The Best Zion National Park One Day Winter Itinerary (2024)
Want to know the best Zion National Park one day Winter itinerary? We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know!
Zion National Park One Day Winter Itinerary
We took this trip for our 2nd anniversary of dating.
The plan was to drive to Zion National Park, stay one night in a cabin, do a day trip to Bryce Canyon National Park, and then stay overnight in Vegas on our way home.
It definitely did not go as planned!
As we drove to Vegas, there was ice on the highway just before the Nevada border.
The road was closed all night long while everyone was just stuck there in their cars in freezing temperatures.
We were miserable!
Because of all of that time we lost, we weren’t able to visit Bryce Canyon National Park.
But it gave us a little bit more time to visit Zion National Park.
1. Zion National Park Arrival
We made it to Zion mid-afternoon, just around check-in time.
Snow was already on the ground, but it started to snow more just as we entered the park.
When we checked-in there was almost nobody in the park.
The front desk agent offered board games to play in the cabin since there wasn’t much to do outside.
We actually had already thought to bring our own games to entertain ourselves in the evening.
We usually like to have games like Uno, Sorry, and Trouble since they are easy to transport and don’t take up too much space.
They are also good 2 player games.
The cabins were super cute and little and the fireplaces warmed them up instantly!
I wish we had taken pictures, but it was long before we started blogging, so we never thought about it.
We just ate dinner at the lodge and hung out at the cabin the rest of the night.
We decided to wait and do all of our sightseeing the following day.
The cabin had a tub as well, so I brought a bath bomb with me to use that night.
2. Breakfast At The Lodge
We started our day bright and early at 7 am.
First, we ate breakfast at the lodge.
3. Zion Canyon Scenic Drive
Then we drove to the furthest point in the park and worked our way back to the entrance.
One perk of visiting in February is that roads are open to all traffic and there are no shuttles.
During the rest of the year, this drive is not open to visitors and only the shuttles drive on this road.
We only saw maybe 4 other people in the entire park while we were there, which is vastly different from our Summer experience this past year.
4. Temple of Sinawava/Riverside Walk
Riverside Walk is the furthest point you can drive to on the loop, so that is where we started.
This is the stop people go to when they want to hike the Narrows.
On the shuttles it is called the Temple of Sinawava stop.
You can’t do this trail in the Winter usually because it’s frozen over, but if you want to go in-season, you can check out our experience HERE.
We were hoping to at least take the Riverside Walk trail to the river, but it was completely iced over during our visit.
It was also only 17 degrees outside and a little windy, so we probably wouldn’t have even ended up doing it even if there wasn’t ice.
5. Weeping Rock
As we made our way back to the park entrance, Weeping Rock was next on our list.
This trail had the same issue as Riverside Walk and it had a steep incline that made it literally impossible to go up the trail.
We were still able to see it from the parking lot, we just couldn’t get up close.
This was also one place that we ran into another couple.
The guy was wearing either snow shoes or some sort of spiked shoes and was attempting to go all the way up the rock, but he came back down pretty quickly.
6. Lower Emerald Pools
We parked back at the lodge and walked across the street to the trailhead for the Emerald Pools.
I believe there were notices saying only the Lower Emerald Pools were accessible at the time, which was fine with us.
At this point it was warming up slightly and there were notices to beware of icicles falling off the rocks.
We made it through this trail without any incidents and the waterfall was really cool.
There were a few slippery spots and it was a pretty slow process to walk the whole trail, but we had plenty of time since the previous trails were inaccessible.
We saw huge chunks of ice fly off the side of the mountain and crash into the pool several times which was entertaining.
This was the other place that we ran into another couple.
7. Canyon Overlook Trail
We drove up through the tunnel, which was super awesome, and just past the tunnel is the Canyon Overlook Trail.
There were a handful of other people on this trail, but it still wasn’t busy.
We had several near falls on this trail, which is not a place you want to fall!
It was short, but pretty strenuous with the snow and ice, but it had awesome views!
There is not a lot of parking in this area, so other times of year you would probably want to do this very early in the day to make sure you can get a spot.
Where To Stay When Visiting Zion National Park In Winter
During Winter, it’s so fun to stay inside the park.
Zion Lodge has regular hotel rooms and cabins with either 1 or 2 beds.
The cabins are so cozy, especially with the fireplace.
During the Winter, the cabins are in the $200 range, which is much less than peak Summer travel times.
👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your Stay At Zion Lodge And Cabins Today!
More Great National Parks To Visit In Utah
Utah has 5 National Parks that are commonly visited as part of one big road trip.
We’ve visited some of these parks multiple times as part of different trips, and these are the itineraries we recommend.
✅ Zion National Park One Day Summer Itinerary
Visiting Zion in the Summer is a vastly different experience than visiting in the Winter.
The park is crowded, you have to take a shuttle pretty much anywhere you want to go, and the availability of hiking trails is completely different.
✅ Zion To Bryce Canyon + The Narrows Hike
This itinerary was part of a larger road trip where we hiked the Narrows all day, then took the scenic byway toward Bryce Canyon National Park.
✅ Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks One Day Itinerary
This itinerary was done the day after the itinerary above.
On this road trip we hiked Bryce Canyon for the morning, then made our way to Capitol Reef National Park for even more trails and camping.
✅ Arches and Canyonlands National Parks Itinerary
Arches and Canyonlands are both right next to each other in Moab, Utah.
Pairing these for a weekend getaway or as part of a larger road trip is the best way to see these parks.
Conclusion: Zion National Park One Day Winter Itinerary
This Zion National Park one day Winter itinerary takes you through all the highlights of the park this time of year.
With the frequent cold and snowy weather, there’s not as many trails that are accessible, but there’s still plenty to see and do while you’re here.
It’s such a different experience from visiting in the Summer.
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