You can use your national park pass to avoid the fee here. You just have to display it on your…read moredash. Maps took us like 2 miles north, then back track to the tunnel to get in. Not sure if that was the best way or not. The parking lot is not huge, and you can't park in the designated camping area spots. There are plenty of picnic tables, probably more than parking spaces. There are at least 20 tables there. There are a few trails to choose from. Very close the parking and campsites is a short 1/4 hike (or shorter) to the dinosaur prints. There is a hike in the other direction to the mini waterfall and pond. Probably about a mile or a little over a mile (1direction). We also found an old almost petrified bristlecone tree (that was neat). We got lucky with the weather for Dec, it was probably about 60 degrees and very nice. I saw that in the summer it can be over 110 so I am glad that we got the nice weather. The red /orange scenery is spectacular and representative of the area, like it is at zion, bryce, snow canyon, pioneer park, etc. We enjoyed a picnic lunch there, and we had a blue bird, a scrub jay, come join us and beg for food. Check out my photos.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DO NOT FOLLOW THE YELP…read moreDIRECTIONAL MAP TO GET HERE! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To reach the Red Reef trailhead, take Exit 23 off Interstate 15 S and head east on Red Cliffs Campground Road. The trailhead is located at the campground, which is about 5 miles down the paved road. GPS Coordinates: 37.224794, -113.406300 It is $5 to park your car here in the parking lot, follow directions to the trail. It is a beautiful and easy hike - until the very end. it meanders along a path - then at the end you need to climb some pretty big rocks to see the payoff of the beautiful canyon. We loved this hike. (but were thrown off by the Yelp directions that sent us in an alternate direction.

We had an amazing experience with Red desert adventure!! My wife and I went canyoneering for the…read morefirst time on May 26, 2026 guided by Jack Towt. He was extremely knowledgeable, experienced in all aspects of canyoneering. He was patient and really was able to instruct us on using the ropes and how to maneuver over obstacles safely. We learned a lot and my wife felt very comfortable with his skill and knowledge. We would highly recommend Red Desert and JACK as your personal canyoneering guide. We loved it!

You are missing out if you don't do a canyoneering adventure with in Zion. Technically, there is no…read morecanyoneering within Zion but you'll be in the vicinity of the national park. We wanted to do something memorable during our trip to Zion and decided to go with Red Desert after our research online. Booking was easy, we were able to get same day reservation on the July 4th weekend. Our guide, Eric was amazing. He was calm, patient and pushed us just the right amount outside our comfort level for us to come back with great memories from the trip. Our kids, ages 9 and 11 did great. For one of the sheer drops, he did a tandem for our younger one. This was a private tour, the equipment felt clean and we felt safe and informed throughout our adventure. Can't recommend enough!

There are three Emerald pools at different elevations, and so the best thing about this trail is…read morethat if you're tired after the first pool (the lower pool) you can turn around and feel pretty accomplished. I think a lot of people do this since the lower pool is definitely the busiest. There's also a neat little waterfall cascading into the pool, so my personal opinion is that it's the prettiest pool. The middle pool actually goes up to the sandstone shelf that creates the waterfall to the lower pool. It's pretty neat, although I didn't dare go near the edge as the rocks can be slippery, and I wasn't about to risk anything. The trail here is a little steeper than the trail to the lower pool. The upper pool is at the base of the grotto with sweeping cliffs. It does have some steps and a lot of sand. The sand can sap your energy, and I saw a few people needing to rest and gather their strength. The grotto was a bit flooded when I went, and so you might have to step on some rocks to avoid getting your shoes wet. I saw a bunch of ground squirrels frolicking around here. Overall, gorgeous and unique trail to hike in Zion!

