Winter at Zion is three different trips, and the dates that split them are 29 November, 26 December and 3 January. From 29 November the shuttles stop and you drive the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive yourself. From 26 December to 2 January a holiday shuttle runs and the road closes to cars again. From 3 January it is yours to drive until the spring shuttle starts. December and January, the Park Service says, tend to be less busy, except around the holidays. Every date below was checked on 16 October 2026; the fall trip is on the October and November page.
The dates, in order
| Date | What changes |
|---|---|
| 20 October 2026 | The Angels Landing lottery for 1 December to 28 February hikes closes, 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time. Permits are issued on 25 October |
| 29 November | No park or town shuttle. The Scenic Drive opens to private cars |
| 24 December | Zion Outfitter closes at 5 p.m. Its gear for a Christmas Day hike is picked up that day and returned on the 26th |
| 25 December | Zion Adventures and Zion Outfitter closed. The last day you can drive the canyon before the holiday shuttle |
| 26 December | Holiday shuttle. First bus from the Visitor Center 8:00 a.m., last bus up 4:30 p.m., last out of the Temple of Sinawava 5:45 p.m. The Scenic Drive closes to private cars |
| 2 January 2027 | The last day of the holiday shuttle |
| 3 January | The Scenic Drive is open to cars again, with no shuttle until spring |
| 18 January | Martin Luther King Jr. Day: a holiday weekend with the road open to cars |
| 15 February | Presidents Day: the same |
The shuttle times are the Park Service’s table for 2026–27, which marks every row “subject to change”; the rest of the year is on the shuttle page.
When spring service starts is not on that table yet. The Park Service says that in most years the shuttle runs daily from March; Recreation.gov’s page for South Campground says from approximately the end of February. On a trip in the last week of February, check the shuttle schedule before you plan on driving the canyon. When it has started in recent years, and a trip from March, are on the spring page.
Driving the canyon when the shuttle stops
For most of the year the Scenic Drive, the road up Zion Canyon from Canyon Junction, is shuttle-only. The Park Service lets private vehicles drive it only in the non-shuttle season, which it describes as usually December through February. On the 2026–27 table that is 29 November to 25 December, and again from 3 January. What a car is good for the rest of the year is on the car page.
Where you park. At the trailheads and viewpoints along the drive, on the pavement. The Park Service’s instruction to Angels Landing hikers in these weeks is to drive to the trailhead, park on the pavement, and if the lot is full, park farther away and walk back. Recreation.gov’s note to permit holders adds one option: when the shuttles are not running, parking at the Grotto is limited, so be prepared to park at the Lodge or another nearby lot and walk to the trailhead, or come back later in the day. A car outside a marked space is liable to a citation or a tow, as it is all year.
The road closes when it fills. The Park Service closes the Scenic Drive for the day once there are no more legal parking spaces, and says that happens often in December, January and February. It does it to stop illegal parking and to keep the road clear for rescue crews and rangers. Its advice is to arrive early, especially on a holiday weekend. The Visitor Center lot, with over 350 spaces, and the Pa’rus Trail sit below Canyon Junction, outside the Scenic Drive; the lots and Springdale’s rates are on the parking page.
Springdale without its shuttle. The town shuttle stops when the park’s does, so outside the holiday week a room in Springdale is a walk or a drive from the pedestrian entrance. How far each hotel is on foot is on the Springdale hotels page.
Big vehicles get the drive too. A vehicle over the tunnel’s size limits may enter at the South Entrance to drive the Scenic Drive in the shuttle off-season, and still may not go past Canyon Junction toward the tunnel. The limits are on the tunnel page.
The holiday week, 26 December to 2 January
The Park Service runs the shuttles again for the holidays, and the Scenic Drive goes back to its summer rule: closed to private vehicles, and that includes before the first bus of the day and after the last.
| Zion Canyon Line, in the park | Springdale Line, in town | |
|---|---|---|
| First bus | 8:00 a.m. from the Visitor Center | 8:00 a.m. from Hotel De Novo, stop 9 |
| Last bus | 4:30 p.m. up from the Visitor Center; 5:45 p.m. out of the Temple of Sinawava | 6:00 p.m. from Zion Canyon Village, at the pedestrian entrance |
Three things follow.
- The day is short. The first bus is an hour later than in the fall, 8:00 a.m. against 7:00, and the last bus up leaves at 4:30 p.m. A winter Angels Landing permit has no time slot, so the 8:00 a.m. first bus is what sets your earliest start at the Grotto that week.
- Lodge guests drive in. An overnight reservation at Zion Lodge comes with an access code to drive to the Lodge and park in its guest parking. Every other trailhead is the shuttle or your feet.
- Do not wait for the last bus. If it is full, or you miss it, the walk back to the Visitor Center can be nine miles, and the Park Service adds that it will be dark.
