Hiking the Zion Canyon Overlook Trail: Easy and Beautiful Trail

Zion National Park is loaded with incredible views. Every corner of this park is beautiful.   And one of Zion’s most beautiful trails is the Zion Canyon Overlook Trail.

This 1 mile trail is both easy and totally stunning.  It honestly gives Angel’s Landing a run for its money, with a MUCH easier hike.  The hardest part is getting a parking spot.  

So lace up those boots and let’s dive into the details about hiking the Zion Canyon Overlook Trail!

Important Links 

• Zion National Park – NPS website
• Zion Canyon Overlook Trail – AllTrails Link
• Hiking Journal – Never Forget the Details of Your Favorite Hikes Again!
• Kolob Canyon – Other Hiking in Zion
• The Watchman Trail – A Moderate Trail in Zion

Location

The Zion Canyon Overlook Trail is located in Zion National Park.  More specifically, the trailhead is located at the east entrance of the Zion-Mt. Caramel Tunnel.  There is a small parking lot there used to access the trail.  

The trailhead is about 1 hour from St. George, UT, just under 3 hours from Las Vegas, NV and about 4 hours from Flagstaff, AZ.  So whether you are local or flying in, this trail will require a little bit of a drive.  

Entrance Fee

Entering Zion National Park requires the purchase of a park pass.  There are several park pass options, but most people will be purchasing the Standard 7-Day Pass.  This pass is $35 and covers everyone in a vehicle for a week.  

If you are looking to enter Zion National Park more than twice (2 weeks) in a year, you’ll be interested in the Annual Pass.  The Zion Annual Pass costs $70 is good for 12 months from the date of purchase.

And finally, if you are looking to enter more than 3 national parks within a 12 month period, you’ll be looking at the American the Beautiful Pass. This pass costs $80 for United States Citizens and will get you and a car full of guests into any federal recreation area for free.  

Once you’ve gotten the best pass for you (all available for purchase at Zion National Park), you can head right to the trailhead.    

Parking

The trailhead is located right before the east entrance to the Zion-Mt. Caramel Tunnel.  Essentially, you’ll want to park here. Use this link to lead you to the tiny parking lot at the start of the Zion Canyon Overlook Trail.   

This parking lot is extremely small and it can get fiercely competitive to snag a spot.  Especially on the weekends.  You might end up on the side of the road in one of the pull off areas further away from the tunnel.

This parking situation shouldn’t scare you though!  The Zion Canyon Overlook Trail is absolutely beautiful and worth the hassle.  

My best tip for snagging a spot is going there early in the morning or in the afternoon.  But what are you even getting into with this hike? Let’s check out the stats shall we?

Trail Stats

The Zion Canyon Overlook Trail is one of the easier hikes in Zion National Park.  This little trail is easy to follow and won’t take you long.  

• Distance: 1 Mile (Out-and-Back)
• Elevation Gain: ~200 feet
• Time on Trail: 30 – 60 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy

If you’re a serious hiker, I can understand you wanting to skip this one for the easy stats.  But trust me, this hike is so beautiful, you’ll be glad you did it.  

But how much time should you account for this trail?  If you’re on a tight schedule, you can squeeze this trail in at the end of just about any day!

Time to Spend Here

Hiking the Zion Canyon Overlook Trail is a great trail for just about everyone.  It’s short and fairly easy, but how long should you expect to be hiking?

The hardest part is finding a parking spot, which might take you some time.  But as far as hiking time, this trail will take you anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes.  Maybe 90 minutes if you hike slowly and stay a while to enjoy the view.  

You can check out our exact itinerary below.  

+Our Itinerary

• Parked at 2:50pm
• Began Hike at 3pm
• Arrived at Overlook at 3:20pm
• Began Our Descent: 3:40pm
• Arrived Back at Our Truck: 4pm

All in all, we spent about 40 minutes hiking and 20 minutes enjoying the view.  We were headed to the Watchman Trail that evening, so we didn’t stay as long as we wanted.  The view is arguably one of the best in the park!

Our Hike 

My husband and I hiked the Zion Canyon Overlook Trail in the afternoon of an October Saturday.  The park was packed!  But we didn’t let this deter us. 

Once we found a parking spot, we started up the trail.  And this trail will get your heart pumping right from the start.  Right away there were a bunch of large steps until we reached the flat part of the trail.

As we followed the trail, we were led along the cliff wall.  The trail hooked under an overhanging cliff area and then brought us back into the sunlight.  There are quite a few large drop offs that have a guardrail (see photo above).

From here, the trail was pretty straight forward with a few skinny spots where we had to let opposing traffic pass.  Soon enough we came to the overlook area and it was stunning!

The Overlook

Although this area was crawling with people, we were able to walk about 300 feet to the right and enjoy the views alone.  We snagged a few photos, had a snack and then headed back the way we came.  

The way back was exactly the same and we were back to our truck in under 20 minutes.  We could have spent so much more time at the overlook, but were headed to the Watchman Trail for a sunset hike.  

Overall, this trail was one of our favorites.  While we prefer longer trails, this one was quick and easy with a big pay off!

Other Hiking Options

If you are looking to hike other trails in the park, you’ll definitely want to check out the Watchman Trail, Angels Landing (permit required), the Many Pools Trail, and the Narrows. There are other trails that are amazing too, but these are the most stunning.

Camping 

Camping in Zion National Park is highly competitive! With reservations selling out within minutes of the reservations opening up.  But if you are able to snag a spot, I highly recommend the Watchman Campground.

You can find all the details about the Watchman Campground here.  Trust me, it’s worth it for how gorgeous this area is!

Things to do in the area

As far as other things to do in the area, the town of Springdale has endless food options.  There are also dozens of companies in the area where you can book tours or excursions in the park.

But if you prefer other places to hike, you’ll definitely want to check out Kolob Canyon, the forgotten area of Zion.  There is also Cedar Breaks National Monument and Bryce Canyon National Park.  

Conclusion

Hiking the Zion Canyon Overlook Trail is a must do when you are visiting Zion National Park.  This short and easy hike is beautiful and rivals Angel’s Landing!

Just about anyone can do this hike and if you get the opportunity, spend an hour on this trail. You won’t regret it.

As always, feel free to email me at averagewildexperience@gmail.com with any questions.

-Happy Hiking!