Mount Carmel Junction, Utah

Mount Carmel Junction is a tiny unincorporated crossroads community at the intersection of US-89 and SR-9, marking the start of the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway — the 24-mile scenic route that leads to Zion's East Entrance. From the junction it's about 13 miles of highway, including the mile-long Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel completed in 1930, to the East Entrance fee station. The community amounts to little more than a motel-restaurant-gas station cluster, but that makes it the closest overnight lodging option to the East Entrance by a wide margin.

For visitors coming from Bryce Canyon or traveling south on US-89, staying at Mount Carmel Junction means an early, uncrowded entry into Zion through the east side — past Checkerboard Mesa's cross-hatched sandstone domes and through the switchbacks above the tunnel — before the South Entrance and canyon floor fill up with the day's traffic.