To be clear, I have been before but my boys (20,18, and 14) have not. I want to for sure do angels landing and the narrows. My previous trip was quick as well, so I want to make sure I gather ideas on what to do. What are your recommendations?

We enjoyed the canyon overlook trail on the other side of the tunnel. Pretty easy hike but great views

Overlook trail (and drive around the east side)
Narrows
Angels Landing (need permit)
Upper emerald pool

Rent ebikes and cruise up the valley

And my favorite: go canyoneering with a guide. We use Zion Adventure Company. (technically outside the park but Lambs Knoll is right in the border. Other great spots are nearby, too)

The food in the lodge sucks so we go into town for dinner.

https://www.citrusmilo.com/zionguide/

If you are up for a big adventure, look into The Subway. Spectacular. It's been a very long time since I have done it. Most of the local canyoneering companies likely offer this as a guided backcountry tour.

Edit to also recommend NOT going anywhere in southern Utah in July or August. By far the worst months to go. July- typically the hottest month and also crowds. August- almost as hot, also crowds (and add all the Europeans traveling there during August holidays), and highest risk of afternoon storms/flash floods.

My 11-year old son and I were there last week. It was super hot and Disney-level crowded.
We opted to go to the lesser visited part of Zion National Park: Kolob Canyons. We did the Taylor Creek Trail (5 miles round trip; not too strenuous) which is shaded quite a bit and follows Taylor Creek for much of the way. It was a beautiful hike and we saw a lot of cool sights and met nice people along the way. It was not crazy crowded. There were other hikes/trails we could have done but kid was wiped out from traveling the day before (we got up at 3 am to catch a 6 am flight (BNA-LAS), bed at midnight, then up again at 6 am. I would love to have kept going but also knew if I pushed him too hard the first day he was just get miserable and cranky and I didn't want to deal with that.

After the hike, we completed the Kolob scenic drive, stopped back at the Visitor Center to eat a sandwich, refill water, and use the restroom before we headed to the main part of Zion (at Springdale). It was a madhouse (knew it would be). We opted to drive through the South entrance and head east on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway through the tunnel, stopping at viewpoints when we could. There was no parking at the trailheads and shuttle waits were 45 min to 2 hours at most stops had we opted to park in Springdale.
While I wish we had spent a full day hiking it all, we had 2 days in Bryce Canyon following that. We saw some neat stuff and plan to return in a slower season.

Angels requires a permit now so be sure to get online and apply. Catch the first shuttle of the day for The Narrows to avoid crowds.

Pack a cooler (I took a soft-sided cooler in my checked suitcase) with cold cuts and cheese so you can easily eat whenever you want. Keep a couple of jugs of water in your car in the event you run out and aren't near a refill station.

Get to Bryce if you can. It was our favorite of the two and higher altitude so a little cooler.

All of it is incredible to see. Have fun!

texas_ute said:

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If you are up for a big adventure, look into The Subway. Spectacular. It's been a very long time since I have done it. Most of the local canyoneering companies likely offer this as a guided backcountry tour.

Edit to also recommend NOT going anywhere in southern Utah in July or August. By far the worst months to go. July- typically the hottest month and also crowds. August- almost as hot, also crowds (and add all the Europeans traveling there during August holidays), and highest risk of afternoon storms/flash floods.

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its basically the only time we can go as long as my son is playing football and the others are in college - but yes, I was hesitant to go this time of year.

It was also not my first choice to go last week (first part of July) but I had a work conference in Vegas so out of convenience my son and I went out a few days before to explore.

Just keep plenty of water on hand at all times, hike early and late in the day, do the visitor centers in the middle, and know your limits. Despite the heat (117 a couple of days except in Bryce Canyon), we had a great time.

gigemhilo said:

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texas_ute said:

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If you are up for a big adventure, look into The Subway. Spectacular. It's been a very long time since I have done it. Most of the local canyoneering companies likely offer this as a guided backcountry tour.

Edit to also recommend NOT going anywhere in southern Utah in July or August. By far the worst months to go. July- typically the hottest month and also crowds. August- almost as hot, also crowds (and add all the Europeans traveling there during August holidays), and highest risk of afternoon storms/flash floods.

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its basically the only time we can go as long as my son is playing football and the others are in college - but yes, I was hesitant to go this time of year.

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Hiking the narrows is not bad at all when it's hot since the water you're wading in is very cold! The water will be refreshing.

For angels Landing, definitely just do it as early in the day as possible.

Are those hikes still a lottery system? I'd check on that first.

While there are nicer accommodations outside the park, staying in the grounds allows you access to the park before the crowds in the morning and after they've left in the evening. The kids got to play in the river in the evening and it was like we had the place to ourselves.

The sun doesn't come into the main canyon until like 10am and is gone again around 4pm. Much cooler and more wildlife out in those times.

Yes- many of these hikes require permits.

-Angel's Landing requires a permit (they are trying to limit the crowds on this hike). They do a day in advance lottery for remaining tickets.

-The Subway requires a backcountry permit obtained in advance if you do it on your own. For any of the backcountry slot canyon hikes, it may be easier done through an outfitter.

-The Narrows requires a permit if you do the entire hike (16-17 miles) in the "top down" route. The "bottom up" route (hiking in from the end of the hike as far as you would like and then back down) does not require a permit.

Our favorite place to stay is Cable Mountain Lodge in Springdale. It is outside of the park, but just outside of the park! Scenic spot right on the river. From the lodge you just walk across the river bridge and then you are at the spot to get on the park shuttles.

Have fun- Zion is awesome.

Thanks for all the advice

We ended up doing Angels Landing, the Narrows, and Canyon Overlook. We rented ebikes for one of those days and had a blast. We were toast after these things so we didn't really add anything else to the itinerary.

Angels Landing was not too crowded on Monday. Unfortunately our permit was "start after 9am" so by the time we got to the top, it was pretty hot, 3/4 of the hike wasn't bad because we had shade and a breeze, but the last push was tough. I was proud of my boys for pushing through and not complaining too much. I had the toughest time with it.

Narrows on Tuesday was a little more like Disneyland but not as bad as I was expecting. Once we got about a mile in there were few people and we could really enjoy it. We took the Orderville canyon at the Y and we were almost by ourselves for a while. We really enjoyed it but they were worn out after that.



This is me and the boys at the top of Angel's landing. Drew (Class of '28), Hudson (A&M Commerce Class of '26), Me (Class of '99) and Lincoln (HS freshman).



My boys in Orderville Canyon, part of the Narrows.