Zion West Rim Trail

Overview: The West Rim Trail has some of the most spectacular views that anyone could hope to see. There are beautiful canyons, springs, seeps, trees and flowers. You will not want to spend a lot of time looking at your feet during this hike. If you seek an element of danger then a side trip to Angels' Landing is for you.

Tips: You can hike the West Rim Trail from the Lava Point trail head to The Grotto trail head or vice versa. You will need to rent a shuttle to take you to the trail head at Lava Point or pick you up from the trail head at Lava Point depending on which direction you hike. The shuttle can be rented from Zion Adventure Company. They have a store front near the Zion Visitor Center. The actual hiking starts at the point the road to Lava Point is closed, the road has snow and fallen treas on it. This adds about a mile to the trip. This guide details the hike from Lava Point to The Grotto trail head over the course of two days with a stop at camp site four. This direction is easier than going in the opposite direction. The guide also assumes a night spent camping at camp site four. This guide also has two dog legs: one to get water near camp site one, and one to go to Angels Landing. There is good cell service near the Zion Visitor Center, but for the bulk of the hike there is no cell service at all from any carrier. So, a PLB or Sat Phone is a good idea. Water can be pumped near camp site one and camp site eight. If you plan to do Angels' Landing make sure you leave enough time to get to the top. There are a lot of people doing this hike which slows things down considerably. I would classify the route presented here as the easy route. Nevertheless, it is still strenuous because there is some serious uphill in the last half of the hike on day one and you end up at approximately 7500ft. It is possible to do the entire trip as a day hike for those who are carrying not much and are in very good shape. If you are coming from out of town it is a good idea to camp at the camp sites near the Zion Visitor Center to acclimate before you set out to do the trail. Finally, you are in the desert so make sure you have enough water.