I visited Emerald Pools at Zion National Park right before the 4th of July, and it was a really…read morenice stop to add to the trip. I only did the easier route to the Lower Emerald Pool, and that was enough for me that day since I did other trails like the Riverside walk. You can get there from the Zion Lodge shuttle stop, which is stop #5, so it's pretty easy to work into your day if you're already taking the shuttle through the park. The trail to the lower pool was scenic without feeling too difficult. You still get those beautiful Zion views along the way, and once you get closer to the pool area, the canyon walls and water make it feel really peaceful. The lower emerald pools is about .6 miles, 1.2 round trip. There are also Middle and Upper Emerald Pools if you want to keep going, but I kept it simple with the lower pool this time. I went right before 4th of July so the park was definitely busy, I'd recommend bringing water, wearing comfortable shoes and giving yourself extra time for the shuttle and crowds. I'm glad I did Emerald Pools. The Lower Pool was a pretty, easy hike and a great option if you want something scenic in Zion without committing to a harder trail.

What a fun little adventure. Was here 06/2025 and of course…read moreit was extremely hot. We did not accept to go down this huge slide. However we did enjoy time at the water

Rented a couple side by sides for the 2026 Off Road Games. As always, this is my yearly therapy…read moreworth every dime. Truly, the smiles per miles are unmatched. The team from start to finish are all amazing and kind people. The folks who book are knowledgeable, patient, and thankfully not some call center. The team at the event are equally kind, especially considering the massive amount of customers they are helping for three days straight. Only downside, we had several issues with the machines including needing to switch both out. Once again, the team was professional and kind during the whole process. They are brand new machines, it's just a tough hot environment with people beating the hell out of these rentals all day. My only critique at the event would be setting up a better system after you have checked in at the computer. You are sent into the trailer to get a helmet/goggles and sometimes someone is in there to help you and sometimes not. So, it already starts off a little confusing for beginners. Once you navigate out of the trailer, you go outside to total chaos. There is no desk/line or someone that stands out to ask for help to get your machine. You sort of just have to flag someone down which often times there's confusion. Perhaps consider setting up one more desk or kiosk when leaving the trailer and getting your machine assigned. Lastly, perhaps a big sign for the helmet return as this is a confusing when you get back. I almost put my dirty helmet back on the clean helmet shelves because there is no person out sign saying to put them on the black table out side. I appreciate you all and will certainly be calling and booking the next trip soon.

Unfortunately, our experience with Mad Moose was very disappointing…read more Our group had more than 20 vehicle rentals reserved. We had communicated ahead of time that we would be arriving when they opened so we could get our vehicles quickly and start our day. Despite that, there were only three employees working, making the check-in and rental process extremely slow and causing significant delays for our entire group. The bigger issue came once we were in Zion National Park. Our vehicle broke down and left us stranded. It took nearly two hours for assistance to arrive, and when they did, they were unable to fix the problem. We were then charged to have the vehicle towed, even though the breakdown was due to the rental vehicle itself. To make matters worse, we were never offered any type of insurance or protection plan before renting, so we weren't even given the opportunity to consider additional coverage. We also witnessed several other vehicles in our group get flat tires. In those cases, help again took around two hours to arrive, and the employees showed up with the wrong size replacement tires and without a tire jack, creating even more delays and frustration. Mechanical issues can happen, but the lack of preparation, poor customer service, slow response times, and inadequate support made what should have been a fun adventure incredibly stressful. Based on our experience, I would not rent from Mad Moose again.

This might just be my fave hike that we did during our whole trip to Zion! It's quite an adventure…read more- made me feel like a true explorer!! You'll be walking in dry creek beds and scrambling up dry, smooth waterfalls with chains of little pools (some really deep!) spilling down the mountains- and lots of rock scrambling up the mountains too- very similar to Angels Landing, but without the chains and maybe not quite as steep or dangerous for the most part. You start out going down the steep hill from the parking lot down into the Clear Creek bed and follow that until you get to the cool tunnel that takes you under highway 9. That's when you get into the Pine Creek bed that you'll pretty much follow the whole way. We definitely needed our poles and proper hiking boots. The rocks are smooth, slanted greatly in lots of places, and slick. This trail is definitely NOT for beginners - it's moderate in places and pretty strenuous in others. We made it up over 6000 feet as well! The trail isn't marked at all - very unclear - you'll really be dependent on a trail map - and it's not on the National Parks website or their maps! I think they like to keep it a secret lol. Luckily I had downloaded the trail map on the AllTrails app or we wouldn't never been able to do the whole trail. I highly recommend you do the same - and be sure to do it before you come into the park Bc we had ZERO signal most of the time. It's very much a hidden gem - we didn't see another soul and had the whole hike to ourselves! That being said, I would strongly recommend you don't hike this alone and bring bear spray and take all back country trail safety precautions. Parking is in a small lot not too long after the Mt Carmel tunnel (the big, main tunnel) and it'll be on your right. It has a tiny little building in it with a green roof which is the bathrooms yay!! They were fairly clean and well maintained but hardly had any TP so you may wanna bring some just in case.

