Zion National Park

Zion National Park is a sandstone canyon in southwest Utah, cut by the Virgin River into walls of cream, pink and red rock, and in 2025 it was the second most visited national park in the country, with 4,984,525 recreation visits. Most of those visitors see the same eight miles of canyon floor from the same free shuttle, so a Zion trip is planned around the shuttle timetable, two permit lotteries and the weather.

The figures here are from the park's own pages and from NOAA's climate normals for the Zion Canyon station, checked on 26 October 2026.

How does the Zion Canyon shuttle work?

The free shuttle replaces private cars on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive for most of the year, and it is the first thing to plan around in the park. While it runs, the drive is closed to private cars all day, before the first bus and after the last one too.

The exceptions are Zion Lodge and Canyon Trail Rides guests with reservations, who may drive to their designated parking, and visitors who cannot ride the bus for medical reasons and get a permit at the visitor centre desk.

The shuttle is free, though the park entrance fee still applies. Buses in the canyon come every five to ten minutes, and a second, separate line runs through Springdale to the park entrance every ten to fifteen minutes from 8 a.m. The visitor centre car park has over 350 free spaces that fill early; Springdale's paid parking and its shuttle stops are the usual fallback.

No 2027 timetable is published yet. The park describes the usual pattern as daily from March to November plus the end-of-December holidays, which matches 2026.

Which hikes need a permit, Angels Landing or the Narrows?

Angels Landing is the one popular Zion hike that needs a permit on every day of the year. The permit covers the chained section beyond Scout Lookout, and rangers check it on the trail, so carry a printed or downloaded copy.

Permits come from two lotteries on Recreation.gov. Each application costs a non-refundable $6 and covers up to six people, and a successful one pays $3 a person on top.

• Seasonal lottery: up to seven dates and times ranked. The window for 1 December 2026 to 28 February 2027 closed on 20 October; the next, for March to May 2027, runs from 1 to 20 January 2027.
• Day-before lottery: apply between 12:01 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mountain Time on the day before the hike; results come after 4 p.m.

Our Angels Landing guide covers the start-time slots, the hike to Scout Lookout and the chains, and the alternatives without a permit.

The Narrows, where the trail is the river itself, needs no permit when hiked upstream from the Temple of Sinawava as far as Big Spring. That is a strenuous walk of about ten miles there and back, mostly in the water; another Park Service page gives 9.4 miles. The full sixteen miles downstream from Chamberlain's Ranch needs a wilderness permit, collected in person at the visitor centre, at $6 per application and $10 per person for a day hike.

On 5 November 2026 the park's alerts closed the Narrows and every slot canyon leading into it from 3 to 7 November, and the Watchman Trail pending repairs since 31 August, with no end date. Our guide to the best hikes in Zion lists the day hikes with their distances.

The Narrows close to all hikers when the Virgin River flows above 150 cubic feet per second, and during a flash-flood warning plus at least two hours after it ends. Spring snowmelt often pushes the river over that line: it closed from 11 April to 19 May in 2024.

When is Zion too hot, too busy or too wet?

The best time to visit Zion is April, May and October, when the canyon is warm rather than hot, though spring snowmelt closed the Narrows in 8 of the 15 years from 2012 to 2026. Our month-by-month guide to the best time to visit Zion has the detail. The averages below are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for the station in Zion Canyon, at about 4,040 feet.

Summer brings two problems at once. July averages 100°F on the canyon floor, and from July to September the monsoon builds afternoon storms that can flood the Narrows and the slot canyons from rain falling 15 to 20 miles upstream, out of sight.

Crowds peak in June and July, at about 555,000 visits each on the park's 2019 to 2023 averages, while January sees about 130,000. Winter is the quietest season but not an empty one: the Scenic Drive closes to cars when its parking fills, often in December, January and February, the shuttle stops from late November to Christmas, and the higher roads close for snow.

What does the $100 non-resident surcharge add to the car fee?

Zion is one of the eleven parks with the non-resident surcharge. A visitor who is not a US resident pays the $35 car fee, valid for seven days, plus $100 for each person aged 16 or over. Two adults from abroad in one car therefore pay $235 to enter.

The $250 non-resident pass covers both, here and at every other national park for a year, so it pays for itself on any trip that adds Bryce Canyon or the Grand Canyon. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors has the full arithmetic and how to buy the pass before the flight. The shuttle and the Angels Landing permit cost extra regardless of the pass.

Which roads lead to the South Entrance, East Entrance and Kolob Canyons?

Zion has three separate sections with their own roads, and no road links them inside the park.

• South Entrance: at the north end of Springdale, beside the visitor centre and the shuttle. This is where nearly every visit starts.
• East Entrance: on the Zion–Mount Carmel Highway, 13 miles from Mount Carmel Junction, through a tunnel 1.1 miles long. Since 7 June 2026 vehicles over 11 feet 4 inches tall, 7 feet 10 inches wide or 35 feet 9 inches long may not drive this stretch at all.
• Kolob Canyons: in the northwest corner, off Interstate 15 at exit 40, 40 miles and about an hour from Zion Canyon, with its own visitor centre and a five-mile scenic drive.

The Kolob Terrace Road starts in the village of Virgin, 13.5 miles west of the visitor centre, and climbs to the high plateau. Snow usually closes it for several months from autumn to spring.

How do you get to Zion from Las Vegas?

Las Vegas airport, the usual arrival point for a flight from abroad, is 170 miles from Zion, and the drive takes roughly three hours without stops. St. George and Cedar City are closer, but they are regional airports reached on a connecting flight.

Driving from Las Vegas, the clock jumps one hour forward at the Utah state line, from Pacific to Mountain Time. That hour matters for a day-before permit lottery that closes at 3 p.m. Mountain Time.

Should you sleep in Springdale, Kanab or inside the park?

Springdale, the town at the South Entrance, is the base that makes the shuttle easy, and Zion Lodge is the only place to sleep inside the park. Kanab, east of the park, suits a trip that continues to Bryce Canyon and Page, Arizona. Our guide to where to stay near Zion compares each town by distance to the entrance and the shuttle.

The park is also the first stop on the Southwest national parks loop from Las Vegas, and the most visited of the five parks on a Utah road trip.