Zion National Park

The main canyon runs about 15 miles long and reaches up to 2,640 ft deep, cut by the North Fork of the Virgin River through Navajo Sandstone. The river still does the carving. The Southern Paiute called the place Mukuntuweap, "straight canyon," the name on the canyon long before the English ones. The free shuttle runs the floor stop to stop from March into late November, which is how a family sees the canyon without driving it.

The slot section of the Virgin River where the walls close to 20 to 30 ft apart and rise over a thousand feet. The bottom-up wade from the end of the Riverside Walk needs no permit and has no turnaround point, so a family can go as far as the kids are comfortable and come back. Flash flood is the first hazard: the river can rise four feet in minutes. Check the daily flood-probability rating at the visitor center before stepping in, and know the water is cold even in July.

A 1,488-ft fin reached by Walter's Wiggles, 21 stone switchbacks the Civilian Conservation Corps built and named for first superintendent Walter Ruesch, then a chain-and-cable section along an exposed spine. A permit has been required since April 2022 by lottery on recreation.gov. This is a peak to name from the floor or from Scout Lookout with Big and Little, not a climb to do with them: NPS advises against the chains for young children, and falls here have been fatal.

A dome of Navajo Sandstone on the east side along the Zion to Mount Carmel Highway (SR-9), scored with a cross-hatch grid. The horizontal lines are bedding planes from ancient sand dunes; the vertical cracks are weathering joints. It is a roadside pullout with no hike, reachable by private car year-round since the east side has no shuttle. The whole formation was a field of sand dunes before it was rock.

The park's separate northern section, reached from I-15 exit 40, about 40 miles from the main canyon, with its own fee station and no shuttle. A 5-mile scenic drive runs below a row of parallel red finger canyons cut into the Kolob Plateau, far quieter than Zion Canyon. Deep in the backcountry beyond the drive, Kolob Arch spans 287 ft, sometimes argued to be the longest natural arch in the world.

The gateway town at the south entrance, strung along SR-9 below the cliffs. The free Springdale town shuttle runs between the hotels and the pedestrian entrance, so a family parks once and walks across the footbridge to the visitor center and the in-park shuttle. Most of the park's food, lodging, and gear rental, including water shoes for the Narrows, is here.

The main in-park campground, a short walk from the visitor center and the pedestrian entrance, with the Watchman rising over the loops along the Virgin River. The A and B loops are electric, C and D are non-electric and restrict longer vehicles, E is group sites, and F is tent-only walk-to sites. Standard sites are reservable up to six months ahead on recreation.gov and go fast for spring and fall weekends. Flush toilets, no showers.

The only lodging inside the canyon, at shuttle stop 5. The original 1925 building by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood burned in 1966 and was rebuilt that year; the cabins and the big lawn under the sandstone walls are the draw. Cars with a lodge reservation may drive the scenic drive to the lodge even when the shuttle is mandatory. It books up to 13 months out for peak season, and the lawn is an easy base for a family with young kids.

The view of the Watchman over the Virgin River from Canyon Junction Bridge, shuttle stop 3. The last-light view in the park, reachable without a hike: ride the shuttle, stand on the bridge, watch the cliff turn red. Stroller-friendly and crowded at sunset, which is the shuttle's whole reason for being.

A short trail, about 1 mile round-trip with 163 ft of gain, on the east side just past the tunnel, ending at a railed overlook down toward the West Temple and the Towers of the Virgin. No shuttle needed: drive SR-9 and park at the trailhead lot, which fills early. There is cliff exposure along the trail, so hold small kids close. Best at sunrise, before the heat and the crowd.

Pa'rus is Paiute for "bubbling water," and the trail follows the Virgin River that does the bubbling. It runs 3.5 miles end to end, paved nearly the whole way with about 152 ft of gain, from the visitor center and Watchman Campground to Canyon Junction. It is the one trail in the park where bikes and leashed dogs are allowed and the most stroller-friendly: flat, paved, water alongside, the Watchman ahead. The best first walk with kids.

Starts near the visitor center, so no shuttle is required to reach the trailhead. It climbs about 368 ft over 3.3 miles round-trip to a bench with a view back over Springdale, the Watchman, and the lower canyon. The best moderate hike for older kids who want a real climb and a real view without the exposure of Angels Landing. Little shade, so carry water and start early.

From Zion Lodge, shuttle stop 5, to the Lower Emerald Pool, where the trail passes behind a seep waterfall falling off the overhang and the kids walk under the drip. It is 1.2 miles round-trip, paved, and easy. The Middle and Upper pools above are steeper, rockier, and unpaved; the lower loop is the family payoff. The surface can be slick where the water crosses the path.

Zion is a certified International Dark Sky Park. The canyon walls block part of the horizon, but the overhead sky is dark, and a clear night needs no hike: walk out from the campground or the lodge lawn and find Orion over the cliff. The Junior Ranger Night Explorer track pairs with it, giving Big and Little a reason to learn the constellations before they look up.