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(3.5 mile / 5.6 km round-trip). Trailheads are at Zion Canyon Visitor Center and the Canyon Junction shuttle stop. An easy paved hiking/biking trail that follows the North Fork of the Virgin River from the Zion Canyon Visitor Center past the South Campground to the Zion Canyon Junction shuttle stop. This is the only trail in the park that allows pets or bicycles.
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Exhibits about human activity in the park and an orientation film shown every half-hour. The Zion Canyon Shuttle stops here from April through October. (Temporarily Closed due to Covid. Back patio remains open).
(2.7 mile / 4.3 km round-trip). Trailhead is near the Zion Canyon Visitor Center and begins by following the Virgin River. This moderate trail ends at a view point of lower Zion Canyon, Oak Creek Canyon, and the town of Springdale. It is recommended that in summer the trail be hiked at the beginning or end of the day due to the heat.
(1.0 mile / 1.6 km round-trip). Trailhead is at the east end of the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel. If you only have enough time to drive through the park without getting on the shuttle, make this your hike. This moderately difficult trail leads over rocky, uneven terrain to a spectacular viewpoint of lower Zion Canyon and Pine Creek Canyon.
(100 yards round-trip). Trailhead is at the Court of the Patriarchs shuttle stop. A very short trail leading to a view of the Three Patriarchs and the Sentinel.
The 6 mile (10 km) road through Zion Canyon leads past some of the most fantastic rock formations in the world, with colorful sandstone cliffs rising 2,000 to 3,000 feet (300–600 meters) from the canyon floor. The seemingly mild Virgin River has almost single handedly created this canyon over a period of 13 million years, with much of the work happening during periods of intense flash flooding. The road into the canyon is closed to private vehicles from mid-March until November.
A 10-mile (16-km) road that connects the east and south entrances. One of the highlights of the drive is a mile-long tunnel, the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel, that was completed in 1930. East of the tunnel is Checkerboard Mesa, a sandstone mountain that is etched with fantastic cross-bedding of lines and shapes, made through the forces of erosion. The surrounding slickrock area is full of similarly amazing rock formations.