This is the week the Park Service singles out. Its seasons page says that in winter the shuttles are typically used only during the holidays, “like the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.”
Ice, snow and the trails
Winter in the canyon is, in the Park Service’s words, “cold and often wet.” After a storm the snow at canyon level typically disappears within hours; higher up it accumulates. The roads are plowed. The trails are the problem.
- Ice lingers in shade. The Park Service warns that icy conditions may exist on trails, especially anywhere that stays in the shade, and recommends traction devices for your boots. Recreation.gov’s Angels Landing page links the park’s own video on using them.
- Some trails close for falling ice. The Park Service says certain trails may close in winter because of the hazard of falling ice. Its information guide marks the Lower Emerald Pool Trail and the Weeping Rock Trail as icy in sections in winter; the Emerald Pools page has the rest.
- Observation Point cannot be reached from Zion Canyon, and Hidden Canyon is closed, both since a large rockfall on the East Rim Trail. The only way up is from the east, on dirt roads; what winter does to them is on the Observation Point page.
- The Watchman Trail is closed pending repairs, with no reopening date on the Park Service’s alert as of 16 October 2026. See the Watchman page.
Angels Landing in winter
The lottery for winter is the seasonal lottery for hikes from 1 December 2026 to 28 February 2027. It runs from 8 a.m. Mountain Time on 1 October to 11:59 p.m. MT on 20 October 2026, and issues permits on 25 October. After that, the way to a winter permit is the day-before lottery: enter between 12:01 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mountain Time for the next day’s hike, with results after 4 p.m., every day. Recreation.gov puts around half of each day’s permits in the seasonal lottery and the rest in the day-before lottery, and canceled seasonal permits roll into it. Unlike a spring permit, a winter one has no time slot: Recreation.gov’s terms let December-to-February permit holders start from the Grotto at any time. The costs, the rules and the odds are on the permit page.
What winter changes:
- You drive to the Grotto. The Park Service’s instruction for the weeks with no shuttle is to drive yourself to the trailhead. In the holiday week, the shuttle runs and the 8:00 a.m. first bus sets the earliest start.
- Ice ends the hike at Scout Lookout. The Park Service’s rule is not to go up when the ground is wet or icy, and most accidents on the chains happen in wet conditions. In winter, it adds, the metal chains are very cold, and gloves may be useful. A seasonal permit can be canceled up to two days before for the $3 a person back, and it then goes to someone in the day-before lottery; it cannot be moved to another date.
- Daylight is the clock. The Park Service’s reasons not to start up the chains include that it will be dark before you finish, and it says most hikers take around four hours for the 5.4-mile round trip. Winter days are the shortest of the year, so start in the morning.
The Narrows in winter
The river hike stays open in winter on the same two rules as always: closed above 150 cubic feet per second, and closed whenever the National Weather Service issues a Flash Flood Warning, for at least two hours after it lifts. The Park Service’s note on the season is that winter and early spring “commonly bring high water levels and cold water.” The snowmelt closures it has recorded since 2012 all began in March or later, but its standing line is that flash floods are always possible.
The water averages 38 to 45°F in winter (3 to 7°C), by the Park Service’s figures. Its gear advice is that a neoprene wetsuit or drysuit with warm layers may be needed, and its seasons page says you will likely need a drysuit to hike safely. Ice may form in the canyon, so watch for falling ice and expect very slippery footing. The Park Service calls hypothermia a greater hazard in narrow canyons, because immersion in water is the quickest way to cool the body: no cotton, and eat before you are chilled. Zion Outfitter’s own season notes for December to February add that ice may close the Riverside Walk, the paved mile to the river.
Renting for it. Both Springdale outfitters rent cold-water gear all winter, and they do not agree on what you need:
| Zion Adventures | Zion Outfitter | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | 36 Lion Blvd, by town shuttle stop 3 | 7 Zion Park Blvd, steps from the park entrance |
| For winter | The Dry-Suit Package, which it describes as typically used for the winter season, $79 a day, youth sizes $59; linked below | The Dry Bib Package, $59 a day, recommended October through May on cool days |
| Also | The Dry-Bib Package, $65 | A Kid’s Drysuit Package, $59, for ages 8 to 14, first come, first served |
| Winter hours | 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., December to February | 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., 29 November to 31 December |
| Christmas | Closed | Closes 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve, closed Christmas Day |
Zion Adventures’ packages all include neoprene socks, water shoes and a walking stick, it recommends reserving dry bibs and dry suits from 1 October to mid-May, and it adds sales tax and fees of about 14% at checkout. Zion Outfitter’s dry bib package comes with canyoneering boots, neoprene socks and a wooden stick, extra days are $30, sizes are guaranteed to reserved customers who pick up before 10 a.m., and it takes no reservations on the holiday weekends its calendar marks. Zion Outfitter lets you pick gear up the evening before; Zion Adventures fits your boots and gives its orientation then, but does not promise the suit itself until the morning. Zion Outfitter’s chart puts the water at 40 to 45°F for all three months, a little warmer at the bottom than the Park Service’s figure.
