Where to Hike in Zion National Park with Kids
A trip to Zion National Park is a fantastic way to explore with your family. There are so many things to see and do, but one of the best is hiking! While Zion is known for it’s death-defying Angel’s Landing hike, there are plenty of trails that are family-friendly. Read below for where to hike in Zion National Park with kids.
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Kid-friendly Hikes in Zion Canyon
If you only have one day to spend in Zion National Park, you’ll definitely want to focus on Zion Canyon. This is one of the highlights of the park and has a concentration of trails for lots of exploring.
If you visit during summer or other peak times, you’ll need to take the shuttle into Zion Canyon. You can get off the shuttle at the Grotto for all of the below hikes. At off-peak times, you can park at the Grotto or at Zion Lodge.
Each of these trails can be done alone, but as you read through, each of these trails leads to another creating a nice loop that our family enjoyed. The route I am suggesting is 4.5 miles in total.
West Rim Trail (Hike out to Angel’s Landing)
Angel’s Landing is a rock formation where hikers can climb a very narrow ridge using a chain system. It’s gorgeous and strenuous and definitely not one of Zion National Park’s hikes for kids!
While I do not recommend hiking Angel’s Landing with children, it’s still really cool to go see it up close. You can start out on the West Rim Trail and hike in about a mile until you get up to the rock face.
The trail is wide and mostly gradual until you get to the steep switch backs. This is where we stopped and took in the views before turning around.
If your kids are bit older, you may want to continue on another mile to the Scout Lookout for a different vantage point of Angel’s Landing.
Kenyata Trail
After you return on the West Rim Trail, instead of cross back over the river to the Grotto parking lot/shuttle stop, continue on the Kenyata Trail. This trail will take you to the Emerald Pools, but has noteworthy views all on its own.
This trail is a bit rocky with some short climbs, but fairly easy. It’s about 2 miles from the Grotto to the Emerald Pools.
For kids hiking gear, check out this guide.
Lower Emerald Pool Trail
The Kenyata Trail will lead you to the Lower Emerald Pool. You’ll have great views of the valley and the water falls. Shortly after you reach the pool, you’ll come to the Lower Emerald Pool Trail. This is a must do! You’ll be able to hike down into the pool and behind two water falls!
Be careful with the descent and behind the falls as things can get wet and icy, depending on the time of year.
After circling behind both water falls, you’ll climb back up out of the pool and can continue on this trail to the Zion Lodge.
This really is one of the best hikes for kids in Zion National Park, they will love it!
Grotto Trail
In order to complete the 4.5 mile loop, which was plenty for our kids, you will cross the river over to Zion Lodge. From the lodge parking lot, follow the Grotto trail, which is a half mile trail along the road back to the Grotto parking lot and shuttle stop.
This isn’t a very scenic trail, but you can get views of the canyon and get back to where you started!
Middle Emerald Pools
If you want to do some more hiking before leaving Zion Canyon, don’t return to the Grotto just yet. Instead, after completing the Lower Emerald Pool trail, you can hike to the Middle Emerald Pools. This trail is 2.2 miles and rated as moderate.
Riverside Walk
Lastly, if you want to continue on to the end of the canyon, you can hike the Riverside Walk to see the Temple of Sinawava. This is a paved trail that follows the river into the canyon. Parts are wheel-chair accessible.
Interested in seeing all of the national parks in Utah? Check them out here.
Kid-Friendly Hikes Near the Zion National Park Visitors Center
After stopping at the Visitors Center for your Junior Ranger booklets and souvenirs, don’t miss out on the nearby trails! We got a great tip from a park ranger to hiking near the Visitors Center at sunset and it was truly magical.
Pa’rus Trail
This trail follows along the river and is flat and paved. It offers incredible views of the canyon and is a great trail to do at sunset. As the sun sets, the red rocks of the canyon look like they are on fire with the glowing sunset. It’s a really cool sight!
This is a bike-friendly trail, so we brought our kids’ scooters. It was great because they were able to go farther on the scooters after a long day of hiking and had a fun time! Make sure to spend some time down at the river, as well!
Watchman Trail
If you time, the Watchman Trail from the Visitors Center is another kid-friendly trail. It’s 3 miles with a moderate elevation gain. From this trail, you can get to a view point of lower Zion Canyon and several of the park’s more interesting peaks.
Kid-friendly Hikes on Zion National Park’s East Rim
Lastly, visiting the East Rim is a must-do, as long as you don’t have a significant fear of heights! We loved being to get a bird’s eye view of the canyon that was truly breath-taking.
Canyon Overlook Trail
The Canyon Overlook Trail is a one mile out and back trail that takes you to a great lookout point. The trail starts right after the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel (which you should definitely drive through if you can!).
The first part of the trail is pretty steep, but it evens out. This trail is moderate and there are parts with steep drop-offs. So be careful! But the views are worth the challenge! Luckily, it’s short at just about a mile roundtrip.
Kolob Canyons
It’s worth mentioning that there is a kid-friendly trail in the Kolob Canyons area of the park. This area of the park is only accessible from I-15 on the northwest end of the park. There is an overlook trail there called Timber Creek Overlook Trail that is about one mile and fairly easy. There is a picnic area here and it’s a great place to stop if you happen to be driving I-15 through southern Utah.
