United States Canyon

Zion Canyon

839 m of rock, cut by the Virgin River.

Tobias Alt · CC BY-SA 4.0

The cut

839 metres, to scale.

A slice through Zion Canyon where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.

Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 m · Empire State · 443 m

Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.

839m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

13.9km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

55°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

1,131m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

6 °C warmer at the bottom.

In July the afternoon reaches 37 °C on the floor, against 31 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in April and in October. The floor passes 35 °C from June to August: walk at dawn and carry water. The rim freezes at night from November to March.

rim · 2,070 mfloor · 1,131 m

11°5°Jan
13°6°Feb
18°12°Mar
22°16°Apr
28°22°May
35°29°Jun
37°31°Jul
35°29°Aug
31°25°Sep
24°18°Oct
16°10°Nov
10°4°Dec

Hike: Apr, OctFloor above 35 °C: Jun–AugFrost on the rim: Nov–Mar

Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.

Canyon in Washington County, Utah, United States

Zion Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Virgin River. The relief model measures 839 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 14 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Zion National Park.

Getting there.

Hildalenearest town · 18 km in a straight line
Parking 360 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
Watchman Overlooknearest viewpoint · 7.4 km from the floor
St George Regional Airport (SGU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 46 km in a straight lineCar hire at SGU airport (St George)Discover Cars · sponsored link
In April and in Octoberbest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at SGU airport (St George)Discover CarsSee prices

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The river

The Virgin River runs highest from February to March.

The Virgin River carries about 4.4 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from February to March. It is lowest from June to July.

16 m³/sJan
24 m³/sFeb
24 m³/sMar
16 m³/sApr
6.5 m³/sMay
0.4 m³/sJun
3.1 m³/sJul
5.5 m³/sAug
5.0 m³/sSep
7.4 m³/sOct
6.1 m³/sNov
6.9 m³/sDec

From about 0.43 m³/s in the lowest month to 24 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 2,005 km².

Follow the Virgin River from source to mouth on Riveryas

Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.

From the sky.

The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.

Around the canyon.

1viewpoints within 5 kmWatchman Overlook
1marked hiking routes within 4 kmWatchman Trail
2footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmMary Bonner Nature Trail
101car parks within 3 km
10information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
6bus stops within 2 km
9campsites within 8 kmCampsite 1 - West Temple Veiw Camp, Campsite 3 - Sandy Camp, Campsite 5 - Lava Rock Camp and 6 more
52hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmDesert Pearl Inn, Canyon Vista Lodge, Zion Park Motel and 49 more
23restaurants and cafés within 4 km

via ferrata routes within 4 km
climbing crags within 3 km
rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
swimming spots within 3 km
named waterfalls within 4 km
caves within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

Hildale18 km in a straight line
Colorado City20 km in a straight line
LaVerkin23 km in a straight line
Centennial Park24 km in a straight line
Hurricane25 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Zion Canyon.

The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.

Riveryas2 rivers in the canyon

Virgin River261 km · 6.0 m³/sNorth Fork Virgin River

Peakyas53 mountains within 15 km

The Witch Head2,237 m · 7.1 kmBroken Tooth2,213 m · 7.2 kmAltar of Sacrifice2,287 m · 7.7 kmMeridian Tower2,236 m · 8.8 kmThe Sentinel2,175 m · 9.7 kmThe Bishopric2,225 m · 11 kmThree Patriarchs3,138 m · 11 kmCastle Dome2,150 m · 14 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather, at the floor and at the rim.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Afternoon · floor	11	13	18	22	28	35	37	35	31	24	16	10
Afternoon · rim	5	6	12	16	22	29	31	29	25	18	10	4
Night · rim	-7	-6	-3	1	6	12	16	15	10	3	-3	-7
Rain (mm)	29	34	26	20	13	5	34	34	24	28	20	30
Rainy days	7	7	6	5	4	2	8	8	5	4	3	5
Sun hours/day	6.7	7.4	9.1	10.7	12.2	14.0	11.8	11.6	10.9	9.3	7.7	6.0
Snow on the ground (cm)	10	9	6	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	11

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	11	5	-7	29	6.7
Feb	13	6	-6	34	7.4
Mar	18	12	-3	26	9.1
Apr	22	16	1	20	10.7
May	28	22	6	13	12.2
Jun	35	29	12	5	14.0
Jul	37	31	16	34	11.8
Aug	35	29	15	34	11.6
Sep	31	25	10	24	10.9
Oct	24	18	3	28	9.3
Nov	16	10	-3	20	7.7
Dec	10	4	-7	30	6.0

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,131 m) and the rim (2,070 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Zion angels landing view v2 — No machine-readable author provided. Antilived assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0

Three cliffs Zion National Park — LeavXC · CC BY-SA 3.0

Utah Zion View — Madison anderson · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2020	14%	47%	243%	94%	9%	18%	16%	24%	3%	0%	38%	27%
2021	63%	15%	119%	49%	7%	59%	232%	148%	57%	180%	0%	257%
2022	1%	21%	53%	24%	0%	94%	121%	159%	186%	72%	137%	129%
2023	249%	94%	354%	15%	83%	194%	22%	159%	209%	20%	76%	9%
2024	125%	120%	110%	39%	24%	71%	31%	129%	10%	53%	49%	2%
2025	10%	49%	92%	61%	183%	653%	20%	60%	96%	119%	125%	54%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Compare with the neighbours.

Zion Canyon

United States

839 mDepth
14 kmRim to rim
—Length
55°Steepest wall

The Narrows

United States · 16 km

730 mDepth
2.8 kmRim to rim
—Length
52°Steepest wall

See the guide

The Subway

United States · 14 km

541 mDepth
4.2 kmRim to rim
—Length
48°Steepest wall

See the guide

Grand Canyon

United States · 144 km

1,413 mDepth
11 kmRim to rim
446 kmLength
56°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q8072495) · CC0
The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basin	HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020
Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby	Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas