Even when your time is short, you can still have an amazing experience in one day at Zion National Park in Utah. Check out these awesome things to do at Zion National Park in one day, and get inspired for your own Utah trip!
When we visited Zion National Park, we did so as part of an action-packed road trip from Las Vegas. We sorely underestimated how much we would fall in love with this park! That being said, the time that we allocated (less than 24 hours) was simply not enough. We arrived in the late afternoon after an awesome Bryce Canyon tour, and spent the following day through the early afternoon in the park. Nevertheless, there was a lot that we were able to fit into our Zion National Park experience in just one day. Here are our takeaways!
1. Drive the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway – an epic scenic drive!
When we left Bryce Canyon, the clouds had grown thick and rain was looming. Little did we know that the rain would make driving the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway an absolute treat! We said our farewells to the beautiful hoodoos, and started our 2 hour trek to Zion.
Getting to the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway from Bryce Canyon
The directions to Springdale, Utah, a gateway town directly to the south of Zion National Park took us down US-89 to UT-9 (the Zion-Mount-Carmel Highway) just as the rain started to fall in heavy curtains over the land. Not realizing that we were about to enter Zion National Park, we scooted past a welcome sign and immediately were in a paradise of cascading rocks and breathtaking canyon.
Be ready when you enter from this direction because just beyond the entrance is the parks famous Checkerboard Mesa – a unique geological feature – that will immediately capture your attention!
What You’ll See Along the Zion Mount Carmel Hwy
I drove uber-cautiously because the rain fell in cascades from the sky even as the misty fog rose steadily from the pavement, but I couldn’t help but to split my attention between keeping an eye on the road and the other on the scale and unparalleled beauty of the landscape before me.
Pop up waterfalls poured from rock formations etched by waters past. Big horn sheep walked up cliff sides as if some force opposing gravity cemented their rocky hold.
We proceeded through the first tunnel – a brief moment of darkness before emerging on the other side by a turn in the road and more sweeping views of the magnificent park. This was one of my favorites. More twists and turns, and I began to get used to the gentle surroundings. Another tunnel – this one much longer with brief periods of reprieve – the Zion-Mount Carmel tunnel, and then more enormous curves in the road as switchbacks hung us out over a steep decrease in elevation. Another switchback, and we had arrived in the heart of Zion.
When You Get Down, Look Up!
Looking back up, it was as if we had entered a rain forest on the shoulders of a giant. It was beautiful. It smelled like a fresh, cool, dewy morning even though it was right before sunset. I heard the trickle of water making its way down and down to where we were. Pop up waterfalls cascaded down all around the canyon. What a beautiful sight and feeling of solitude to witness!
This is when I knew that I had fallen in love with Zion!
Have you ever driven Utah-9 into Zion? Take the Zion Pledge before you make your visit to the park!
2. Visit the Zion National Park Visitor Center
We recommend visiting the Zion National Park Visitor Center, if possible toward the end of the day or at the beginning of the day. Depending on when you travel, the Visitor Center will likely be packed with other visitors. We went in May, and arrived about 20 minutes before the Visitor Center closed.
Since we were there before their busy season and because the rain had slowed down the activity, we lucked into a low-traffic experience. Here, we were able to visit the bookstore, pick up some great gifts, and get our passports stamped. Do be aware that parking at the visitor center is limited, so you may not have a quick drive up and park experience.
Zion is a huge park. In terms of visitation stats, they received nearly double the number of visitors as Bryce Canyon NP with a whopping 4.5 million visitors in 2017.
3. Explore Springdale, Utah – Zion’s Gateway Town
Springdale boasts a number of accommodations, as well as shuttle stops for buses that take you into Zion. That being said, you will want to acquaint yourself with the stops along the shuttle route in advance.
There are a number of places to eat at the various stops throughout Springdale. We visited in mid-May in the shoulder season, and several restaurants closed earlier than we expected. The Bit & Spur Saloon was open, and we enjoyed our Southwestern fare.
We then retired to our comfortable hotel, the Best Western Plus. This hotel had a nice patio where we could sit outside and enjoy the beautiful views of the canyon.
4. Take the Shuttle Bus All the Way Through the Park
The Shuttle is the most efficient way to get around within Zion Canyon. Assuming that you stay in Springdale, get up early so that you can beat the crowds to the Visitor Center area where you will catch the shuttle. Zion attracts a lot of visitors, and while the shuttles arrive in quick succession, you will likely experience a decent wait if you don’t get moving early.
There are 9 stops that the shuttle makes within the park. A low-effort way to see the inside of the canyon is to simply ride the shuttle all the way until the end (i.e. stops 1 through 9). This way, you can see what stops might interest you.
