Visiting Southwestern Utah? Check out my list of favorite family-friendly hikes near Zion National Park. They’re moderate trails with no shortage of amazing views!
During my nomad adventures with my family, I spent a few months living in Utah this year, including a five week stay near Zion National Park. Southern Utah is full of breathtaking natural beauty! Every one of our weekends there were full of hiking because we just couldn’t get enough time in the great outdoors.
With a three-year old in tow (and a 12 year old dog on trails where she was allowed), we completed many moderate family-friendly hikes near Zion National Park. These days with a young daughter, our requirements for a hike are for it to be around four miles or less, and can either be completed by our little one on foot or with my husband carrying her in our hiking backpack with relative ease. And of course, it’s a requirement that the trail offers gorgeous views!
There’s no shortage of options for moderate hiking in and around Zion National Park, and today I’m sharing my favorites.
5 Great Family-Friendly Hikes Near Zion National Park
Emerald Pools Trail
First up is a popular trail within Zion National Park called Emerald Pools Trail. This 3-mile, 620 foot elevation gain loop is filled with stunning views, three waterfalls and a few heart pounding sections. Emerald Pools starts from Zion Lodge is one of the park’s most popular hikes, so you can expect to see a lot of other hikers.
The first waterfall on the trail is a little over half a mile in and is pretty easy to get to. After that, the tougher, more rugged part begins with a rocky trail leading to the next two waterfalls. The final half a mile is a pretty strenuous uphill hike (which probably feels harder in 90 degree weather, as we experienced), but the views are worth it.
The Upper Pools waterfall has an area where hikers can grab a seat on a rock to enjoy the views, relax, grab a snack, and dip their feet into the falls.
[VIDEO: Be prepared for crowds up there.. though it’s beautiful and highly worth the visit in my opinion!]
We hiked Emerald Pools multiple times in the month of April, and the waterfalls were gorgeous!
Emerald Pools is probably the most challenging one on my list. While my daughter mostly sat pretty in the hiking backpack the couple of times that we completed the hike and there are some steep parts, I also saw many children on the trail on foot who were a bit older.
West Cinder Knoll Trail
While Zion is amazing, I also found that there are many trails outside of the popular national park that offer just as stunning of views. One hiking trail we frequented and really enjoyed is West Cinder Knoll Trail in the nearby town of Hurricane.
At 150 feet elevation gain during an almost 2 mile loop, West Cinder Knoll Trail is a short trail that little ones should be able to do. It’s also a dog friendly hike, so it’s a good one for the whole family!
This trail offers pretty farm views and has a lot of pretty springtime wild flowers. Honestly, it offers amazing views from the time you step out of your car in the parking lot! So if you’re looking for a view without a workout, you could even simply park at the trail lot and take a few steps out to enjoy the views for a bit.
The Watchman Trail
Another family-friendly trail we enjoyed within Zion National Park is The Watchman Trail – a 3.1 mile out-and-back trail with a 600+ foot elevation gain.
The Watchman Trail is conveniently located near the visitor’s center, so you don’t have to hop on a shuttle to get to the trailhead (a nice perk when you have antsy children!).
While about the same distance and elevation gain as Emerald Pools, The Watchman Trail has more gradual inclines and a lot of switchbacks. It offers some amazing views of Zion’s beautiful landscape!
Sugarloaf at Pioneer Park
When you visit Southwestern Utah, I highly recommend spending time in the town of St. George. It’s got a great downtown with an awesome children’s museum, splash pad and park, and lots of local shops and restaurants.
While you’re in St. George, walk through the adorable Red Hills Desert Garden and hike around at Pioneer Park.
Sugarloaf is different than your typical hike because there’s no marked trail. Instead, hikers pave their own way by climbing the rocks and exploring around freely. It’s great for families because you can make it whatever you want: going for a 15 minutes walk, or climbing around for hours.
The rock formations are awesome here, and it’s also home to both the Dixie sign and what’s known as “The Crack” – a super narrow split in the rocks that’s also been dubbed the St. George Narrows. While we were living in Southern Utah, the Zion Narrows were closed due to high water levels, so we decided to check out the St. George version instead!
We didn’t climb through The Crack because we had our dog with us, but there were children doing so while we were there. My husband also had fun free climbing.
Pa’rus Trail
Heading back into Zion National Park, the Pa’rus Trail is an easy three mile hike on paved road with just a bit over 100 feet elevation. But don’t be fooled by the lack of elevation – the views are awesome from this paved trail! It’s perfect for families who want to go for a hike in Zion, but don’t want to do anything extreme.
We did this trail both on foot and on bikes (another thing I highly recommend doing while in the area is renting bikes!). Pa’rus is the only trail within Zion National Park that allows dogs.
Overall, I loved living in Southwestern Utah and was in constant awe of the natural beauty there. It’s an otherworldly part of the country, and I can’t wait to go back to explore more one day. Happy hiking!
We’ve never been out to Zion, but we have good friends who grew up near there. They’ve told us all about it, and I have to say that the pictures are even more stunning than I imagined. Plus, it seems like there are tons of trails out there. Tell everyone we said hello!!
Zion looks absolutely beautiful!! I definitely want to visit there someday.
Wow it’s just gorgeous out there! On my bucket list for sure