It was a bit hard to locate the trailhead, but so happy we didn't give up wandering in circles &…read morewere able to run into people who pointed us in the right direction, because it was gorgeous & fun! When parking at the main lot, where GPS "Many Pools Trailhead" will bring you to, stand facing the bathrooms, with the larger river on your right. Then head all the way to the left, down the hill towards the woods. You'll be able to see a small trail in the sand headed down the hill around the left, almost seemingly under the road...that's it! The trail leads through the wooded area, through a tunnel (easy to navigate despite having ample water), and into a clearing where you being to hike up flat rocks, seeing the pools as you ascend to the top. We thought the pools were fascinating, as they had various shapes, depths, and the occasional waterfall. Would say this is a moderate hike, because of the incline, timing is based solely on how long you'd want to wander around each section- we also explored the river section opposite the trail if you go right from the parking lot down to the "beach area"

I really enjoyed this hike!! It ended up being quite a bit longer than I'd anticipated but I think…read moreit was worth it. It starts near the visitor center but wraps around the canyon face to end with a lovely overlook view of the canyon, with the watchman mountains to your left and the visitor center/springdale straight ahead. It's rockier than I thought it would be here, definitely watch your step. It took me a solid couple hours to do round trip and I'd already done several hikes that day/was tired so bear it in mind! But of all the hikes I did in Zion, this was actually one of my favorites (aside from Angel's landing). Would recommend!

My favorite hike we did over the 3 days at Zion. Beautiful views of the town of Springdale and…read moresurrounding area. Moderate hike up and good for children if they are behaved. Few parts of the trail get a little narrow but for the majority it wasn't too bad. I recommend getting up early and beating the day time heat.

This is an amazing hike! The NPS implemented a lottery system to cap the number of hikers per day…read moreto ensure safety. There are chains which you use to help navigate the trail, so if the trail is overloaded it could get backed up and potentially increase the number of slips and (potentially life threatening) falls. When I visited, someone had actually fallen to their death a day or two prior (RIP), and when I got to Scout Lookout, I overhead several people deciding to not complete the trail despite having permits. I think this helped reduce congestion. Another tip is that not a lot of people want to hike this later in the day, so if you start hiking past 2-3 PM, not a lot of hikers will be on the chains. The end of the trail will give expansive views of Zion Canyon. You will definitely want to take a rest here and enjoy some snacks of one of the most scenic views in the United States. The ground squirrels and chipmunks are also quite friendly, having associated people with accidentally dropped food during snack breaks. They will literally crawl on you and are quite persistent on trying to share your food. There are bathrooms on Scout Lookout, but no water. There's an NPS ranger and a volunteer who will check your permits. They usually leave by mid afternoon. Have permits printed out as reception may be spotty. 100/10 hike

This was a thrilling hike and definitely a national park bucket list item to check off! We were…read morelucky to both get next day lottery permits for Friday afternoon, but it turns out there were no rangers stationed there in the afternoon. I have heard rangers are usually only there in the morning, so one could probably hike without permits if you wait for later in the day. Including breaks and 20 minutes at the top, we took three hours in total. Even in March, it was hot, and I probably should've brought more than 1.5 L of water. I logged a 4.8-4.9 mile hike from the Grotto trailhead up to Angels Landing and back down again. The hike up to Scout Lookout was challenging because of the elevation, while Angels Landing was more challenging due to the technical aspect. They have chains to hold on to in most of the sections. People brought their young children to hike, which I think is irresponsible and dangerous when one small slip could mean a tumble down the canyon.