The hook
A canyon cut 800 metres into red and cream Navajo sandstone, narrow enough at its head that you hike the river itself between walls a few metres apart, and steep enough that the famous route up climbs a fin with chains bolted into the rock.
01Why it's worth it
Zion is the most vertical of the Utah parks and the most immediately dramatic: you drive in at the bottom rather than looking down from a rim, so the walls rise around you. The Narrows is the signature — walking upstream in the Virgin River through a slot where the canyon closes to twenty feet with a thousand feet of rock overhead. Angels Landing is the other, a chain-assisted scramble along an exposed fin, now permit-only by lottery after a run of deaths. Beyond those two, the park is much bigger than the main canyon, and this is where regulars point: Observation Point looks down on Angels Landing, and the Kolob Canyons section in the north-west is a separate entrance most visitors never use.
The honest problem is volume. Zion is among the most-visited parks in the country, the main canyon runs on a mandatory shuttle for most of the year because cars can't cope, and midday in summer means queues at trailheads. Rangers and regulars say the same thing: go early, go in shoulder season, and get out of the main canyon.
02How to experience it
Ride the first shuttle of the day. Do the Narrows from the bottom up (rent neoprene and a stick in Springdale) and turn around when you like. Enter the Angels Landing permit lottery ahead, or take Observation Point instead for the better view without the chains. Give a half-day to Kolob Canyons. March–May and October–November are the good windows.
From the locals
A former ranger's advice is the most useful thing in the threads: "I used to be a ranger at Zion, so here's my two cents. My favourite view in the park is from Observation Point — the hike is longer than Angels, but so worth it. If you're willing to drive a little from the main canyon, Kolob Canyon is very nice; Taylor Creek is an awesome hike." On the crowds, visitors are equally blunt: "Zion is beyond ridiculous at this point."