Zion

At the Grand Canyon you stand on the rim and look down; in Zion National Park, Utah's oldest national park, established in 1919 on the ancestral homeland of the Southern Paiute (Nuwuvi) People, who called the canyon Mukuntuweap ('Straight Canyon'), you stand on the lush green floor beside the rushing North Fork of the Virgin River and crane your neck 600 to 900 metres (2,000 to 3,000 feet) straight up at sheer vertical walls of Navajo Sandstone that shift from deep vermilion and rust orange to blinding white at the summit domes.

What makes Zion one of the three most-visited national parks in the United States is how interactive its geography is. Along the car-free 10-kilometre Zion Canyon Scenic Drive (served by free electric shuttles and open to e-bikes), you can walk the paved Riverside Walk straight into the water at the Temple of Sinawava to hike The Narrows, where the river itself is the trail between 300-metre slot walls. Three stops earlier at The Grotto, 21 hand-laid switchbacks (Walter's Wiggles) climb to Scout Lookout and the chained knife-edge ridge of Angels Landing. To the east, the 1.8-kilometre 1930 Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel climbs through solid sandstone to the Canyon Overlook Trail and Bryce Canyon, while to the northwest hide the crimson finger canyons of Kolob Canyons. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Zion.

Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas (LAS) is the primary gateway to Zion, located just 265 kilometres (165 miles or 2 hours 40 minutes northeast up Interstate 15 through the dramatic Virgin River Gorge and St. George). Remember the crucial time-zone rule: when you cross from Nevada and Arizona into Utah on I-15, you move forward 1 hour from Pacific Time to Mountain Time. Once you arrive in the walkable gateway town of Springdale right outside the South Entrance, park your car at your hotel or in town and ride the free Springdale Town Shuttle to the Zion Pedestrian Bridge, where you walk through the gate and board the free Zion Canyon Park Shuttle (or rent an e-bike in Springdale to ride straight into the canyon without waiting in shuttle lines). See getting to Zion from Las Vegas and how shuttles, parking and e-bikes work.

Only one lodge exists inside the park itself, historic Zion Lodge at Shuttle Stop #5 (booked via Xanterra up to 13 months ahead). However, unlike Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, you do not need to stay inside the park to have a car-free experience: the lively gateway town of Springdale borders the South Entrance literally at the end of the pavement, and its 9 free town shuttle stops drop you right at the park's pedestrian footbridge. If Springdale hotels in peak season are above your budget, stay 20 to 30 minutes west in La Verkin, Hurricane or St. George, or 35 minutes east of the East Entrance in Kanab, for roughly half the price. Compare all bases in where to stay in Zion.

Rent neoprene socks, canyoneering boots and a wooden walking stick in Springdale to wade up The Narrows from the Temple of Sinawava to Wall Street, climb the 21 switchbacks of Walter's Wiggles to Scout Lookout (and Angels Landing with a lottery permit), hike the 1.6-kilometre Canyon Overlook Trail just east of the 1930 Mount Carmel Tunnel, rent an e-bike to pedal the car-free Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and Pa'rus Trail, walk to Lower and Upper Emerald Pools, watch sunset illuminate the Watchman Trail or hike to Observation Point, explore red-rock Kolob Canyons, and take a 90-minute day trip to Bryce Canyon National Park. Full list in things to do in Zion.

Because Springdale sits literally outside the Visitor Center footbridge, Zion has the best post-hike dining of any national park in the Southwest: massive green-chile pork burritos and recovery burgers under the cottonwoods at Oscar's Cafe, Southwestern prickly-pear margaritas and sweet-potato tamales at Bit & Spur Restaurant, wood-fired pizzas and Utah craft beers at Zion Canyon Brew Pub (right beside the pedestrian park gate), espresso and breakfast pastries at Deep Creek Coffee, and ice cream on the shaded lawn of Zion Lodge inside the canyon. Read more in our Zion and Springdale dining guide.

Carved through nine layers of 150-to-270-million-year-old sedimentary rock, where ancient Jurassic Sahara-like sand dunes froze into 700-metre-thick Navajo Sandstone cliffs, Zion preserves ancestral Puebloan (Virgin Anasazi) granaries, Southern Paiute heritage, and 1920s Gilbert Stanley Underwood architecture.