what to do when you have 48 hours in zion, utah

  • Bryce Canyon, Utah travel guide, activity recommendations, and curated itinerary from What to When.
  • Bryce Canyon, Utah travel guide, activity recommendations, and curated itinerary from What to When.
  • Zion, Utah travel guide, activity recommendations, and curated itinerary from What to When.
  • Under Canvas in Zion. Zion, Utah travel guide, activity recommendations, and curated itinerary from What to When.
  • Under Canvas in Zion. Zion, Utah travel guide, activity recommendations, and curated itinerary from What to When.
  • Under Canvas in Zion. Zion, Utah travel guide, activity recommendations, and curated itinerary from What to When.

ITINERARY

STAY: Under Canvas Zion (100% recommend)

DAY 1

  • Drive to Bryce Canyon

  • Hike: Figure 8 Trail, which connects Navajo Loop —> Peekabo —> Wall Street (6.3 miles). Would highly, highly recommend this hike - it is absolutely breathtaking and really allows you to see / experience Bryce Canyon and all the best views.

  • Drive to Zion/Springdale, which takes about 3 hours. If you’re going to do the Narrows, stop by Zion Outfitter to rent the Neoprene boots & poles that are needed. We didn’t use the waterproof pants, but they have them there too.

  • Zion Pizza & Noodle for dinner (get the angel sticks).

  • Head to Under Canvas Zion (~30 min beautiful drive) for s’mores and drinks by the fire-pit.

DAY 2

  • The Narrows Hike (out & back) at 6:00am make sure you book the shuttle in advance

    • I would say that going at this time is absolutely necessary. We were one of the few people there that early (I think the earliest you can get into the park is for a 6am shuttle), so as we were walking through the canyons we were completely alone - it was magical. When we made our way back, the crowds were starting to come in which made it noisy and kind of removed you from the surreal-ness of the hike - just not the same experience.

    • FYI it is the Temple of Sinawawa shuttle stop, and shuttles come every ten to fifteen minutes so you don’t need to plan your return.

  • Lunch at Cafe Soleil.

  • Drive back to Under Canvas to rest and enjoy the scenery / spectacular views from the tent.

  • Head back to the park to do the Canyon Overlook Trail (1 mile). It’s an easy trail, but you get really amazing views as you’re high up there, and it’s nice to get this type of view since The Narrows is low.

  • Dinner at Bit and Spur.

DAY 3

  • If you are flying out of Las Vegas, make a pit stop at the Valley of Fire State Park on the way to the airport. As you’re driving through, you can just pull off in areas that look interesting to you, walk around and see some really cool rock formations.

***Important: each day at 9:00am, the park releases shuttle tickets for the following day. You need to use the shuttle for The Narrows (you were not allowed to drive, at least when we went), but we were able to park for the Bryce Canyon trail & Canyon Overlook Trail.