What to know before visiting Zion National Park!
Planning a trip to Zion National Park? Here are three things you need to know before visiting!
My husband and I visited in October of 2023 and, in my opinion, it was the best time to go. The weather was perfect, with chilly mornings and evenings, and warm afternoons.
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The best place to stay
My husband and I booked a room at the Pioneer Lodge in Springdale, UT. If you can stay in Springdale, DO IT. Springdale is located right outside the boundary of Zion National Park. From our hotel, it was an easy 1-mile walk to the park entrance, or we were only a few feet from one of the many bus stops that takes you to the entrance.
In addition, the Pioneer Lodge is within walking distance to multiple stores, cafes, ice cream shops, and other restaurants. Regardless of where you stay, I recommend booking as far in advance as you can. By the time we booked, this was one of the last affordable dog-friendly hotels we could find. It wasn’t the BEST quality, but the location was prime.
I know it’s tempting to stay in a cute Airbnb, especially if you are going with a large group, but the convenience of being right in town was unmatched. Since we were there when cars weren’t allowed on the Scenic drive, we didn’t have to worry about finding parking and could just walk everywhere.
Some other hotel options with higher ratings include Zion Park Motel, Holiday Inn Express Springdale, and Zion Canyon Lodge.
Or you can research some other options below!
And if you stay in Springdale or the surrounding areas, there are shuttles in service year-round to transport visitors to the park. There are two shuttle systems in operation — one to get visitors to the park and a second to move people around the park. Parking is available in the park, but it’s limited and lots usually fill up between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. After that, cars are prohibited.
Rent e-bikes to explore!
What else is there to do in Zion National Park if you don’t want to hike? Explore on e-bikes, of course!
What are the pros you ask?
Skipping the shuttle lines (probably the best reason if you ask me) and you can explore at your own pace.
We rented our bikes from Zion Guru in Springdale. We opted for the Full Day Runner for $79/person. This option gives you 8 hrs to explore the park. You’ll have a basket on the bike to carry your things and a lock as well.
*Side note: I believe the codes for the bikes are all the same so make sure to make your bike distinguishable from others. We had an incident where another couple accidentally took our bikes LOL Luckily we walked up just as they were leaving. It wouldn’t have been a big deal but the shop keeps track of which bike you have so I didn’t want a fine or something.
Anywho! We started at Pa’rus trail, riding through the beautiful yellow flowers, and rode up to stop #6 (the Grotto) to hike Scout Lookout. My husband and I went during the end of peak season so there were no cars in the Scenic Drive. Just keep an eye out for the buses and pull over to let them pass 🙂
This was one of my favorite things we did in the park so if you get a chance, try it out!
Plan for your pet
Traveling to Zion with your pup? We love bringing our dog, Asher, with us when we travel!
Unfortunately, Zion National Park isn’t very pet-friendly and there are only a couple of trails you can bring your dog on. Because of that, we decided to board our pup at a local daycare so we didn’t feel bad leaving him while we we out all day.
After doing some research, we opted for Zion Canyon Canine. They were incredibly accommodating to Asher’s needs and made me feel more at peace leaving him in a new place.
They have either a half-day or full-day option for daycare and they also have overnight boarding. Check out their website for more info on pricing! We ended up doing one full daycare day and one overnight stay. Mostly because Asher kept barking at people walking outside our door at the hotel and we needed sleep lol
However, he had a great time and we even got picture updates throughout the day! Zion Canyon Canine is about a 30 minute from from the park but it was totally worth it to make sure our boy was taken care of.
For more details on our trip, check out our full weekend itinerary here.
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