Hiking with Kids in Zion

 We did two big hikes in Zion which I will describe in detail in this post.  We hiked to Scout Lookout at the base of Angel's Landing (above pic)  and we hiked in the Narrows of the Virgin River.  Before I share about these hikes, I want to post a couple pics from our drive from the Grand Canyon to Zion.  We left the Grand Canyon early in the morning planning to stop a few times along the way.

Horseshoe Bend

Our first stop was just south of Page, Arizona at Horseshoe Bend.  The walk out to the viewpoint of Horseshoe Bend is easy and relatively flat.  It's a 1.5 mile round trip walk that is certainly worth the stop if you are not short on time.  We did have to pay $10 to park.

Our next stop was Orderville, Utah.  I booked a slot canyon tour (crimson canyon) with East Zion Adventure Company.  You can check out their website HERE.  We had so much fun riding in their off road UTV vehicles and exploring 2 different narrow slot canyons. This was a highlight for everyone.

Scout Lookout Hike

We had one full day in Zion and two big hikes to tackle.  I chose the scout lookout hike because I wanted some big, high up views.  The views were wonderful for the entire hike. The most challenging part of this hike especially for younger kids is the elevation gain.  It's approximately 3.6 miles and 1100 feet of elevation gain.  You can view the alltrails link HERE. Abbie was an absolute trooper!  The promise of ice cream later in the day was all she needed to power through (that and a lot of hiking snacks)!

We began this hike around 7:30am.  It was quite chilly, but we dressed in layers knowing the day would heat up quickly. At the start of the hike, you cross over the Virgin River on a foot bridge.

It's a paved trail as you begin climbing higher.  The switchbacks at points are very steep. It wasn't easy for Abbie, but she persevered.

Wonderful views all along the way.

The kids enjoyed running ahead of Charlie and I and playing hide and seek in the rocks.  We don't have rocks like these in the east!

My favorite picture from the hike

The top takes you to the base of Angel's landing.  To continue along on the narrow spine of rock (pictured behind Natalie and Coleman), you need a permit.  We determined that Angel's Landing was not a safe hike for young kids.  It was still neat to see it though.

I would definitely recommend this hike if your family is in relatively good shape. The views are wonderful.

The Narrows

In an ideal world we would have had two full days at Zion, and we would have been able to hike scout lookout one day and the narrows the next.  However, we had to cram them both into the one full day that we had.  The water was about 40 degrees, so we decided to spend the money to rent drysuits from Zion Outfitters.

The drysuits kept us a lot warmer than we would have been otherwise.  The poles were very helpful as well.  We were blessed to even be able to hike in April.  Many years the snowmelt makes the Virgin river too dangerous to hike in the spring.  The day we hiked the river was flowing at about 66 cfs.  It was manageable for all our kids, but we had to hold Abbie's hand the entire way.  The deepest part of the hike was about 1/4 mile in.  The water got up to my waist.  Charlie had to carry Abbie through that part.

We probably hiked about 1.2 miles upstream before we turned around.  We did not make it to the narrowest portion of the hike called "wall street".  I wish we could have gone further but our legs were too tired.  By the end of the day we had walked/hiked over 10 miles.  That's a lot for my 6 year old! Hiking the Narrows is such a memorable experience no matter how far up the river you go.  We were especially blessed by beautiful weather.