Utah’s Zion National Park is a natural gem: A visitor’s guide

It’s no secret. Zion National Park is one of America’s most spectacular national parks.

It’s also one of the most popular, coming in second or third in visitation each year in recent years, according to National Park Service numbers. And it’s easy to see why.

“Zion National Park encompasses some of the most scenic canyon country in the United States,” said Jorge Hernandez, education supervisor at Zion.

Unlike the Grand Canyon, which most visitors approach at rim level, visitors begin exploring Zion from the canyon floor.

“You look up, and you see these massive Navajo Sandstone cliffs on either side of you. And as you start going into the canyon, you start to see those walls becoming narrower and narrower, which I think is really fascinating,” Hernandez said. “Also, Zion National Park is located in the juncture of the Colorado Plateau, the Mojave Desert and the Great Basin ecoregions, and that creates a very unique environment for a variety of lifeforms and ecosystems here at Zion. Zion also preserves a plethora of human history.”

Here’s what else travelers should know about visiting Zion, the final park in USA TODAY’s yearlong series.

Where is Zion National Park?

Zion is located in southwestern Utah and the most visited of the state’s Mighty Five national parks. 

The other four parks are Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef.

The closest airport with commercial service is St. George Regional Airport, but the closest major airport is Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, 176 miles away from Zion Canyon Visitor Center.