Week-Long & Single-Day Trip Ideas

By and large, the absolute best way to experience Zion is an extended stay – more than 3 days at least and ideally an entire week. This allows you as a tourist to craft the most effective itinerary and maximizes your Zion vacation. This may not be possible financially for everyone nor is it fair to assume that we all have that much time to be away from the responsibilities of life. However, if you already know that Zion is where you are bound for your next trip, we highly recommend doing your best to allow for a 7-day Zion experience. If you’re able to make it happen, make sure that when you start filling your Zion itinerary that you start with the easy excursions, working your way through the moderate ones and then placing your strenuous excursions toward the end of your stay. This way you’ll pace yourself and won’t get exhausted too soon. We have one more tried and true recommendation for a week-long Zion adventure. Start it like this: go to the Visitor Center first thing. Read the displays, take in the information in the various programs, and then hop on a shuttle. On this initial shuttle ride, make the entire rounds. Don’t get off any of the stops and let the shuttle take you right back to where you started. This will give you one of the most incredible scenic drives you’ve ever been on and will certainly get you excited for what the week has in store for you.

If you can only manage one full day rather than a week, here’s what we recommend. Start at the Visitor Center (as mentioned above), then get on a shuttle and see the roadside viewpoints of Zion Canyon (and stop at the Zion Human History Museum if you want). Get off at the Temple of Sinawava and hike Riverside Walk (2 miles roundtrip) where you’ll walk through a slim canyon alongside the Virgin River with lots of lush vegetation. When you get back on the shuttle, travel back to the Visitor Center, have some lunch, and visit the gift shop. At this point, you should have used somewhere between 2 and 4 hours. Right near the lodge is the trailhead for Emerald Pools. Head on down the trail where you’ll see cottonwood, fir, maple, and oak trees, as well as shining pools, hanging gardens, and a modest, beautiful waterfall. An hour total is what you should except when hiking to Lower Emeralds Pools and back. If you feel inclined you can hike another hour or so to the Upper Emerald Pools. It’s more strenuous, just so you know. Then, if there’s still some time left in the day, get on the shuttle again and get off at the Watchman Trail Head. This hike will take around 2 hours to complete (there and back again) and is around 2 miles in length. It’s moderately strenuous and will take you to incredible views of Springdale and some amazing rock formations. Then, in the evening, eat at one of Springdale’s fantastic restaurants or simply lounge around the pool at your hotel.

Suggestions for Your Zion Itinerary

Zion Itinerary

ZionNationalPark.com