Springdale hotels by shuttle stop: walk times to the park

Where your Springdale hotel sits on the town shuttle decides how your mornings go. The Town of Springdale’s own shuttle map numbers the stops 1 to 9, from the park’s pedestrian entrance to the south end of town, and names the hotels at each one — with the walking time to the Zion Canyon Visitor Center. That is the map below. Where to stay in the first place, Springdale against Hurricane, Kanab or the Lodge, is on the where-to-stay page.

The nine stops, and what is at each

From the town’s Springdale Line map. Distances and walking times are to the Visitor Center, at an average pace.

Cable Mountain Lodge is not named on the map. At 147 Zion Park Blvd it sits, by street number, between stop 1 and Cliffrose at 281, so its walk to the Visitor Center is shorter than Cliffrose’s five minutes. Its own site describes it as the closest hotel to the park and the shuttle hub.

Best Western Plus Zion Canyon Inn & Suites stands at 668 Zion Park Blvd, the Canyon Ranch Motel’s old address, which the town’s map still names at stop 4. The Zion Canyon Visitors Bureau’s map, which the town also posts, marks the Best Western at stop 4 with the Desert Pearl Inn, and Best Western’s own page for the hotel puts the shuttle stop just outside its driveway.

The map also marks restaurants at most stops: Thai Sapa at 2, Whiptail Grill at 3, Zion Pizza & Noodle at 5 and the Bit & Spur at 6.

Stops 1 to 4: walk. Stops 5 to 9: ride.

Up to stop 4, you can walk in — 15 minutes at most, on the town’s figures, and no bus to wait for. That is also the stretch the town prices highest for parking: Zone A runs from the park entrance to stop 4 at $25 a day on the street, which tells you where the demand is.

From stop 5 south, the shuttle is the practical way in, and it works well in the middle of the day: buses come about every 10 to 15 minutes, two of them looping between Hotel De Novo and the pedestrian entrance. Two habits of the Springdale Line are worth knowing. A bus only stops if someone is waiting, so stand where the driver can see you; and it only drops off where you ask, so tell the driver your stop when you board.

The two times that catch people

The first bus is at 8:00 a.m. The Springdale Line’s first departure from Hotel De Novo is 8:00 a.m. all season. The park’s own shuttle up the canyon starts at 7:00 a.m. from the Visitor Center, and in summer the Park Service says its lots are often full by 9. So if you want the first park bus — for the Narrows before the crowd, or an Angels Landing start before the heat — the town shuttle will not get you there from the south end of town. Walk it from stops 1 to 4, or drive in early and park.

The last town bus leaves before the last park bus arrives. Until 24 October the last Springdale Line bus leaves Zion Canyon Village at 7:00 p.m., and the last park shuttle leaves the Temple of Sinawava at 7:15 p.m. From 25 October to 28 November those become 6:00 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Ride the last bus down the canyon and the town shuttle has already gone: from stop 6 or beyond, that is a 30- to 55-minute walk to your room in the dark. Both timetables are on the shuttle page.

When the town shuttle is not running

The Springdale Line does not run from 29 November to 25 December, or from 3 January until it restarts in spring. It runs again for the holiday week, 26 December to 2 January, with the last bus from Zion Canyon Village at 6:00 p.m.

In the off weeks a room past stop 4 means the walk, or driving and parking. The consolation is that for most of those weeks the park shuttle is off too, and the Scenic Drive is open to your car — except in the holiday week, when it closes again. The parking page has the lots, and the town’s rates of $15 to $25 a day, enforced from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Dogs, pools and parking, from the hotels’ own pages

Dogs cannot ride either shuttle — the Park Service allows only service animals — so a dog changes the whole calculation. More on the dog page.

A dash means the hotel’s own pages do not say. On dogs, the listings linked below settle it: on Booking.com only the Hampton, Hyatt Place and SpringHill Suites, all at stop 6, take pets, on request and with charges possible, and every other Booking.com listing here, Cable Mountain’s, Flanigan’s and Bumbleberry’s among them, allows none. For the hotels the table leaves out — the Best Western, the three at stop 6, the Quality Inn and Hotel De Novo — the pool and the rest are on each one’s listing below.

Which stop suits you

No car, or a dawn start: stops 2 to 4. The walk is 5 to 15 minutes each way and the 8 a.m. shuttle does not matter.

With a dog: the Hampton Inn, Hyatt Place and SpringHill Suites at stop 6 take pets on request through their Booking.com listings, and charges may apply. Stop 6 is a 30-minute walk from the park and the dog cannot ride the shuttle, so plan on driving, and on the Pa’rus Trail as the one trail the dog can use.

From 29 November to 25 December, or after 2 January: anywhere past stop 4 is a drive, not a walk, so free hotel parking matters more than the stop number.

Once you are settled, the park shuttle is free and the guided trips that start in Springdale — an e-bike ride up the Scenic Drive, a guided day in the Narrows — are on the biking page and the Narrows page. Below are the hotels from the table that are on Booking.com or Expedia, in stop order, then everything else bookable at Zion.