Recently ADT and I headed up to Zion to meet some friends and do a little canyoneering! Trips to Zion have been the high point in my summer for the last four years and this trip was no exception. This year we did Tag - behunin-canyon (interesting entrance to the canyon and great final rappel) and Tag - englestead-hollow (unforgettable start, walking thru the woods in a small stream and then walking out of the woods onto the huge first rappel!). Here are a few links and a little info if you are tempted to visit -

We usually stay in the Watchman Campground (reservations) - there are plenty of other options but the easy access to Springdale and the Backcountry Desk are a big plus. I think it has been windy just about every night that we have camped in the summer - well worth staking down your tent...

The hiking in Zion is fantastic and hassle free for day hikes - if you want to canyoneer inside the park there is a good chance you will need a permit. Opinions vary on this system, but for now you will likely want to visit the Zion National Park - Backcountry Reservation System - walk-in permits are available also.

If you are looking for some general canyoneering information you might start from the American Canyoneering Association website.

For detailed information about canyoneering in Zion try: CanyoneeringUSA has the very useful Tom's Utah Canyoneering Guide (including, of course, Zion) and many other interesting links. Tom Jones has also recently published a book Zion: Canyoneering.

Anther source for Zion Canyoneering information is Climb-Utah.com. Some of the canyons in the Zion section are only available to members of the site ($25 a year) and all contain useful information including GPS waypoints.

You can not have too much information so you might also check out Zion National Park Canyoneering - there were some details in these descriptions that helped us out on this trip.

Visit Zion! CM