Hiking to Angels Landing in Zion National Park

May 28, 2019 Ric

Despite living in Utah for four(ish) years, I had very limited experience with the national parks in my backyard. It was a serious regret of mine. I had been talking about doing more in Zion National Park for years, and thanks to the suggestion of Kayla and Matt, we made it happen on this trip.

Starting out early on the post-Memorial Day Tuesday morning, we drove through Hurricane (pronounced HURR-ih-kun) and Springdale to the entrance of Zion National Park. Relying on fairly spotty memory of my previous visit (I think I was 16?), I drove right past the Visitor Center and straight through the historic Zion-Mount Carmel Highway tunnel and proceeded to nearly exit the park on the other side. Whoops!

After a quick stop at a scenic overlook, we turned the van around and headed back to the Visitor Center. By the time we arrived, the parking was full. So, here’s your first tip: get there early and go straight to the parking lot, otherwise you may be forced to park in the town of Springdale and shuttle into the park, which is a particularly obnoxious option. Luckily, my grandpa joined us for the trip into the park and volunteered to let us get started with our hike while he searched for parking. Thanks, grandpa!

After taking the shuttle from the Visitor Center to “The Grotto,” we began our hike up the West Rim Trail toward Angels Landing. The trail seemed easy enough for the first half-mile or so, but then quickly begins increasing in grade. I can imagine that even some of the most experienced hikers get some leg aches on this trek. Luckily, there are lots of beautiful views which make catching your breath a convenient opportunity to take photos of the surrounding canyon. (Note how many pictures of the same thing are in the gallery below, and you’ll get an idea of the number of times I had to take a quick break.)

Just as you think you’re getting to an easier climb—BAM! There it is: the most torturous switchbacks you can imagine with the most benign name imaginable, “Walter’s Wiggles.” It took a lot of will to climb those bad boys, but we eventually made it to the top of the switchbacks and realized that we still had farther to go.

At the top, the West End Trail breaks off to the north and the Angels Landing Trail heads south across a narrow saddle only a few feet wide in some places with chains to keep hikers from plummeting to their deaths. Well, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but there were certainly a couple places where it took some steel nerves to slide down a sandy rock face looking 1,500 feet down to the bottom of a canyon. It was all worth the danger, though. The views from Angels Landing are breathtaking and any photo I took is really not representative of the awe we felt while lookout out over the entirety of Zion National Park.

After catching our collective breath (and a few selfies to prove that we did it), we headed back across the treacherous chain-course, but not before experiencing an amazing and endangered California condor soaring right above our heads. Apparently there are a breeding pair in Zion which have recently hatched a chick, which will hopefully be the first to survive to adulthood in the park.

The hike back down was equally punishing with our extremely tired legs, but we did it with a sense of accomplishment, and memories to last a lifetime. I can’t wait to see what other amazing experiences Zion National Park is hiding!

PRO TIPS: Bring really grippy hiking shoes, lots of water, and a camera with tons of storage space for this hike. You’ll need all of it.