Best Hikes in the Parks: Trail Maps
Zion National Park, Utah
Angels Landing
When: March to October
Round-Trip: 5.5 Miles
Level: Challenging Day Hike
Zion’s red-rock walls and sandstone canyons are stunning from any perspective, but none is more rewarding than the one from the top of the sandstone fin known as Angels Landing. Your sweat equity figures into that reward. The first couple of miles gently skirt the Virgin River on the West Rim Trail and pass through Refrigerator Canyon. Then the heart thumping commences—up the 21 switchbacks called Walter’s Wiggles and up an exposed rock spine that requires the aid of built-in chains. Suddenly it’s all at your feet—360 degrees of canyon walls, piñon-juniper forests, the Virgin River, and distant, craggy peaks.
Insider Tip: Get out early for the best light on the rocks and to minimize company on the narrow trail.
- Nat Geo Expeditions
