Zion National Park Trip Planner

Are you planning a trip to Zion and wondering what the best hikes are, when to go, or where to stay? Or maybe you need to know how to ride the shuttle, how to be safe, and what other things you can do near Zion National Park. We cover all of these things in this trip planner video. Through maps and video, we walk you through everything you need to know to visit beautiful Zion National Park.

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⚡️Confused about how to Ride the Zion Shuttles? Download our FREE pdf. Guide includes the Springdale Shuttle, Zion Canyon Shuttle, what to do at each stop, handy tips + Maps.

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:39 Overview of Video
1:42 Surrounding Areas
2:40 Overview of Zion
3:53 Riverwalk & The Narrows
6:17 Angels Landing & Lottery Info
9:53 Emerald Pools, Grotto Trail, Checkerboard Mesa
12:31 Bike Rentals & Ranger Programs
14:55 Jeep Tours
15:32 Cedar Breaks & State Parks
16:43 St George & Kanab
18:43 Getting There & Where to Stay
22:06 Getting Around
27:40 What to Pack
32:42 Safety
35:03 Best Time to Visit
36:45 Where to Stay
41:29 Campgrounds
43:03 Typical Day in Zion
46:27 Self-Guided Tours

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[mannygorin]

After 4 years of pain and extreme patience, we cannot wait our next family trip to come very soon !!! You guys are the best guides ever 😊

[cocoyc]

I just got back from Zion. I purchased your guide and it was very helpful! The shuttle system within the park is very easy to use. People can hike up to Scout Lookout (where the chains start at Angle's Landing) without a permit. Many people don't mention this and assume a permit is needed to do all 5 miles. The permit is only needed from Scout Lookout to the end/top of Angel's Landing. This is a great hike alone. It's strenuous, but very safe and you get a great view of the canyon from high above.

[bigapple]

I'm so glad you mentioned St. George as a town to stay! much more reasonable rates for ppl on a budget. thank you!

[glennmcmullen]

You two do a really great job on these videos - The southwest is one of my favourite spots especially for the mountain biking and you both really do a great job of covering so many useful points. Thank you!!!! Plottin a trip for late March/early April 2023 and these are perfect for planning!

[jazziered]

I went to Zions last year, and it's spectacular.

[miremadmoafimadani]

Love you guys so much! Both of you are among the most sophisticated human beings I’ve ever seen! I truly enjoy watching you talk about everything! Wish you the best in life 🙏🏻

[scarletz]

i really loved your videos and your solid advices. thanks for sharing. looking forward to your new epics.

[oLeandroMoreira]

I love your channel! Thank you for sharing your experiences with us!

[kevinrose]

Over the past year I’ve been planning a trip for our family to see Zion, Grand Canyon north rim, Bryce and Capitol Reef and have watched hundreds of hours of videos. We just completed that trip which was incredible and I wanted to say thank you as YOUR videos were the most informative and enjoyable to watch! Thanks again!

[teresahutson]

Great information! Thanks for sharing!

[jennifermarie]

Perfect timing! We’re heading to Zion in two weeks. Your video helped me so much!! Thank you so much!!!

[cynthialenhart]

Thank You so much for all the information, about Zion National park . We are looking forward to our trip, out to Utah and then some .

[haleybullard]

We went to Utah for the first time May 2021. I used your videos to plan our trip and even asked some questions- which you guys actually responded to so that was super helpful! Thank you.
We flew into St. George and stayed in Kanab.
My biggest win was finding a Walmart between St. George and Kanab. We scheduled a pick-up and got all of our groceries and essentials. A little difficult to fit it all in with our luggage coming straight from the airport, but it was a life saver. We have some food allergies and it would have been hard to get all the food items we needed at the local Kanab grocery store. If I went again I would just pick up the special diet foods at Walmart and save all the common items for the Kanab stores. Better for space.
We LOVED staying in Kanab. The views are incredible. The town is charming and has some good food spots. It was a good jumping off point for all we wanted to do.
We visited Zion (highly suggest stopping at Thunderbirds on the way. Such a cute little diner), Bryce Canyon, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
We also did some smaller stops like Kayaking at Sand Hollow, sand sledding at Coral Pink Dunes, and OUR FAVORITE-- exploring the Red Cliffs Recreation Area.
Then we took a day to drive a big loop into Northern AZ to see the Marble Canyon area, Horseshoe Bend, Lee's Ferry + Navajo Bridge, Cliff Dwellers (+ great restaurant), Vermillion Cliffs, drove through the top of the Kaibab National Forrest (look our for wildlife!), took in the Le Ferve Overlook, and some more stops I'm probably forgetting. One place we stopped in was a visitors center and it had a lot of info on Dinosaurs. It was right over the Arizona border but I can't remember the name. It was a spontaneous stop we thought was just for a bathroom break, but ended up being super cute. Plus, we got to try to cactus candy which was fun. It was an incredible loop following I-89A and I might stay in Kanab again just for the convenience of doing that loop. Our kids were 6 and 8 and we had the grandparents. Even though we spent all day driving there are so many stops and just raw beauty no one complained. We all LOVED it.
IF you stay in Kanab my greatest advice would be to pack the car with lunch/dinner and plenty of snacks and a cooler for drinks. You can go for hours without seeing a single stop for food or water. Don't expect to be able to grab lunch or dinner anywhere. Always plan ahead for food and water- we had some hungry drives! Poor planning on our part. We always stayed longer than expected wherever we went because it's all so much to take in.
We are already planning another trip to take some more of our family along and to visit some more places in the area we didn't have time for. I would welcome suggestions from anyone of other fun places to visit that are moderately kid friendly within 2-3 hours of Kanab! One thing we didn't get to do is explore any cliff caves and that's for sure on our list this next trip.

[sagnikmukherjee]

This is such a great detailed planning video of Zion. Thanks so much guys.

[iwertzberger]

Sweet couple! God bless. Very informative video. Just what I was looking for

[Kaygeedagee]

The most comprehensive video I’ve seen. Thank you!

[lauriehester]

Thanks for this….We are headed to Zion in October!☺️

[karricompton]

Thanks for the video.
I’ve watched dozens of these kinds of videos in preparation for our trip in mid-September. We are flying out from the east coast and renting an RV, moving counter clockwise around Utah from Kanarraville to Bryce to Zion to Page through monument valley to Moab to Capitol Reef and back up to the airport.
I have hikes planned for every day, but if we are tired there is always the plan B. We are very excited!

[jeremyb]

Thank you for the in depth review. Lots of great information!

[enoshkazem]

this and other videos by you guys are really great - appreciated!