Zion National Park is one of the five National Parks in Utah. Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands and Capital Reef being the other four. As for pet-friendliness it gets a 2-paw rating.
Dogs are only allowed on the Pa’rus Trail, a multi-use paved trail which is a 3.5 mile round trip between the Visitor Center and Canyon Junction.
Lots of crowds
Zion National Park get 4 million visitors per year with the summer months seeing half a million each month. With all that traffic any parking in the park is full between 8-9 AM. From March-November a free shuttle system transports people along Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, starting in the town of Springdale. Dogs are not allowed on the shuttle unless they are service dogs, real service dogs not therapy dogs.
During non-holidays from December-March private vehicles are allowed on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. However, once the parking is full they will close the road.
It is best to check the park site for the shuttle schedule so you don’t have any surprises.
Camping
There are 3 campgrounds.
- Lava Point Campground: 6 primitive sites by reservation, vehicles <19feet.
- South Campground: 117 sites, no hook-ups
- Watchman Campground: 190 sites, electrical hook-ups
Reservations are recommended or required as most are full by mid-morning.
Not so short, shortcut
Zion-Mount Carmel Highway connects highways 9 and 89. I wouldn’t recommend it as a scenic shortcut unless you are traveling at night or winter. The rest of the year it is scenic but you can’t stop anywhere and will most likely be stuck in traffic.
Additionally, if you are in a large vehicle like an RV or pulling a travel trailer you will most likely have to pay an extra fee just to drive through during the summer. The tunnel along the road is narrow so 2-way traffic with large vehicles is a problem. They claim they will have to do a special traffic stop just for you to get through the tunnel. Actually they are running lights at either end of the tunnel so it is continuously one-way traffic. So don’t feel like you are getting special treatment. You just had to pay more than the people in smaller cars who waited in the same line you did.
While the park is beautiful, it is heavily impacted. If you have your dog with you, you won’t see much and if you don’t like tons of humans you won’t be happy. If you are dog free you can hit the backcountry and probably get free of much of the crowds. Winter is another option to avoid the heaviest of crowds.
