Zion National Park | Family Friendly Guide

A day to day itinerary of the best trails to hit and places to stay. 

Feel free to pick and choose which ones you want to do depending on how packed you want your trip to be. 

Let us do the hours of research for you so you can enjoy your trip!

Hurricane

Springdale

3 Day Itinerary to Zion National Park

Get to your hotel and get situated / Set Up Camp

If you have time we suggest doing Pa’rus Trail it’s easy and very family friendly. Depending on where you’re coming from it’s nice to stretch your legs after a long drive. 

We recommend starting your day early as The Narrows can take up to 8 hours to complete depending on how far back you decide to travel. 

If you visit Zion NP in the cooler seasons (we went end of October) we recommend renting water shoes and coveralls from Zion Outfitters. They’re loctated just outside of the park. We also rented a hiking backpack from them for my husband to carry our 3 year old son in. This is where we fell in love with the Deuter Kids Carrier. We ended up purchasing one of our own when our second son was born. If you plan on taking your kids on a lot of outdoor activities starting at a young age we think they’re a great investment. 

End your day at The Canyon Overlook for sunset! Enjoy the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel on your way to the trail, an absolutely gorgeous scenic drive! Once you exit the tunnel there will be limited parking, take what you can get. The trailhead will be on your left. 

Keep in mind that in order to hike angels landing you now need a permit. There is a seasonal lottery and day before lottery. If you plan your trip far in advance I suggest using the seasonal lottery [below is a picture of the time frame in which you need to apply.] If you are not selected in the lottery or you don’t plan your trips that far in advance than the day before lottery is for you. The permit costs $6 for up to 6 people per application and can be purchased on recreation.gov. Best of luck to you! 

There are two campsites and one hotel located inside of the park. We also included a hotel just outside of the park that we stayed at for one night. 

Springdale, UT, USA

If you’re on the shuttle take shuttle stop 6, the grotto. Cross the street and you’re at the trailhead. 

To get to The Narrows via the shuttle take it to stop 9, Temple of Sinawava. 

$35 entry fee valid for 7 days. If you plan on visiting more than 2 National Parks I suggest getting the annual pass for $80. 

There is a free shuttle that runs throughout the park. During the shuttle season visitors cannot drive personal vehicles on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. Most years shuttles run end of March through November. Shuttle picks up at Zion Canyon Visitor Center (stop 1). The first shuttle leaves at 7am and runs until 5pm. The last shuttle leaving the canyon at The Temple of Sinawava (stop 9) at 7:15pm. Below is attached the shuttle route. 

Short clip of our time in Zion!

We're here to help you dream up your next trip, figure out the details, and reserve experiences at over 3,600 facilities and 103,000 individual sites across the country.

3 Day Itinerary to Zion National Park

Buy to unlock full guide