This 1-mile Zion trail skips the crowds and hides a secret arch under your feet: Officials say

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Zion’s Best View for Least Effort

On the quieter east side of Zion National Park, a 1-mile round trip trail packs in some of the biggest scenery the park has to offer. You climb sandstone steps, cross a narrow catwalk bolted right to a cliff face, and duck through a shaded alcove before the canyon opens up below you. Because the trailhead sits outside the main canyon, you skip the shuttle lines that clog the busier trails. What waits at the fenced ledge at the end sits directly on top of something most hikers never even notice. Wikimedia Commons/Ken Lund

A Trail Built the Same Decade as the Tunnel

The path dates back to the 1930s, the same era that gave Zion its Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. That tunnel opened in 1930 and runs 1.1 miles straight through solid rock, giving early visitors a direct route toward Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon. Back then, this trail wasn’t called Canyon Overlook. Up until the 1940s, hikers knew it as the Great Arch Trail. The name changed later, once someone realized the Great Arch itself stays hidden the whole way, tucked out of sight from the path that was named for it. Wikimedia Commons/Alex Proimos

Steps, a Slot Canyon, and a Cliffside Catwalk

You start the hike on sandstone steps with a metal handrail guiding you up and over rocky ground. Below you on one side, a dark, narrow slot canyon drops out of view. Partway along, the trail carries you onto a short steel catwalk bolted right to the face of the cliff. You walk around an exposed rock wall with a steep drop under your feet the whole way. Railings cover the worst spots, but the edges still call for careful footing and a steady hand. Wikimedia Commons/Christian David

A Shaded Alcove Full of Ferns

About halfway to the viewpoint, the trail dips into a cool, shaded alcove carved out of the sandstone. Water seeps through the rock here, feeding delicate maidenhair ferns that cling to the stone. Against the dry desert landscape around it, this pocket of green stands out fast. On a hot day, the overhang gives you a welcome break from the sun before you keep climbing. Just past the ferns, the trail slips beneath a massive rock overhang that shades the path for a stretch before opening back up to the sky. Wikimedia Commons/Quinn Dombrowski

Where the Trail Finally Pays Off

The trail ends on a broad slickrock perch high above lower Zion Canyon, and this is where the short walk earns its reputation. You look down on formations that most visitors only ever see from the canyon floor far below. The West Temple, the Towers of the Virgin, and the Streaked Wall all spread out in front of you.

Across the canyon, Bridge Mountain rises next to the white domes known as the Beehives. A plaque at the viewpoint helps you match each name to the rock in front of you. Wikimedia Commons/The Cosmonaut

East Temple Towers Over the Whole Scene

Just north of the overlook, East Temple shoots straight up into the sky. The summit tops out at 7,709 feet, more than 2,200 feet above the canyon floor beneath it. From where you stand, it looms directly over Pine Creek and the viewpoint itself, changing color as sunlight shifts across its sandstone face through the day. Think of it as a marker standing guard at the entrance to Zion Canyon, visible from nearly every angle along the trail once you clear the alcove. Wikimedia Commons/Fredlyfish4

The Slot Canyon Hiding Below Your Feet

Look straight down from the trail and you catch Pine Creek carving its way through a narrow slot canyon called the Pine Creek Narrows. In some spots the walls squeeze to just a few feet apart while still dropping hundreds of feet straight down. If you listen closely, you might pick up the faint echo of canyoneers working their way through the slot far beneath you. Pine Creek itself is a small tributary, and eventually all that water finds its way into the Virgin River. Wikimedia Commons/James St. John

A Giant Arch Right Under the Overlook

The ledge you’re standing on sits directly on top of a sandstone feature called the Great Arch, a blind arch carved into the cliff but not yet open all the way through. Sources put it at roughly 600 feet across and 400 feet high, big enough to spot from the highway down below, though you cannot see it from the overlook itself. Given enough time, millions of years of erosion could eventually punch all the way through and turn it into a true arch. Wikimedia Commons/ImagePerson

Watch the Cliffs for Bighorn Sheep

Desert bighorn sheep turn up often on the cliffs around this trail. These animals were reintroduced to Zion, and their population now thrives across the park’s steep terrain. Specialized hooves let them grip smooth, steep sandstone that would send most creatures sliding. Scan the southern cliffs as you hike, and bring binoculars if you want a closer look at a distance. You might also spot small herds grazing near the road on your drive in, long before you even reach the trailhead. Wikimedia Commons/A. E. Crane, U.S.

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Hoodoos and Slickrock Near the Finish

Near the end of the hike, the trail crosses a hilltop scattered with hoodoos, pillars of stone shaped by years of erosion. Pinyon pines, junipers, and low manzanita fill the gaps between the rock. Much of the ground beneath your feet turns to bare slickrock, smoothed and rounded by weather over time. The stone glows in shades of red, orange, and creamy white as you cross it. This mix of bare rock and scattered green gives the east side a look that feels nothing like the main canyon. Wikimedia Commons/Murray Foubister

Checkerboard Mesa Waits Down the Road

A short drive east of the trailhead brings you to Checkerboard Mesa, a formation near the park’s east entrance that looks nothing like anything else in Zion. Its surface is scored with a crisscross pattern that resembles a giant grid stamped into the rock. The horizontal lines come from ancient sand dune layers frozen in stone, while the vertical cracks formed over years of freezing, thawing, and erosion. A pullout at the base lets you stop the car and take it in up close before you head back. Wikimedia Commons/dam Kliczek

The Drive That Gets You There

Reaching the trailhead means driving the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway through the park’s east side, and the drive itself is part of the story. The road climbs Pine Creek Canyon through a series of tight switchbacks before disappearing into a long tunnel bored straight through the mountain. Windows cut into the tunnel wall flash brief glimpses of the cliffs outside as you pass through. When you emerge on the east side, you’re a thousand feet higher, surrounded by golden slickrock and ready for the short walk that started it all. Wikimedia Commons/Fabio Achilli

Hike the Canyon Overlook Trail in Utah

You’ll find the Canyon Overlook Trail on the east side of Zion National Park, with the trailhead right on State Route 9, just east of the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. The hike runs about 1 mile round trip, and you should plan on 1 to 2 hours, with the trail open year-round. Parking is limited to a small lot across from the trailhead that fills early, though overflow pullouts sit farther down the road. The park shuttle does not reach this trailhead, so you’ll need a private vehicle or an authorized commercial shuttle. Pit toilets sit at the parking area, a park entrance fee applies, and pets are not allowed on the trail. This article was created with AI assistance and human editing. Read more from this brand:

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The post This 1-mile Zion trail skips the crowds and hides a secret arch under your feet appeared first on When In Your State.