4 Easy Hikes You Can Do Over 2 Days in Zion National Park – Scout Lookout, Pa’rus Trail & More

Are you up for a National Park road trip? If you’re in the US, it’s a fantastic way to see some beautiful parts of this country and to get away, briefly, from the stresses that plague our day-to-day lives. You might visit a place you only dreamt of seeing, you might go stargazing, or you could even track a cryptid – the adventure is what you make it!

My husband and I have been traveling out west a little more over the past couple of years, and this spring, we had the incredible opportunity to visit Zion National Park. While we were only there for a couple of days, it was such a fabulous experience and months later, I still can’t stop thinking about it.

Enjoy these highlights!

In Springdale

We stayed at the Cliffrose Springdale, which is almost next to the Zion National Park entrance. There are shuttles throughout the town that can take you to the Visitor’s Center as well. It was a very comfortable little lodge, with incredible views from our room, which had direct access to fire pits and other seating areas along the Virgin River. Also, bonus deer!

Scout Lookout

We stopped in at Canyon Coffee to start our first day, then popped in to the Visitor Center at exactly 9:00am to pick up a physical map and get an NPS passport stamp.

From there, we took the shuttle to the Grotto (Stop #6) – that was about a 15-minute dive including stops. Just across the street were signs pointing to West Rim Trail and Angels Landing. We crossed the little footbridge, and were on our way!

The trail started relatively flat along the river, and then after about a half-mile, we encountered a series of switchbacks in Refrigerator Canyon. It got a little steep in some areas, but it really wasn’t difficult going. It was a lot of fun to see just how much elevation we’d gained though – if you’re scared of heights, stay close to the wall!

About two-thirds of the way up, there was a turn that got insanely windy – enough to make you want to hold onto something so you don’t go flying away. The rock wall is smooth, especially around turns where hikers over the years have passed by and run their hands along. Same with trees that are in spots you want to hold onto for balance – smooth, shiny bark.

Just as we began to think, “All right, how much longer till we reach the top?” we encountered Walter’s Wiggles, which is a series of tight switchbacks. This part can get a little tiring, but it’s worth it to get to the amazing view at Scout Lookout, just over two miles from the trailhead! If you have joint problems – like my clicky, wobbly knees – you might consider bringing along some lightweight hiking poles, which can help you a lot in this area in particular.

Once we made it to Scout Lookout, we spent a good while just exploring, sketching, eating snacks, and watching the little chipmunks dart around. I was worried that heading down would be difficult after walking up-up-up for so long, but it was a quick descent and my legs weren’t nearly as noodly as I feared they would be. We were back to the Grotto and on our way to lunch at 1:30.

A few notes:

• We decided against entering the lottery to go further and complete Angels Landing since we had only two days at Zion. But if you’re physically fit and are able to spend, say, half of your day doing this hike, you should go for it!
• Stay on the trail wherever you are along the route – there’s a lot of sand here, and if you go off of the marked trail, you can slip and fall easily. The top of Scout Lookout isn’t roped off or fenced in, so it’s up to you not to be a dumb bunny and get too close to the edge.
• There are tons of chipmunks running around here – they’re very friendly because people feed them (don’t do that!). Fat squirrels too!

Temple of Sinawava and Riverside Walk

We took the shuttle all the way to the end of the line, which was the Temple of Sinawava (Stop #9). This is the start of the Narrows, which is a stunning area of the canyon with thousand-foot-high rock walls carved into a thin opening – only 20 feet wide in some areas – by the Virgin River. While we didn’t wade into the Narrows on this trip, we did take the gorgeous Riverside Walk to the entrance.

This was a very quick there-and-back-again trip – quite the opposite of the hike up to Scout Lookout. The Riverside Walk was cool, dark, and lush, with beautiful trees, vines, moss, grasses, and flowers everywhere. The river was quiet and hemmed in by cliffs.

We anticipated spending two hours here, but really it was just one.

Court of the Patriarchs

A very quick stop if you have a few minutes: the Court of the Patriarchs can be seen from an overlook at the end of a short trail at shuttle stop #4. Here, you’ll see three sandstone peaks named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Pa’rus Trail

Paiute for “bubbling water,” Pa’rus Trail winds along the Virgin River and is a very easy, incredibly scenic walk that’s perfect if you want to see some of Zion’s most beautiful spots without watching your feet.

The walk is paved all the way through, with a yellow line separating lanes – it’s a very popular bike trail. There’s a series of bridges in the first third of the walk, plus several river access points throughout. It took us about an hour to walk Pa’rus from Canyon Junction to the Visitor Center. We arrived just as Ranger Bret was giving a talk about the geology of the park – what a cool way to end our journey through Zion!

Hope you enjoyed these highlights – tell us about your favorite National Park and share your favorite travel stories and tips with the Frayed Passport community!

About the Author

As the editor-in-chief of Frayed Passport, my goal is to help you build a lifestyle that lets you travel the world whenever you want and however long you want, and not worry about where your next paycheck will come from. I've been to 20+ countries and five continents, lived for years as a full-time digital nomad, and have worked completely remotely since 2015. If you would like to share your story with our community, or partner with Frayed Passport, get in touch with me using the form on our About page.

All images in this article are by Sarah Stone.