I had visited Zion National Park once before this trip. I drove our here last year with my older brother and his kids on a “Zion, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas” road trip. We did a few of the shorter trails in the park, but I wasn’t able to do the two hikes that I was really looking forward to. Hiking Angels Landing and up through The Narrows would have been too much for the youngest in our group. These two hikes were my main focus this time around. Both hikes can be completed in one day if you are in decent shape and the weather permits. My nephew and I got a late start on Angels Landing and had to wait out a thunder storm, so we put The Narrows off till the following morning.

We began our hike into The Narrows at about 11am. I had hoped to check out of our campsite earlier in the morning, but I was quite sore from cliff jumping two days prior (I attempted some new tricks and had a couple hard impacts) and spending the previous night in the car. After catching up on some much needed rest, we caught a 40min shuttle ride into Zion Canyon. We didn’t hike in as far as I had planed, but we still had a great time.

I cut the hike short because I wanted to make it to Salt Lake City in time for the fireworks display. It was the 4th of July and I didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to see a state capitol fireworks show. Salt Lake City is about half way between Zion National Park and the next national park we had planned to visit: Yellowstone.

Campgrounds in Zion

If you don’t make campground reservations in advance, your best bet is to show up early (before 10am) and try to find a first-come, first-served campsite at South Campground. I have had good luck getting a site here on multiple occasions. It might take a while to find someone who is packing up to leave though. Checkout time is at 11am, so the earlier you arrive, the better your chances are. Also, there are no showers at the campground, but you can shower up for $5 at Zion Outfitters near the park entrance.