Best of Zion
Places Near Zion
Zion sits at the center of one of the most remarkable concentrations of public land in North America. Within two hours in any direction: slot canyons, hoodoos, lava fields, pink sand dunes, ghost towns, and a back door into the Grand Canyon that most visitors never find.
Parks & Natural Areas
Every one of these is worth a full day - some worth a separate trip. If you're road-tripping to Zion, it pays to plan your route around a few of them.
~30 mi north
Kolob Canyons
A separate section of Zion National Park accessed from I-15, Kolob Canyons delivers dramatic finger canyons of deep red Navajo sandstone and is home to Kolob Arch - one of the largest natural arches on earth. Your Zion entrance pass gets you in. On a packed summer day in the main canyon, Kolob's parking lot may have a handful of cars.
NPS - Kolob Canyons →
~32 mi west
Snow Canyon State Park
Just outside St. George, Snow Canyon packs red Navajo sandstone, black lava flows, and sweeping sand dunes into a compact park that most Zion visitors drive right past. Trails range from easy canyon walks to technical canyoneering slots. A favorite with photographers for the sheer variety of color and texture in one small area.
Utah State Parks - Snow Canyon →
~86 mi east
Bryce Canyon National Park
Where Zion is canyon and river, Bryce is plateau and sky. The park's famous hoodoos - thin spires of eroded limestone - pack together in amphitheaters that glow orange and pink at sunrise. The Zion-Bryce combination is the classic Utah road trip, and the two parks are only 86 miles apart on a scenic drive through Red Canyon.
NPS - Bryce Canyon →
~110 mi east
Grand Staircase-Escalante NM
Nearly 1.9 million acres of slot canyons, petrified forests, and ancient fossil beds - one of the most remote public lands in the lower 48. The small town of Escalante is the gateway. Plan permits and routes carefully, bring more water than you think you need, and expect to share the backcountry with almost no one.
BLM - Grand Staircase-Escalante →
~143 mi south
Grand Canyon - North Rim
The South Rim draws millions; the North Rim sees about a tenth of that. Accessed via a stunning drive through Kanab and the ponderosa-forested Kaibab Plateau, the views here are different and arguably more dramatic. The historic lodge is charming, the trails are quieter, and the whole experience feels like the Grand Canyon the way it used to be. Open mid-May through mid-October only.
Towns & Communities
The towns surrounding Zion each have a distinct character and a different reason to visit - or a different reason to use as a base.
At the gate
Springdale
Springdale sits directly at Zion's south entrance with the canyon walls rising on all sides. It's a small town - one main road, about a mile long - but it punches well above its size: excellent restaurants, art galleries, gear shops, and the best hotels within walking distance of the park shuttle. If you're here for Zion, there's no better place to stay.
~5 mi west
Rockville
Just downriver from Springdale, Rockville is the calm alternative - historic farmhouses, dark skies, and often better lodging value, about ten minutes from Zion's gate. It's also the way to Grafton, the most-photographed ghost town in the West.
Rockville & Grafton →
~22 mi west
Hurricane
Locals pronounce it "HUR-a-kun." Hurricane is where the people who build and staff Zion's hotels actually live - it has the grocery stores, the chain restaurants, and the affordable motels that Springdale doesn't. It's also the gateway to the Kolob Canyons section of Zion and Sand Hollow Reservoir, one of the best warm-water reservoirs in southern Utah.
City website →
~40 mi west
St. George
The largest city in southwestern Utah, St. George is the practical hub for longer trips - it has a regional airport (SGU), a full hospital, wide dining and shopping, and easy access to Snow Canyon State Park. Not a destination in its own right, but an invaluable base if you're arriving by air, covering multiple parks, or need big-city services near Zion.
City website →
~42 mi east
Kanab
Hundreds of Westerns were filmed in Kanab's red rock landscape, earning it the nickname "Little Hollywood." Today it's evolved into one of the most charming small towns in Utah with a restaurant scene that far outpaces its size. Kanab is also your closest base for The Wave lottery permits, the Grand Canyon North Rim, and Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.
Town website →
~60 mi north
Cedar City
Home to Southern Utah University and the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival (June-October), Cedar City has more cultural life than any other town its size in the region. It's also the jumping-off point for Cedar Breaks National Monument - a Bryce Canyon lookalike at 10,000 feet with almost no crowds - and sits right on I-15 for easy north-south travel.
City website →Places of Interest
Not parks, not towns - but some of the most memorable stops you can make in the Zion region.
~7 mi from Springdale
Grafton Ghost Town
Founded in 1859 and abandoned after floods destroyed the farmland, Grafton is one of Utah's best-preserved ghost towns - and one of the most photogenic. The white clapboard schoolhouse, stone cabin ruins, and pioneer cemetery sit against a backdrop of Zion's red cliffs. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid filmed here. Free to visit, 10 minutes from Springdale.
Full guide to Grafton →
~58 mi east (near Kanab)
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Wind channeling between the Moquith and Moccasin mountains has built 2,000 acres of vivid coral-pink sand dunes southwest of Kanab. The dunes reach 50 feet high in places and the color is genuinely striking - unlike anything else in the region. Popular for OHV riding and sandboarding, but also a low-key favorite for photographers and families looking for something unexpected near Zion.
~85 mi southeast (Paria Canyon)
The Wave - Vermilion Cliffs
One of the most photographed geological formations in the American Southwest - swirling, undulating Navajo sandstone that looks like a frozen ocean. Access is controlled through a strictly limited daily lottery via recreation.gov (64 permits total). Apply months ahead for the online lottery or take your chances at the walk-up. The hike is 6 miles roundtrip across open desert with no marked trail. Absolutely worth it if you win.