Hipfig Travel Channel offers DIY travel video guides for more than 25 cities in
Asia, US, and Canada. If you like this video then subscribe, give us a thumbs up
or comment. Welcome to hipfig's beautiful America
series. In this episode we'll cover zion national park. This hipfig beautiful
america travel guide series is for people interested in national parks and
the amazing natural wonders in north america. Zion National Park is one of the
big five national parks in the state of Utah and the fourth most visited
national park in the United States. Did you know that Zion National Park is so
beautiful that artists are being recruited to encapsulate Zions beauty
you'll be able to see the artwork at the Zion human history museum during your
visit to Zion. In this travel guide we show and provide information on entering
from Springdale and Mt. Carmel Junction in to Zion Park, the famous Mount Zion
Carmel tunnel, Canyon visitor center, and the free shuttles at this Zion park area,
the popular narrows trail hike through the water of the Virgin River, and more
Zion National Park is located along Zion Mount Carmel highway which is also Utah
Highway 9 near the town of Springdale Utah. You can enter the park from the
Mount Carmel Junction or Springdale entrance along UT highway 9. If you're
coming from the direction of Las Vegas or Salt Lake City side take a Springdale
entrance take State Route 9 east through the town of Springdale into Zion
National Park to Zion Canyon visitor center ahead on your right hand side. The
town of Springdale is just outside the main entrance of Zion National Park
since parking is limited on this entrance side of Zion especially during
peak times of May to September get here before 8 a.m.
if the Zion Canyon visitor center parking lot is full you can find parking
in the town of Springdale at one of the paid parking lots or
street parking along Highway nine and take the free Springdale route shuttle
to the parks Zion Canyon Village. From the Zion Canyon
Village stop, transfer to the Zion Canyon route shuttle to the visitor center or
other stops into the national park. By the way if you want to stay near Zion
Springdale is a good place it has a good selection of hotels, restaurants, grocery
store, and shops. If you're coming from us 89 highway from Utah Bryce Canyon or
Arizona Glen Canyon Recreation Area side you can enter Zion National park through
the Mount Carmel Junction entrance on UT highway 9 at Carmel Junction. You'll
see UT 9 highway between the Best Western Hotel and the Shell gas station
Stay on this UT highway 9 west towards Springdale into Zion
National Park design. Canyon visitor center is 12 miles ahead on the
left-hand side. There are clearly marked signs on UT highway 9 from this entrance
you'll need a car, motorcycle, or bike to reach the Zion visitor center. There are
no shuttles available from this Mount Carmel entrance side. There is a national
park fee of $35 per car including passengers, $30 per motorcycle, and $20
per person walking, biking, or shuttling in above the age of 16. The entrance fee
is valid for 7 days from the date of purchase. You can pay for the fees either
at the Mount Carmel Junction or Springdale entrance. Here's a tip if you
have 4 or more people 16 and older in your group it may be worth it for you to
buy the $80 America beautiful inter-agency annual pass which is good
for a year for all national parks and monuments in the US. After we enter the
park at the Mount Carmel entrance on the right hand side there was a parking lot
where you can find a porta potty aka the honey buckets available. No other public
restrooms are available on this side of Zion National Park
From the Mount Carmel entrance towards Springdale is a scenic drive. On this
scenic drive you'll drive past many scenic points and trailheads. Parking is
available in designated pull out areas along the road. Please park in designated
areas and drive at the posted speeds. You'll notice the beautiful rock
formations and the checkered patterns on the hills created by water erosion. This
side of Zion National Park is less crowded and has lots of areas for hiking
there is no access to water, food, or gas Make sure to have water, food, and a full
gas tank before entering Zion National Park. Please make note that during heavy
rain there can be flash floods so please use caution while hiking on highway 9
While driving toward Springdale you get to drive through the famous Zion Mount
Carmel tunnel which is amazing! We drove through the 1.1 miles Zion-Mount Carmel
tunnel built in 1930. This tunnel connects Zion Canyon to Mount Carmel
side of this Zion park creating a shortcut to Bryce Canyon and Grand
Canyon. This Zion-Mount Carmel tunnel made inside the side of a mountain is
high above the Zion Canyon. It is picturesque. Inside this tunnel
traffic is usually one-way and you'll have to wait for your turn. The tunnel is
dark without light and has tunnel windows for lights as you drive through
it. Passing through this tunnel is an experience and worth doing. Certainly one
of our highlights of our visit at Zion National Park. When you go down the
winding road after passing through the tunnel, stop at the bottom of the
designated parking spots along the road to see the tunnel windows at the top of
the mountain. It's very impressive. Please note that there is an additional
$15 fee for large vehicles to cross this tunnel. Large vehicles due to their size
require more space so they can only travel through certain times generally
from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and must be escorted through the tunnel. If your
vehicle is 11 feet 4 inches or taller and 7 feet by 10 inches or wider
including mirrors, awnings, and jacks, you will need to pay the additional fee and
get a tunnel escort. We continued going on route 9 towards Springdale. You'll see
the visitor center sign on your left-hand side right before the
Springdale entrance/ exit booths for the park. Take a left and drive to the
canyon visitor parking lot. Finding parking in Zion is difficult these days
due to its popularity. Its usually full by 8 a.m.. Here's a tip: try finding
parking at the Zion human history museum first for parking on your way to the
visitor center. If you don't find parking, go to the Zion Canyon visitor center and
trying to find parking there. If you park along the road in Zion or in Springdale
make sure it's a legal spot or you could get a ticket. Once we found parking, we
entered the Zion Canyon visitor center. The Canyon visitor center is open from 8 a.m.
