Zion National Park Road Trip: Routes, Drive Times and What to Add
A Zion national park road trip almost always starts in Las Vegas, 160 miles and two hours 40 minutes away on I-15. Salt Lake City is 310 miles, Phoenix 400, Los Angeles 430. Three days in the park covers the Narrows, a canyon rim hike and the drive through the Mount Carmel tunnel. Angels Landing needs a permit from a lottery, and the canyon shuttle is mandatory in season. The natural extension is east to Bryce Canyon, 85 miles away, and from there the rest of the Mighty 5. Our Zion itinerary runs the park day by day.
Drive times to Zion from every nearby city
- Las Vegas: 160 miles, 2 hours 40 minutes. The cheapest flights and the shortest drive. See the Las Vegas to Zion route.
- St. George, Utah: 45 miles, 1 hour. Worth knowing about if Vegas hotel prices spike.
- Salt Lake City: 310 miles, 4 hours 30 minutes. Details in Salt Lake City to Zion.
- Bryce Canyon: 85 miles, 1 hour 30 minutes through the Mount Carmel tunnel.
- Grand Canyon North Rim: 115 miles, 2 hours 30 minutes, and only from mid May to mid October.
- Phoenix: 400 miles, 6 hours.
- Los Angeles: 430 miles, 6 hours 30 minutes.
- Denver: 620 miles, 9 hours 30 minutes. This one needs a night on the way, usually Moab or Green River.
How many days to give Zion
Three. One day for the Narrows from the bottom up, which is a wade rather than a hike and the single best thing in the park. One day for height, either Angels Landing with a permit or Observation Point from the East Mesa trailhead without one. One day for the east side: the Mount Carmel Highway, Canyon Overlook and the slickrock around Checkerboard Mesa, all of which you drive to rather than shuttle.
Two days works if you drop the east side. One day means the Narrows and nothing else, and you will spend an hour of it in the shuttle queue.
The shuttle and the permit rules
Two rules catch first time visitors, and both are easy once you know them.
- The Zion Canyon shuttle. From spring through late November the scenic drive up the main canyon is closed to private cars, so every trailhead from the Court of the Patriarchs to the Narrows is reached by bus. It is free and it runs often, and the queue at 8am in July is still 45 minutes. Full detail in the Zion shuttle guide.
- Angels Landing. The chain section requires a permit, awarded by lottery. There is a seasonal lottery months ahead and a day before lottery for anything left. Neither is expensive and both need an actual application, so read the Angels Landing permit lottery guide before your dates are fixed.
The Narrows bottom up needs no permit. Top down, the 16 mile through hike, needs a wilderness permit and a shuttle to Chamberlain's Ranch.
What to add on either side
Zion on its own is a long weekend. These are the natural additions, in order of how little driving they cost.
- Bryce Canyon, 85 miles. Completely different rock and 3,000 feet higher, so it is cooler in summer and snowy in winter. Two days. See the Bryce Canyon itinerary.
- The Grand Canyon North Rim, 115 miles. Quieter than the South Rim and open only in the warm half of the year.
- The full Mighty 5, 1,000 miles. Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands in nine days. Our Utah national parks road trip has the whole loop.
- Valley of Fire, 100 miles. A Nevada state park on the way back to Las Vegas, and a good half day when you have a late flight.
A Zion road trip with kids
Zion is one of the more family friendly parks in Utah, provided you skip the two hikes everyone talks about. The Riverside Walk is paved and flat to the mouth of the Narrows. Lower Emerald Pool is a mile. The Pa'rus Trail is bike friendly and runs from the visitor centre to the canyon junction. Wading the first mile of the Narrows in summer is the thing children remember. Angels Landing has killed people and is not a family hike at any age. Our easy Zion hikes with kids guide lists the rest, and the Mighty 5 family route paces the whole loop for shorter legs.
When to drive it
April, May, September and October. Spring brings water in the side canyons and a Narrows that may be closed to wading if the Virgin River is running high, which happens most years in May. Autumn is the most reliable window. July and August mean 100F afternoons and the longest shuttle queues of the year, though the slot canyons stay cool. Winter is quiet and the shuttle stops running, so you can drive the canyon yourself. More in the best time to visit Zion.
Have us plan your Zion trip
Tell us your dates, your airport and how hard you want to hike, and we will build the route with the permit windows and the beds already found. Planning is free, and we earn only if you book through us.
Zion National Park Road Trip: Routes, Drive Times and What to Add FAQs
One hundred and sixty miles, about two hours 40 minutes on I-15 and Highway 9. That makes Las Vegas the closest major airport and the usual start of a Zion road trip.
Three. One for the Narrows, one for a rim hike such as Angels Landing or Observation Point, and one for the east side of the park along the Mount Carmel Highway. Two days covers the first two.
Not up Zion Canyon during the shuttle season, which typically runs from March into late November. You can always drive the Mount Carmel Highway on the east side, and in winter, when the shuttle stops, the canyon road reopens to cars.
Yes, for the chain section above Scout Lookout. Permits come from a seasonal lottery held months in advance and a day before lottery for leftovers. Walking to Scout Lookout itself needs no permit.
Bryce Canyon, 85 miles east and about 90 minutes away. It sits 3,000 feet higher, so it is a good pairing in summer heat. From there Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands complete the Utah Mighty 5 loop.
Yes, if you build the days around the Riverside Walk, the Pa'rus Trail, Lower Emerald Pool and wading the first mile of the Narrows. Angels Landing is not a family hike, with fatalities on the chain section.
