Observation Point, Zion National Park

Observation Point is a semi-strenuous day hike in Zion Canyon. It is the 7th stop on the Zion shuttle at the Weeping Rock. The Observation Point trail will take you on top of a plateau that overlooks Zion Canyon. This is one of the few day hikes that will provide an amazing overlooking view of the canyon facing South, West, and North. The trail is planned and designed well by trail crews making it as nice of a walk as possible on the diverse landscape. The “semi-strenuous” part comes in because it has a 2100 ft elevation gain in 4 miles which isn’t too bad but it’s enough to get a nice workout in. When you start at the trailhead take a look at the map. There is a fork on the trail that leads to Hidden Canyon which is another great trail. At the trailhead, the Weeping Rock trail goes left and the Observation Point / Hidden Canyon trail is on the right. Further up at the fork, Observation Point is left and Hidden Canyon is right. The first part of the trail is paved switchback with a pretty steep incline. The middle part of the trail, after the switchbacks, has a more mellow incline for a while before it increases into a constant incline until you get on top of the plateau. From there you walk on a relatively flat ground to the overlook point. The whole hike takes about 4-6 hours and the last shuttle leaves at 6:45 pm so make sure to be down the trail and at the stop by then. It’s 8 miles round trip and offers great scenery all the way up until the climax view of Zion Canyon at the end.

[yotuwp type=”videos” id=”zHI5sEwI4ec” ]