Things to do in Zion National Park in the Winter
Zion National Park
I recently turned 30 (what?!) and one of the things I’ve always wanted to do is visit Zion National Park in the winter - so this year we set out to do just that.
For some background, I’ve been to Zion three times now. The first time I went, I was a few days into my 2017 road trip. Keith and I were to spend 3-4 days in Zion before I dropped him at the airport for the solo portion of my road trip. Long story short, Zion in the summer is ROUGH. We bailed one day in.
The second time, I made sure it was off season. Some friends and I ended up visiting around Thanksgiving later that year and WHABAM - it was everything I had always dreamt. I shared a little bit about that trip in my blog post about how to save money on the road.
About Zion National Park
Zion is 1 of Utahs 5 National Parks. Situated outside of Springdale, Utah, it is 229 square miles of canyons, monoliths, arches, towers, slot canyons, and river. Early settlers of the canyon include the Anasazi and Southern Paiute who called the area Mukuntuweap, which translates as “straight canyon” or “straight arrow”.
Designated as Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909, in 1918 the name was whitewashed “because of concerns about pronunciation and therefore interest in visiting” (insert eyeroll here) and changed to Zion National Monument, a term known and heavily used by the local Mormon population.
Zion National Park was then redesignated from a National Monument to a National Park in 1919.
Things to do in Zion National Park in the winter, Day 1
While the entire goal of this journey was to hike the popular Narrows in snow - we arrived on a Friday to 66 degree weather. It was joyous, and to someone who struggles with winter, I was stoked. Having spent 6 hours on the road that morning to get there, we spent Friday afternoon eating lunch in the visitors center parking lot (a favorite past time of ours).
Next, we drove through the canyon as we knew the shuttle would begin the next day and wanted to take advantage.
We then ended up hiking to some swimming holes we had heard about in our shorts and sandals, stoked to be out of the cold of Colorado. While known to be a relatively short hike, we ended up being reminded of how hard it is to be prepared on a hike, because the hike was more of a scramble over big rocks and loose boulders. I ended up taking my Chaco’s off at one point to scramble up a 4 foot drop, barefoot. A classic start to our first day.
Zion National Park in the winter Day 1 continued…
Our next goal was to head up to Pine Creek Canyon Overlook for sunset. One of the greatest spots to watch the light disappear behind the canyon walls, it’s a very short 15 minute hike so expect it to be busy, any season!
I tried to get a self portrait of us together but clearly failed at that.
Zion National Park in the winter
Day 2
The next morning we woke up for a quick sunrise drive, before taking a slow morning getting ready because of weather. We knew that the Narrows would be closed because of the impending 100% chance of rain that was to occur between 7 am through to the next morning. However, by 9 am, it still hadn’t started raining - so we hiked.
We chose The Watchman Trail, a 3.1 mile loop that starts at the Zion National Park Visitors Center. Even in the winter when the park is less crowded, we still saw a decent number of people on this hike. It gradually climbs 600+ feet out of the valley, up to a mesa with a viewpoint of Watchman tower. By the time we made our way back down, it still hadn’t started to rain.
A quick lunch later and we decided to try out luck with the weather. We grabbed our rainjackets and hopped on the now running shuttle system that runs most weekends through the off-season to explore the canyon.
With no particular destination, we got on and off where we pleased and hiked around until the rain finally started falling. A couple of hours later and my polyester leggings were soaked through - it was a good time.
Zion National Park in the rain
A truly magnificent feat of mother nature is the desert during a heavy rain. When torrential rain happens for hours and hours, eventually all of that rainwater that has collected on top of the sandstone begins to make its way down. This is where we get the magical waterfalls of the desert. They only exist during periods of weather like this, and seemingly disappear as soon as the rain begins to lighten up.
We changed out of our now soaking clothes from our hike around the canyon, hopped in the car, and drove up the East entrance of Zion to take in the waterfalls, and to our surprise, the snow.
When we had visted in 2017, there are a few slot canyons accessible via the east entrance that we had hiked- it was INSANE to see them flooded with gushing water. The Virgin River which runs through Zion National Park ended up hitting a discharge of 200 cubic feet per second (it was around 65 when we arrived, and they close the narrows at 150), and the water of the river rose an entire foot. It was an absolute foggy, rainy, snowy, insane sight that I feel so lucky to have witnessed. To have booked this trip because I wanted to hike in the snow - and then to literally see every single season in four days, I was so happy.
Zion National Park in the winter, Day 3
Day 3 we woke up for sunrise because we knew with the clear forecast for the day, and the previous days rain, it was the perfect recipe for FOG! Fog is my favorite type of weather that isn’t sun.
We headed out to do the Sand Bench Trail, one of my new favorite trails in the park. We saw two other people on this trail, and it was stunning. It’s a 5.6 mile loop that climbs 700 feet up the side of the canyon, giving you overlook views of the road below, and the canyon opening out into Springdale. We saw 2 other people on this trail. TWO. Meanwhile, I think its a safe bet that there were probably 200+ over on Angel's Landing (just saying!).
Sand Bench trail also has a section of trail that is “paved”. I’m not really sure how to explain that except that I think its that way because the trail essentially follows the wash. Your hiking under thick dense tree coverage, with towering orange and red monoliths otherhead; meanwhile, the trail you’re walking on is lined by moss covered limestone and prickly pear. It felt like the desert and the rainforest had a baby, and that we were transported to some mystial rainforest island. I was obsessed.
Zion National Park in the off season Day 4
On day four it was finally time to hike the narrows. We decided to wait until our last day because
1) we wanted to be able to drive ourselves. When the Zion Shuttle is running, the earliest you can get into the canyon is 7am, and its about a 40 minute drive with all of the stops - putting your start time at 8 am.
2) the water levels would have dissipated from all of the rain by then.
We woke up, packed everything up, and headed to the Temple of Sinawava. The last stop in Zion Canyon, the Narrows hike starts with a half mile of paved trail called the Riverside Walk. Once you hit the end of the trail, its time to hop in the water with your waterproof suit and neoprene socks and grippy shoes! We rented our gear from Zion Outfitters who lets you rent next day gear starting at 3 pm the day prior.
The hike was amazing, it was our second time doing it and it never gets old. Hiking in the winter was a whole other experience, we still started pretty late in the morning and there were only 4 other people around for our first mile or two. I would 1000% recommend hiking the Narrows in the winter. Just keep in mind that current conditions of the water in the Zion River contain toxic blooms of Cyanobacteria, so be sure to not drink or submerge yourself under water. This means even filtered water is unsafe to drink!
If you’re looking to explore Zion National Park in the winter and want some recommendations, please reach out to me! I think I’ve done about every trail in the park EXCEPT Angels Landing because honestly, I do not like crowds (or exposed heights).
Planning your trip in the winter or off season is a game changer for exploring this wilderness. If you’d like to get portraits, engagements, or elope in Zion National Park - please get in touch!
