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Drives
 Overview:
(Mileages are one-way from Visitor Center)
Zion Canyon Scenic Drive: Short drive along the canyon floor. (7 miles).
East Entrance Road: Steep drive up switchbacks and through tunnels to Checkerboard
Mesa. (13 miles).
Kolob Terrace Road: Steep drive to Lava Point, a high country viewpoint. Not recommended
for trailers or long vehicles. (40 miles).
Kolob Canyons: Scenic drive skirting the Kolob "finger canyons." (5 miles from
Kolob Canyon Visitor Center; 45 minutes from Zion Canyon.)
On The Road
The roads of Zion introduce you to the park's spectacular cliff-and-canyon
landscape. You can drive, bicycle, or take a guided tram tour,
depending on your time and interests. Zion Canyon Scenic Drive,
the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, and the Kolob Canyons Road are open
year-round. The Kolob Terrace Road is usually closed by snow from
late November to May.
If you are driving, remember the roads are designed for sightseeing,
not speed. They are narrow, winding, and sometimes steep. Obey
posted speed limits. If you want to stop, use a roadside parking
area. Be alert for hazards, particularly pedestrians, bicyclists,
wildlife, fallen rocks, and other motorists. Bicycles must be
carried through the long tunnel in a vehicle.
All buses and many recreational vehicles are too large to pass
safely through the long tunnel in two-way traffic. A fee is charged
for the escort required for large vehicles to use the tunnel.
During the busier seasons large vehicles are restricted in where
they may park in Zion Canyon.
Zion Canyon Scenic Drive
Sheer, vividly colored cliffs tower above as you follow this road
along the floor of Zion Canyon. This narrow, deep canyon is the
centerpiece of the park. It awed early visitors like Frederick
Vining Fisher, a Methodist minister who named the Great White
Throne, Angels Landing, and many other monoliths. Today the canyon
continues to spark a sense of wonder and disbelief in those who
come and stand beneath its 2,000- to 3,000-foot high walls.
Along the bottom of the canyon flows the Virgin River. It is a
river with the looks of a creek and the muscle of the Colorado.
This small river almost single-handedly carved the profound rock
gorge ot Zion Canyon. It began its downcutting more than 13 million
years ago and continues its work today. You may witness the river's
power during a flash flood, when it turns muddy and violent, carrying
cottonwoods and boulders like twigs and pebbles.
On most days, though, the Virgin winds through the canyon peacefully.
Fremont cottonwoods, willows, and velvet ashes along its banks
provide shady spots for a picnic or a short walk. Mule deer and
many birds, too, seek refuge from the extreme midday heat of summer
beneath this canopy. Other wildlife, including ringtail cats,
bobcats, foxes, rock squirrels, and cottontails, rest under rocky
ledges. The best times to see animals along the road are early
morning, evening, and at night. These are also ideal times to
see the conspicuous flowers of the sacred datura. This common
roadside plant is also called moonlily because its blossoms open
in the cooler hours of the evening and wilt with the rising heat
of the day.
Anasazi and Paiute Indians may have lived in Zion Canyon year-round.
Mormon settlers once did. They were here in summer, when dramatic
thunderstorms send dozens of waterfalls, large and small, cascading
off the cliffs; in autumn, when the green canyon tress turn gold;
in winter, when light snow dusts the rocks; and in spring, when
wildflowers fed by melting snows bloom. You may want to sample
a different season your next visit to Zion Canyon. You can be
sure that whenever you return, and no matter how often Zion canyon
will always repay you generously for the time you spend here.
Zion-Mt Carmel Highway
Outstanding works of man and nature compete for attention along
this route. The road, completed in 1930, was considered an "almost
impossible project," an engineering marvel of its time. Built
across rough up-and-down terrain, it connects lower Zion Canyon
with the high plateaus to the east. Two narrow tunnels, including
one 1.1 miles long, were drilled and blasted through the cliffs
to finish the construction job. As you travel from one side of
the long tunnel to the other, the landscape changes dramatically.
On one side lies ZIon Canyon with its massive cliff wall. The
colossal size of the canyon is matched by one of the most striking
attractions along this road-the Great Arch of Zion, a "blind"
arch carved high in a vertical cliff wall.
On the other side of the tunnel is slickrock country. Here rocks
colored in white and pastels of orange and red have been eroded
into hundreds of fantastic shapes, etched through time with odd
patterns of cracks and grooves. The mountain of sandstone know
as Checkerboard Mesa stands as the most prominent example of naturally
sculptured rock art.
Roads to the Kolob
Two roads lead into the northwestern corner or the park, where
streams have carved spectacular canyons at the edge of the Kolob
Terrace. The Kolob Canyons Road enters the park from I-15 at exit
40 and penetrates 5 miles into the red rock, perpendicular walled
Finger Canyons, ending at a high viewpoint. The Kolob Terrace
Road overlooks the white and salmon-colored cliffs of the Left
and Right Forks of North Creek. Both routes climb into forests
of pinion and juniper; ponderosa pine, fir, and quaking aspen
are found at Lava Point. In summer there is often a feel of mountain
coolness to the air atop the Kolob's highcountry plateaus. And
in the early spring the Kolob is buried under a thick snowpack.
The sparkling white of the snow heightens the colors of this already
colorful landscape. Interpretive road guides are for sale at the
visitors center.
For More Information
- Contact
- Zion National Park
- Springdale, Utah 84767
- Telephone: 801-772-3256
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