aspen, and Gambel oak. Views from the campsites are limited to the peaceful forest that surrounds it.
Wood gathering in the Park is prohibited, so if you want to build a fire in the grills provided at each campground, bring your own.
Zion has two developed picnic sites. The Grotto Picnic Area is on the shady canyon floor between Red Arch Mountain and The Spearhead. A large parking area serves the spacious picnic area, elevation 4290 feet. The Kolob Canyons Viewpoint (elevation 6300 feet) at the roadend in the Kolob section of Zion also boasts a small but delightful picnic area. Nestled against a hillside in a woodland of pinyon and juniper, this site offers some of the most dramatic views in all of the Park.
Visitors are free to picnic wherever they wish in the Park, but everyone should be sure to pack out all their trash, including orange and banana peels—these biodegradable items will not decompose in the arid desert climate.
Zion Lodge offers a variety of services and accommodations. A motel, motel suites, and western cabins are available for an overnight stay, but guests are advised to make reservations four to six months in advance. The lodge is open all year. A restaurant and a gift shop are here. Guided tram tours are available, and arrangements for horseback rides along the Sand Bench Trail and information on the shuttle service for hikers are also available at Zion Lodge.
For further information:
Park information:
Park Superintendent
Zion National Park
Springdale, UT 84767
(435) 772-3256
Information regarding the private Zion Canyon Campground:
Zion Canyon Campground
P.O. Box 99
Springdale, UT 84767
(435) 772-3237
Information regarding Zion Lodge:
TW Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 400
Cedar City, UT 84721
(435) 586-7686 (individuals) or
(435) 586-7624 (groups)
Hiking in Zion
The trail network of Zion National Park provides a wide array of hiking opportunities to satisfy anyone wishing to park the car and experience this magnificent landscape at a leisurely pace. Ranging from paved 5-minute strolls to backpack trips of several days, Zion’s more than 100 miles of trails sample virtually every aspect of the Park. Boasting more than 5000 feet of vertical relief, scenery along Zion’s trails includes vast plateaus clad in pine, fir, and aspen; deep and narrow canyons that lie in eternal shadow; sun-baked expanses of open desert; lofty vista points; pinyon-juniper woodlands; and the green spreads of lava-rimmed meadows.
However, one feature of Zion that makes the Park stand out above all other national parks in Utah is the availability of water. Few trails lack water somewhere along their courses. The length of a backpack trip in some of the drier parks, such as Canyonlands and Capitol Reef, is limited by the amount of water one is able to carry. But hikers in Zion have greater flexibility in planning the length of their stay in the backcountry.
As in all of Utah’s national parks (and in any backcountry area), hikers are strongly advised to purify all the water they obtain from backcountry sources, as signs at all major springs suggest. Some streams, including La Verkin Creek and North Fork Virgin River and their tributaries, are fouled by the wastes of sheep and cattle that graze in their headwaters. So don’t take the chance of contracting a miserable intestinal infection; always purify any open water you obtain in the backcountry.
Not only is there a wide variety of scenery awaiting hikers, but the trails themselves vary greatly. Some are faint paths seldom trod by Park visitors, while others are paved and frequently used. Some of Zion’s shorter paved trails offer access to wheelchairs and even baby strollers. There are cliff-hanging trails that are intermittently paved where they were blasted into steep cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, providing sure footing on what otherwise would be a sandy, slippery, dangerous trail.
Although thousands of backpackers enjoy Zion’s backcountry each year, they represent only a small fraction of the 2.5 million visitors who annually vacation in the Park. Hikers can still enjoy solitude amid breath-taking majesty of this beautiful and unique park by following lesser-used trails or hiking in the off-season. Solitude seekers will want to avoid holiday weekends, spring vacation, and the peak tourist season in May and June. The trails of Zion Canyon then receive the heaviest use, though primarily by dayhikers.
As snows fall, melt, and refreeze on winter nights, many of Zion’s cliff-hanging trails become treacherous. Winter hikes are still possible, depending upon trail conditions, but lower-elevation hikes, such as the Watchman Trail (Trip 2) and the Chinle Trail (Trip 1) are attractive alternatives during the snow season.
The bulk of Zion’s 147,000 acres is proposed for wilderness designation. Within the Park are three pristine areas with a total of 126,585 acres.
Zion Canyon
Common-sense rules of desert hiking apply in the backcountry of this diverse Park, as they do for hiking elsewhere on the Colorado Plateau. Lightning, flash floods, rockfall, and dehydration, to name but a few hazards, are always possible and should not be taken lightly (see the chapter “Hiking Utah’s Desert Parks”). Novice hikers who may be uncomfortable hiking the trails on their own, and anyone wishing to gain a better appreciation of the natural history of the Park, can take advantage of naturalistled hikes on many of Zion’s shorter trails. Schedules of guided hikes are posted at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center.
Car shuttles are necessary to complete many of Zion’s trails and avoid retracing your route. Hikers with only one vehicle have two options. Inside the Zion Canyon Visitor Center hikers will find a “shuttle board.” This allows hikers to coordinate their hike with another party wishing to hike the same trail and establish a car shuttle. Also, a commercial shuttle service is offered by Zion Lodge.
Weather in Zion, though often pleasant, can range from extremes of heat and drought to bitter cold, snow and severe thunderstorms. Annual precipitation ranges from an estimated 21 inches atop the plateaus to 15 inches in Zion Canyon, and recorded temperature extremes range from 115-degrees F. to 15-degrees below zero F. Two pronounced wet seasons occur in Zion, the first from winter to early spring, and the second, dominated by thunderstorms, from mid to late summer. Each season in Zion is as distinctive as it is beautiful. Whatever time of year you visit the Park, you are sure to return home filled with vivid memories of a unique landscape.
In addition to the standard