Zion National Park
Utah
Dark sky
Very dark skies
Bortle 3 · SQM ~20.91 (est.)
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.8 h fully dark
Hikes
Easy–Strenuous
🟢 🟡 🔴
Crowds
very high
Open today
Open
Entrance
$35
Large vehicle restrictions now in effect for Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway
As of June 7, 2026, the park is enforcing size and weight limits for vehicles on the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway. Vehicles that exceed length, width, height, or weight limits cannot travel between Canyon Junction and the park's East Entrance. See the current limits on the page linked below.
Official NPS alert →Stage 2 fire restrictions in effect
No setting, building, maintaining, attending, or using open fires of any kind in the park. This includes campfires and charcoal fires in Watchman Campground, South Campground, and picnic areas in Zion Canyon. Stoves fueled by petroleum or liquid propane gas are allowed. Smoking is allowed only in non-vegetated areas.
Official NPS alert →Angels Landing Pilot Permit Program
Everyone who hikes Angels Landing needs to have a permit. Learn why you need a permit and how to get one. This requirement does not affect entering the park or riding the park shuttle (when it is running).
Official NPS alert →Toxic Cyanobacteria in the Virgin River and the streams of Zion National Park
Do not submerge your head in or filter drinking water from still or moving water.
Official NPS alert →Please park legally and responsibly in Zion National Park and the Town of Springdale
Zion has limited parking space. Park only in designated stalls. Vehicles parked outside of designated stalls are subject to citation and may be towed. Once all designated parking stalls in Zion are full, visitors should park in Springdale.
Official NPS alert →Follow the paths where people have walked for thousands of years. Gaze up at massive sandstone cliffs of cream, pink, and red that soar into a brilliant blue sky. Experience the tall, stretching walls of a narrow slot canyon. Zion’s unique array of plants and animals will enchant you as you absorb the rich history of the past and enjoy the excitement of present-day adventures.
Activities
Topics
Entrance fees
$35.00 — Entrance - Private Vehicle
$30.00 — Entrance - Motorcycle
$20.00 — Entrance - Snowmobile
$20.00 — Entrance - Per Person
$20.00 — Entrance - Non-commercial Groups
$70.00 — Commercial Entrance - Van
$80.00 — Commercial Entrance - Mini-bus
$190.00 — Commercial Entrance - Motor Coach
$20.00 — Commercial Entrance - Per Person
$100.00 — Nonresident
Hours & seasons
Zion National Park is open every day of the year.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 435-772-3256
✉ zion_park_information@nps.govConditions
Very dark skies · DarkSky-certified (Bortle 3)
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Dec
Typical crowds: very high
Weather now: ☀️ Clear, 81°F
☁️ 94°/69°
☁️ 92°/68°
☁️ 96°/70°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
22%
Feb
25%
Mar
67%
Apr
83%
May
96%
Jun
100%
Jul
93%
Aug
80%
Sep
84%
Oct
87%
Nov
51%
Dec
39%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Live conditions
Things to do
La Verkin Creek Trail to Kolob Arch · 287 ft gain
🟡 Kayenta Trail · 2 mi
🔴 Weeping Rock
Timber Creek Overlook · 100 mi
Taylor Creek Trail
🟡 Watchman Trail · Watchman trail is 3.3 miles (5.3 km) roundtrip. On average, it takes about 2 hours to complete.
🔴 West Rim to Scout Lookout · 1000 ft gain
Sand Bench
Campgrounds
Lava Point Campground ↗ · 6 sites
South Campground ↗ · 124 sites · dump station
Watchman Campground ↗ · 184 sites · hookups · dump station
Visitor centers
Human History Museum
Kolob Canyons Visitor Center
Zion Canyon Visitor Center
Zion Nature Center
Accessibility
3 accessible campground(s)
16 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Parking
Zion Canyon Scenic Drive Parking
Zion Canyon Visitor Center Main Parking Lot
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Zion National Park — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Dark sky
How dark the night sky is — darker (lower Bortle) fills the dial.
Bortle 3
★★★★☆
SQM ~20.91
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
Trail profile
Each dot is a trail — distance vs. elevation gain, by difficulty.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
Passport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Human History Museum
🎫 Kolob Canyons Visitor Center
🎫 Zion Canyon Visitor Center
Places to see
Big Bend
audio
Canyon Junction
audio
Court of the Patriarchs
audio
Kolob Canyons Visitor Center
Lava Point Overlook
Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area
audio
Pa'rus - A Living Canyon
audio
Pa'rus - Changing Landscapes
audio
Pa'rus - Creation from Destruction
audio
Pa'rus - Diversion Dam
Pa'rus - Footprints in Time
audio
Pa'rus - The Master Sculptor
audioAudio & media
🎧 Shuttle Narration: Court of the Patriarchs to Zion Lodge ↗ · 11 mintranscript
🎧 Shuttle Narration ↗ · 30 mintranscript
🎧 Shuttle Narration: Canyon Junction to Court of the Patriarchs ↗ · 11 mintranscript
🎬
🖼
Learn more
Recipients of the 2004 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards
Recipients of the 2005 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards
Recipients of the 2006 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards
Recipients of the 2009 Environmental Achievement Awards
Recipients of the 2011 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards
The National Park Service is pleased to congratulate the recipients of the 2022 George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service.
As we reflect on 2024, we offer you a list of 24 interesting and exciting science and nature events from parks of the national park system. From awe-inspiring celestial events to celebrating anniversaries and conservation wins, 2024 was filled with amazing moments.
They say that coloring provides stress relief for adults as well as children. For artists at the National Park Service (NPS) Western Museum Laboratory in the 1930s, however, it wasn't easy to hand-color glass lanterns slides depicting the landscapes, people, plants, and animals of places they had never seen. Quality and accuracy were essential because the slides were used by rangers to illustrate lectures and to encourage people to visit national parks.
Ranger School
Park-grounded courses you can learn with the Ranger.
Bird Beak Adaptaions
Open →
Classification Systems
Open →
Desert Plant Adaptations: Structures that Support Survival
Open →
Earth's Features: Interpreting Patters with Topographic Maps
Open →
Genetics and Adaptations: Understanding Inherited Traits and Survival
Open →
Geology pt 3: Rock Types in National Parks
Open →
Pollination Adaptations: Connecting Habitat and Anatomy
Open →
Sustainable Design Solutions: Mitigating Effects of Natural Resource Use
Open →
How Zion National Park connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
Park
Activity
Topic
State
Campground
VisitorCenter
PassportStamp
ParkingLot
Trail
ThingToDo
Alert
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