Zion National Park

Zion National Park lies in southwest Utah, next to the town of Springdale and about two and a half hours by road from Las Vegas. The area was first protected in 1909 as Mukuntuweap National Monument and became Zion National Park on 19 November 1919. It covers about 595 square kilometres and was Utah's first national park.

The name Zion was given by Mormon settlers in the 1860s, using the Hebrew word for a place of refuge. Ancestral Puebloan and later Southern Paiute peoples lived in the canyon long before them. The Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, with its long tunnel through the cliffs, opened in 1930 and linked the park to the east.

The main feature is Zion Canyon, about 24 kilometres long and up to about 800 metres deep, cut through Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River. Its walls change from red at the base to cream and white near the top. Landmarks along the canyon include the Court of the Patriarchs, the Great White Throne and the Temple of Sinawava.

Angels Landing is a steep trail ending on a narrow fin of rock with chains for support, and since 2022 hikers need a permit, issued by lottery. The Narrows is a route that wades up the river itself between walls only a few metres apart in places. Easier walks include the Riverside Walk, the Emerald Pools and the Pa'rus Trail. The quieter Kolob Canyons section lies in the northwest of the park.

As of October 2026 the National Park Service charges 35 US dollars per private vehicle for up to seven days, and non US residents aged 16 and over pay an added 100 US dollar surcharge. For most of the year private cars are not allowed on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, and visitors use the free park shuttle. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons, as summer days are very hot.

Elevation in the park runs from about 1,117 metres at Coal Pits Wash to 2,660 metres on Horse Ranch Mountain. President William Howard Taft proclaimed Mukuntuweap National Monument on 31 July 1909. The Zion-Mount Carmel tunnel is 1.8 kilometres long and has six large windows cut through the sandstone. Propane-powered shuttles replaced most car traffic in the canyon in 2000, and the park recorded 4,984,525 visits in 2025.

The Narrows narrows to about 6 metres between walls up to 610 metres high, and the full top-down route from Chamberlain's Ranch runs about 16 miles and usually takes 12 hours. Kolob Canyons, reached from Interstate 15 at exit 40 by a 5-mile road, was a separate national monument from 1937 until it joined the park in 1956; Kolob Arch there is one of the longest natural arches in the world.