Forget Narrows, Skip Angel's Landing, These 8 Zion National Park Trails Offer Less Crowded Showstopping Beauty

Angel's Landing is famous for its knife-edged ridgeline traverse, leading to an awe-inspiring overlook of Zion Canyon, but you can forget about reverent contemplation among the trail's jostling crowds — that is, if you manage to score a hard-to-get permit. Similarly, the Virgin River Narrows is one of the world's most famous slot canyon hikes, but it can also be overrun by tourists. 

The Narrows can also close due to inclement weather (as can all the park's slot canyons when there is any hint of rain in the forecast, as the danger from flash floods is immense at these times). Still, most visitors to Zion National Park arrive with a greatest hits list that starts with one or both of these, and that's a shame, because the park has many other, equally rewarding trails, offering views that are just as memorable, often with a superior visitor experience.

You'll find stunning, crowd-free hikes in the Kolob Canyons district, the park's high country, 50 minutes away by car from the corridor's bustling south entrance. The East Rim, 15 minutes from the south entrance and 50 minutes along the road to Kanab, is similarly remote and equally rewarding, with some rare gems. With a bit of extra effort, you can also find quiet contemplation in the canyon itself. What follows are trails that expert hikers, seasoned National Parks travelers, and knowledgeable locals consider the best in Zion.

This trail takes you to one of the best viewpoints in Zion National Park for soaking up scenery, Observation Point, with a jaw-dropping panoramic perspective. From here, you'll actually look down at Angel's Landing from over 6,500 feet, a spectacular sight. You don't have to work too hard to gain those views, as starting from the East Mesa Trailhead near the park's eastern entrance, you'll only gain 650 feet along this 7-mile out-and-back hike. It's not just one of the best hikes in Zion, but one of the 10 most rewarding day hikes in Utah's Mighty 5 National Parks.

To get even higher in the park and look down on both Observation Point and Angel's Landing, hike to Cable Mountain, also on the park's secluded East Rim. Fair warning: while the 8-mile hike is moderate, the road to the Stave Spring Trailhead is anything but, requiring a 4x4. Alternatively, you can get there by booking the $7 East Zion Adventures shuttle to the trailhead. Luckily, Zion is one of the most amazing national parks to visit without a car. "What a hike! The changing geology and landscape is like a dopamine hit every turn," writes one AllTrails user.

"I've met longtime locals who call this their favorite trail in all of Zion, and it's easy to see why," writes Michael Lanza, a former Backpacker magazine editor, on The Big Outside. Take a privately operated shuttle from the Visitor Center to the West Rim Trailhead, hike down 14.8 miles through astounding variations in scenery to the canyon floor, then pick up Zion Canyon's free and easy shuttle to take you back to the Visitor Center. As one AllTrails user enthused, "This trail was like 4 different hikes lumped into one with the changes in terrain you get."

Starting in Kolob Canyons, Zion's uncrowded "other" entrance, the beautiful Taylor Creek Trail is a less-crowded trail with abandoned cabins and scenic canyons. At 5.1 miles round-trip, this is not nearly as strenuous an adventure as the Narrows. Zion Guru describes it as "enchanting, child friendly, adorned with drastic contrasts of green vegetation and brilliant orange walls." Like the Zion Narrows, this hike involves getting your feet wet, so come prepared. Eventually, you'll reach the Double Arch Alcove, a grand, majestic grotto of eroded sandstone.

This 2-mile hike begins on Zion National Park's quiet, wild East Rim. The pools here are shallow depressions in an undulating expanse of slickrock (downloading a GPS track like the one on AllTrails is recommended, as there is no marked trail). "With just a little walking you are in fairly wild lands, easy to forget the popularity of Zion here," writes one Tripadvisor hiker who visited in winter. "The highlight of our trip (and yes we did Angel's Landing)."

The Subway may be Zion's most popular backcountry hike, but note the emphasis on "backcountry" and be prepared to take this slot canyon hike very seriously. As the National Park Service notes, you'll likely need a helmet and a wetsuit. That said, it's considered a beginner-friendly canyoneering route, so you can take a skills course locally from an outfit like Zion Adventures. Once you do so, you can tackle the Subway. Here you'll get the Zion slot canyon experience of the iconic Narrows river canyon trail, with a fraction of the crowds.

The La Verkin Creek Trail in the Kolob Canyons wilderness offers visitors what the National Park Service describes as "outstanding opportunities for solitude." At 14.2 miles round-trip, this is a hard day hike, or an easier overnight backpacking trip. Views of the brilliant red sandstone of Kolob Canyons near the hike's outset mean you can still have a rewarding hike turning around before the end, but if you do, you'll miss seeing the spectacular Kolob Arch, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

One way to avoid the crowds atop Angel's Landing is to hike instead to Scout Lookout, which shares the same approach along a portion of the West Rim Trail (described above as a longer, top-down hike). The paved trail here is steep, gaining 1,000 feet in under 2 miles via a set of challenging switchbacks known as "Walter's Wiggles." Instead of taking the trail fork to Angel's Landing, you'll continue to this slightly lower viewpoint, with a similar view, no permits or crowded, scary traverse required.