You have done Angels Landing. You have done The Narrows. You have the photos, the sore legs, and probably the permit confirmation email still sitting in your inbox from last year. Now you are planning another trip to Zion and typing "things to do in Zion besides Angels Landing" into a search bar at 11 PM. This is that article.
The park most visitors see is Zion Canyon, which is spectacular and correctly famous. The park that rewards a second or third visit is wider, quieter, and harder to find on your own.
Observation Point via the East Mesa approach. The Subway. The La Verkin Creek Trail to Kolob Arch. Kolob Terrace Road on a weekday morning when you are the only car on it. These are not secrets. They are just the trails and drives that do not appear in the top search results when someone searches "best Zion hikes" for the first time.
Beyond Angels Landing: The Trails Worth Coming Back For
Observation Point and the East Mesa Route
Observation Point is the view that makes Angels Landing visitors feel like they chose the wrong trail. At 7.0 miles round trip with about 700 feet of elevation gain, it sits above the canyon rather than inside it.
The final views include Angels Landing itself and the full length of Zion Canyon in both directions. The East Rim Trail from the Weeping Rock shuttle stop has been indefinitely closed since 2019. A massive rockfall deposited an estimated 31,000 tons of rock across nearly a mile of trail.
The current route is the East Mesa Trail, starting from a trailhead outside the park in the Zion Ponderosa Ranch area, accessed via North Fork County Road off UT-9 east. The parking lot holds only 15 to 20 vehicles. The last mile of dirt road becomes impassable in wet conditions.
East Zion Adventures runs a shuttle from the ranch to the trailhead for around $7 per person. This sidesteps both the parking crunch and the road conditions. The trail is best accessed April through November. The view from the top is worth the planning.
Kolob Arch and the La Verkin Creek Trail
Kolob Arch sits in the Kolob Canyons section of the park, a 45-minute drive from Springdale and a completely different landscape. The La Verkin Creek Trail covers 14 miles round trip through a high canyon system that feels nothing like Zion Canyon. It ends at one of the largest natural arches in the world.
Most visitors to Zion never go to Kolob Canyons at all. Most who do drive the five-mile scenic road, take a photo at Timber Creek Overlook, and leave.
The full round trip to the arch is a day commitment. It rewards the effort with genuine solitude and a view that most visitors to the same national park have never seen.
The West Rim Trail
The West Rim Trail connects Lava Point, accessible by vehicle via Kolob Terrace Road, to the Grotto shuttle stop on the canyon floor at about 13.6 miles one way. Day-trippers can hike it from the canyon floor as far as their legs allow before turning back.
Backpackers with overnight permits can camp on the rim and descend into the canyon the next morning. The upper West Rim sits around 7,000 feet elevation. Views across both the canyon and the Kolob Terrace feel entirely disconnected from the packed shuttle stops below.
The Subway and How the Backcountry Permit System Works
The Subway Route and Requirements
The Subway is the most photographed slot canyon feature that requires a permit to reach. It probably appears on every advanced Zion hikes list and in every trip report written by someone who was clearly proud of the effort. The bottom-up route from the Left Fork Trailhead covers about 9.5 miles round trip through the North Fork of the Virgin River.
There is no maintained trail to the canyon entrance. The approach requires route-finding across open terrain, water crossings that may involve wading depending on conditions, and navigation through the canyon section itself where the distinctive tubular rock formation sits. (The top-down route from Wildcat Canyon involves rappelling gear and technical rope skills. If you need to ask whether you are ready for it, the bottom-up is your route.)
Permit Tiers and Quotas
Permits are required year-round and managed through recreation.gov. The system runs three tiers:
A seasonal lottery where applications open quarterly on the 1st through 25th of designated months
A daily lottery where you apply two days before your hike and get results by 4 PM
Walk-in permits available at the Visitor Center Wilderness Desk the day before or day of
All permits, including lottery wins, must be picked up in person at the Wilderness Desk. The daily quota is approximately 80 people for both routes combined. Fees are $6 per application plus $10 per person.
The Subway is day-use only, no overnight camping permitted. The limitation is what keeps it from becoming another crowded Zion attraction.
Other Backcountry Permits
The backcountry permit system covers more than just The Subway. The Narrows top-down route from Chamberlain's Ranch runs 16 miles one way. It requires an overnight permit and is a genuinely different experience from the bottom-up day hike the majority of Narrows visitors do.
West Rim camping, Zion Slot, and other designated backcountry zones are all managed through the same recreation.gov system. Walk-up permits are worth checking even if the advance lottery did not produce results. A surprising number of people cancel.
Kolob Terrace Road and the Park Most People Never See
The Drive and What It Offers
Kolob Terrace Road starts in the town of Virgin, about 15 miles west of Springdale on Highway 9. It runs 22 miles north to Lava Point Overlook at 7,890 feet. It is paved but narrow, passes through a mix of private land, national forest, and park boundary terrain, and delivers a view of the western side of the Zion massif that no shuttle stop in the canyon offers.
The drive earns the detour even if you never leave the car.
Trailheads and Seasonal Access
The road accesses trailheads that see a fraction of the Zion Canyon crowds. Wildcat Canyon and Hop Valley are both reachable from here. The Connector Trail links the two for a longer loop through high plateau terrain that feels nothing like the canyon below.
Lava Point Campground, at the road's end, is a primitive first-come first-served site that is genuinely quiet and noticeably cold at night even in midsummer.
One planning note: the lower 14 miles from Virgin stay open year-round. The upper section past Hop Valley closes seasonally for snow, typically from late fall through May. If Lava Point or the West Rim Trailhead is on your list, confirm current access at nps.gov/zion before you make the drive.
The Seasonal Experiences That Reward a Return Trip
Winter in Zion Canyon
Winter is the most underrated time to visit Zion for anyone who has already navigated it during peak season. The 2025 shuttle season ended November 30. Private vehicles can drive the full Scenic Drive to the Temple of Sinawava from December 1 onward.
(The holiday shuttle runs December 23 through January 3, so vehicles are excluded again during that window, but the canyon is still far quieter than any summer week.)
The canyon in January is nearly empty. Waterfalls form on the canyon walls from seeping groundwater. The light is lower and more angled than summer. The canyon photographs in a way that midday August sun does not allow.
Traction devices are worth packing for icy sections on shaded trails, but most Zion Canyon routes remain accessible through the winter months.
Fall, Spring, and Seasonal Color
Fall rewards repeat visitors in a way that summer does not. The cottonwood trees along the canyon floor turn yellow in October and early November. This produces a yellow-against-red combination that almost never appears in famous Zion photographs.
Most famous Zion photographs were taken in summer, which is not when the canyon looks its most interesting. Spring brings the Narrows at its most powerful when conditions allow. High snowmelt can close the upper canyon for weeks at a stretch.
The repeat visitor who builds a trip around a specific seasonal experience rather than repeating a summer itinerary tends to leave with something they did not expect.
Where to Find More Details
For trail-level detail on the hikes covered here, browse our Hiking section for individual guides to Observation Point, the West Rim, and the Kolob Canyons routes. The Beyond Zion section has regional options worth pairing with a return visit, including drives and day trips that extend the trip well past the park boundary.