5. Explore the Hiking Trails at Zion
Hiking is one of the main attractions at Zion. Because this park receives a lot of traffic, some of the trails can become quite crowded. This is especially true during the peak times.
There are a number of hikes that are popular (for example, you may have heard of Angel’s Landing or hiking the Narrows, a river hike). Both of these hikes are considered to be strenuous, but luckily, there are several options that are more tame!
You’ll want to explore the hiking guide to see which hikes are your speed. During our visit though, we completed the Riverside Walk and the Grotto Trail.
The Riverside Walk
The Riverside Walk provided an awesome, relatively easy, opportunity to see some of the best sights of the Virgin River. This beautiful river sculpted Zion into the amazing spectacle that it is, which makes walking beside it a true delight!
If you take our advice and ride the shuttle all of the way through the park, you will get off of the shuttle at stop #9: The Temple of Sinawava. Here, there is seating and facilities that you can visit before starting your hike.
The park literatures indicates that the Riverside Walk takes about 1.5 hours to complete and is about 2.2 miles roundtrip. This trail is also rated as easy. I personally would budget more like 2 hours to complete the walk – assuming that you’ll want to stop and take in your surroundings throughout. For example, there’s a portion of the trail where you can leave the paved walkway to get down closer to the river. We did this, and found ourselves spending a few moments taking in the sound of the water. There were also some interesting rock squirells that seemed used to visitors that we stopped to observe for a while.
Though the trip is rated as being easy (and it is for the most part), there are about 57 feet of elevation gain.
The Grotto Trail
After wrapping up the Riverside Walk, you can take the shuttle to another trail called the Grotto Trail, available at stop #6: The Grotto. This trail is about a 1 mile grassy trail that takes you to the Zion Lodge (stop #5). We chose this trail because it was relatively short and we heard that we could see wildlife.
Though it was a low-key walk, we didn’t see any animals. We also had the opportunity to pick up trash along the way as some debris had made its way from the Zion Lodge onto the trail.
6. Explore the Zion Lodge
Getting a chance to see an historic lodge like the Zion Lodge is a treat! Here, you can explore the rustic setting while exploring gift shops and even grabbing a bite to eat. All of this is available at stp #5: the Zion Lodge.
7. Observe the Court of the Patriarchs
Either from the shuttle or via a stop at stop #4, take a look at the Court of the Patriarchs, a set of sandstone cliffs named for biblical figures.
8. Visit the Human History Museum (a MUST when You Visit Zion National Park in One Day)
The museum is accessible off of stop #2. This was a great place to catch the park video and to learn about the origins and history of the park. For example, you learn that the land belonged to the Southern Paiute Indians and was called Mukuntuweap before the 1850s.
There were beautiful displays of the geological features of the canyon, and another bookstore (with another passport stamp) in the Human History Museum.
I would consider this stop to be a must do in order to get the most out of even a quick experience.
9. Make Sure to Budget Enough Time to Exit the Park
Arriving early saves a lot of wait time, but leaving early means that you’ll likely have to wait to catch the Springdale shuttle to exit the park. This wait was pretty lengthy for us (20+ minutes). So, if you have a tight schedule, allow enough time for your exit from the park to make it to your next stop.
Additional Resources
If you are planning your own trip to the area, below are a few additional resources that you might want to check out.
Podcasts about Zion National Park
Everybody’s National Parks – there is a series on visiting Zion National Park in episodes 3.1 through 3.5. I really got some good tips from the first episode about things that we will see and about some of the hikes that are available (Angel’s Landing, the Narrows, and Emerald Pools). The second one made me really excited because I thought that we would be able to tackle the Narrows, but I don’t think that we will get to this time around given our timing. I do hope to go back to do that someday! Episode 3.2 gave some good tips on gear you would need to consider for that specific trek.
Gaze at the National Parks – there are two podcasts that provide an overview of some of the hikes available at Zion. Episode 10 provides an overview of Angel’s Landing, and Episode 11 introduces several other hikes (including the Archaeology Trail and the Watchman Trail.
Pinterest Resource on Road Trip Including Zion National Park
Check out our Pinterest Board for this Road Trip – there are many resources and articles that we link to that we are consulting for our planning. You might find them helpful as well!
Concluding Thoughts
We truly enjoyed our Zion trip. Though short, you can still get a lot out of visiting Zion National Park in one day. Visiting this park was the privilege of a lifetime, and one that I will hopefully have the opportunity to do again – for longer next time. Let us know what you think! Happy exploring!
Check out the other stops that we made on our Road Trip from Las Vegas.
