Zion National Park

Page's sandstone, two thousand feet tall

⏱ Full day👤 All ages$$

Zion's power is verticality. The Virgin River has cut a canyon so narrow and deep that the walls — Navajo sandstone, the same rock as Page's slot canyons, here two thousand feet tall — dominate every view from the floor. That is why the park works so well as a contrast to Page: after the intimate, light-filtered slots of Antelope Canyon, Zion delivers the same stone at an architectural scale. The east-side drive is a show of its own: pull over at the Canyon Overlook trailhead just east of the long tunnel for a short, ledge-lined walk to a view straight down Pine Creek into the main canyon, one of the best payoffs per mile in the park.

Once in the canyon, let the shuttle do the work. Riverside Walk at the Temple of Sinawava is flat and paved, ending where the Narrows begin; the Lower Emerald Pool trail suits families; Pa'rus Trail follows the river near the visitor center. Angels Landing is the famous one, a chain-assisted fin of rock reserved for permit holders, and the bottom-up Narrows hike means wading the river in cold water — rental outfitters in Springdale supply canyoneering shoes and drysuits in the cooler months. Some trails remain closed after past rockfall, including Hidden Canyon and the Observation Point route from the canyon floor, so check before you set your heart on one.

Practicals: from Page, go west on US 89 through Big Water and Kanab, then north to Mount Carmel Junction and in on State Route 9. Arizona and Utah sit on different clocks for much of the year (Utah observes daylight saving time), so watch shuttle and permit times. Parking near the South Entrance and in Springdale fills early in season; arriving from the east first thing in the morning is a real advantage. Pair Zion with Bryce on an overnight loop through Kanab, or with the Coral Pink Sand Dunes on the way home.