The Ultimate Southwest Vacation includes Zion National Park, Utah!
Stay in Mount Carmel Junction, the heart of the parks, and
visit the treasures of the Southwest.
Zion Park 12 miles
Grand Staircase 9 miles
Sand Dunes 11 miles
Dixie Forest 22 miles
Cedar Breaks 45 miles
Red Canyon 47 miles
Coyote Butte 57 miles
Bryce Canyon 60 miles
North Rim 85 miles
Toroweap 90 miles
Plan your Zion National Park Vacation with our Utah Maps and
Information
In these pages you will find insiders information on Zion National
Park lodging, adventures and hikes. This detailed guide includes road maps, park
maps, pictures, trail beta, backpacking, history, fees, geology, flora, fauna,
campgrounds, things for kids to do and even information on Zion's hidden treasures.
Making summer memories in the Utah National Parks and National
Monuments.
Directions to Zion National Park From Salt Lake City: Travel I-15 south, past Beaver.
Exit on Hwy 20. Follow US-89 to Mount Carmel Junction. Take U-9 to Zion's east
entrance. From Arizona: Travel 89A through Fredonia, Arizona
and Kanab Utah. Follow US-89 to to Mount Carmel Junction. Take U-9 to the east
park entrance. From Las Vegas: Travel I-15 north. Take exit 16 and
travel through Hurricane. Make a right on U-9 at the second traffic light in
LaVerkin. Continue on U-9 to the south entrance of the park. U-9 through Zion
National Park is always open and is also called the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway.
The technical section of Pine Creek involves canyoneering skills,
but this part can be avoided. The lower section is a fun day of hopping over
and around boulders and navigating through Pine Creek.
Pine Creek
There are four sections of Pine Creek to hike:
Pine
Creek - Pine Creek is seen on the lower sections of the Zion Switchbacks. Hikers can follow the stream by boulder hopping and making their way through the water.
Pine
Creek Canyon - Pine Creek Canyon is one of the most popular technical slot
canyons in Zion National Park. Pine Creek Canyon is entered just a short distance
from the Zion-Mt. Carmel HIghway and compared to other canyons in Zion, it has an easy
entrance and exit. This is a technical
canyon and only those with technical canyoneering skills should attempt it.
A Zion backcountry
permit is required for this canyon.
Pine Creek Waterfall - This is a short route, just off the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, along Pine Creek to a delightful waterfall and sandy pool. This route is only .25 miles long but it requires some boulder hopping.
Upper Pine Creek - This route is the gateway to Spry Canyon and the exit to the East Temple route.
Shelf Canyon - This mile long route, just south of Upper Pine Creek, involves some slickrock scrambling. This section is accessed near the east side of the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway. The route takes about two hours to complete. There are fun narrows, ferns, hoodoos and sandstone patterns in this secluded little spot.
The face of the water, in time, became a wonderful book - a book
that was a dead language to the uneducated passenger, but which told its mind
to me without reserve, delivering its most cherished secrets as clearly as it
if uttered them with a voice. And it was not a book to be read one and thrown
aside, for it had a new story to tell every day.
