USA Zion Canyon Overlook
The Canyon Overlook Trail leads to views of the winding switchback road leading to the east end of Zion National Park, the mountains called West Temple, Altar of Sacrifice, and The Sundial. The road (SR9) east of the overlook trailhead travels through miles of brilliantly colored sandstone hills and swirls.
Travel Information
Requires a 1 mile/1.61 km R/T and 163 ft /50 m elevation gain hike. It’s a popular spot but there’s very limited parking available. If you want to get sunrise photos, you must find a parking spot very early or get very lucky. I parked about 45 minutes before sunrise and the small parking area was already half full. It takes 20 to 30 minutes to reach the overlook from the parking area. The parking area closest to the trailhead is just outside the Zion/Mount Carmel Tunnel on the right side of the road and can only be accessed from the eastbound lane. There’s room for 10 vehicles including one designated handicapped parking spot. Another parking area is located about 50 yards further east and has room for about 8 vehicles including one handicapped parking spot. That lot can technically be accessed from either direction but since the mile long tunnel is almost 90 years old, it is very narrow which requires park rangers to frequently convert two way traffic to one way to accommodate oversized vehicles and large RVs. This results in vehicle queues that often block access to that parking area from eastbound traffic. There are very specific rules for vehicular traffic in the tunnel that can be found at the Zion National Park website.
Spot Type
Outdoor
Crowd Factor
A decent amount of people
Best Timing
Sunrise
Sunrise & Sunset
07:19 - 19:53
| current local time: 05:35
Photo Themes
Sunrise
Locations
Zion National Park
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