to 6 p.m.. The visitor center was very busy with long lines to talk to Rangers
to avoid these long lines look at the written information inside the Zion
Canyon visitor center or walk out and look at the exhibits outdoors or watch
this Travel Guide till the end and download any Maps to learn about Zion
and plan your trip before you come. An alternative location to talk to Rangers
would be the Zion human history museum which is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. The
narrows trail is one of the most popular trails in Zion. We were going to the narrows
trail to hike so we headed for the free shuttle
stop in front of the visitor center. Please note no private cars are allowed
to drive on Zion Canyon scenic drive from March to late November and the free Zion
shuttle is the only way to get to through Zion Canyon scenic drive. The free Zion
shuttle system is used to eliminate traffic and parking congestion in this
area. The free shuttles leave every seven to ten minutes from the Zion Canyon
visitor center and the other eight stops of this route. There are two Zion shuttle
loop routes: The Springdale shuttle route as talked about earlier in this video
the Springdale route has nine stops in the town of Springdale along Highway
nine. The second route is a Zion Canyon shuttle route which connects the Zion
Canyon visitor center to stops at eight locations along Zion Canyon scenic drive
You can hop on and off as often as you like
shuttle buses are wheelchair accessible. At the Visitor Center we got on to the
canyon route shuttle. We rode the shuttle to the last stop to get to the narrows
trail. We got off at stop number nine the temple of Sinawava. As soon as you get
off the shuttle you will see restrooms and a refillable water station. If you
need to use the facilities do it here. There are no facilities from this point
along the Riverside walk or narrows trail. Once we exited the shuttle we
followed the trailhead signs for the Riverside trail which leads to the
narrows trail. The Riverside walk trail is mostly level and is considered an
easy one-mile hike. At the end of the paved Riverside walk is where the narrows
trail begins. There are many access points to the Virgin River along
Riverside walk trail so we decided to walk along its banks. If you choose this
be prepared for sand in your shoes and your feet to get wet. If you don't mind, then this is highly recommended. There are definitely less people down by the river
When we reached the end of the Riverside walk trail, we began the trek to through the
Narrows. We began wading into the river It was a
hot day even so the water was very cold. We began our trek to reach the Orderville
Canyon, a tributary Creek about two hours upstream from the end of
the river sidewalk trail. The route we took is the easiest of the two ways into
the Narrows. This upstream also known as bottom up to the Narrows and does not
require a permit. Most of our hike to the Narrows was spent walking in the water
What makes the trail difficult is walking on the slippery rocks in the
river. Some of the rocks are unstable and they vary in size which means it's easy
to get hurt. We saw several people fall. Take your time and rest in between the
dry spots. Warning do not go on this trail when it's raining the likelihood
of a flash flood is high. Here's a tip in the town of Springdale in their visitor
center there's a shop that rents enclosed water shoes and walking sticks. It is
located near stop number six on the Springdale shuttle route. Depending how
far you walk on this trail, it could take 8 or more hours round trip. Remember that
you will walk back the same way you came in. In Zion canyon there are other
popular trails like weeping rock which you can get from shuttle stop number 7,
and angels landing from shuttle stop number 6 going through the grotto
trailhead. Zion also has another less visited side Kolob canyons which is
two hours drive from Springdale and has its own entrance and visitor center
which is off Interstate 15 north. Whatever you do in Zion come early, be
prepared, and you're bound to have a heavenly time in this amazing national
park. Happy Travels. Go to hipfig.com for more information or go to our hipfig
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