Or go with a guide. The private guided hike below has dates every month to February and includes the cold-water gear: watertight bib waders, which are a dry bib rather than the drysuit the Park Service says you will likely need, with canyoneering boots, neoprene socks and poles. Cedar & Sage Boutique Trekking takes your party alone about two miles up the river to Orderville Canyon and back, with a picnic on the way back down the canyon.
The flow gauge to read the morning you go, and the summer packages, are on the Narrows page. The top-down through-hike is not a winter trip: the top-down page says why.
Roads, campgrounds and what closes
- The Zion-Mount Carmel Highway is open. The rockfall closure of 30 September 2026 lifted on 9 October. The Park Service works to keep the road open all year, and sometimes closes it for snow, ice, rockfall or traffic congestion. UDOT’s fiber-optic work inside the park runs Monday to Thursday, except holidays, and is due to finish in spring 2027. The vehicle size limits apply in every season; the tunnel page has them.
- Kolob Terrace Road usually closes for several months from fall to spring because of snow. The closure starts at Maloney Hill, about a mile east (signed north) of the Hop Valley Trailhead, and the Lava Point road that branches off it is typically closed from fall into spring.
- Kolob Canyons Road is open most of the year but closes frequently in winter, and no one may walk it while it is being plowed, so a closed road means no way in. See Kolob Canyons.
- Campgrounds. Watchman stays open all year, booked up to six months ahead on Recreation.gov. South Campground’s season runs from early March to the end of October, and Lava Point closes for winter. The Park Service’s warning that the campgrounds are full almost every night covers mid-March to late November. See camping in Zion.
- The Human History Museum closes at the end of November, after Thanksgiving, and stays closed through the winter. The park film is free to watch online.
Zion Lodge in winter
The Lodge, the only beds and the only food inside the park, stays open all year, with reduced services in winter. The Red Rock Grill, its sit-down restaurant, is open year-round; the Castle Dome Café and the Beer Garden run only from spring to fall, and so does the narrated tram, apart from the holiday week: in 2026 it has dates from 26 to 31 December. Outside the holiday week anyone can drive up to the Lodge. From 26 December to 2 January its overnight guests drive the Scenic Drive to the Lodge’s guest parking and no further, with the access code that comes with a reservation. A guest who booked through Booking.com and has no code should ask the Lodge on (435) 772–7700 before arriving. Rooms against cabins, and how far ahead it books, are on the Lodge page.
Weather
From the Park Service’s climate chart for Zion:
| December | January | February | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 54°F | 54°F | 59°F |
| Average low | 30°F | 30°F | 34°F |
| Days below freezing | about 18 | about 20 | about 13 |
| Average precipitation | 1.6 in | 1.8 in | 2.0 in |
| Record snowfall in a day | 8.0 in | 12.5 in | 8.0 in |
The Park Service’s conditions page puts winter daytime temperatures typically between 30°F and 60°F. Nearly half of Zion Canyon’s yearly precipitation falls from December to March. Roads are usually plowed quickly after a storm, but driving during one can be very poor. Zion Outfitter’s own chart gives lower figures, a 48°F high and a 23°F low for each of the three months; the table above is the Park Service’s.
Crowds: the holidays and the long weekends
December and January tend to be less busy, the Park Service says, except around the holidays, and from early February it warns that Zion can be very busy again; March brings almost three times February’s visitors. In winter the crowd shows up as parking rather than as a shuttle line.
- Christmas to New Year’s is why the holiday shuttle exists, and with it the Scenic Drive closes to cars. Be on the first bus, or walk in from Springdale, where the town shuttle runs that week too.
- The holiday weekends with the road open are Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday 18 January 2027, and Presidents Day, Monday 15 February 2027. With no shuttle, the Scenic Drive closes for the day once its parking is full, and the Park Service’s warning is that parking fills quickly, especially on holiday weekends. Be on the road early.
- Fee-free days. Presidents Day, 16 February 2026, was one of the Park Service’s fee-free days in 2026, for US citizens and residents only. Its 2027 list is not out yet.
What it costs to get in
The fees are the same all year: $35 a car for seven days, $30 a motorcycle, $20 a person on foot or by bike, and children 15 and under free. Every non-US resident aged 16 and over also pays a $100 nonresident fee, unless admitted with an annual or America the Beautiful pass, which covers everyone in the pass holder’s car. Card is preferred at the gate and cash is accepted. Fee-free days do not waive the $100. The passes, and the arithmetic for a carful of foreign visitors, are on the fee page.
A winter plan
The three days on the itinerary page work in winter with three changes:
- Drive to the trailhead early rather than queuing for a bus, because in winter the parking is what runs out. From 26 December to 2 January it is the bus again, from 8:00 a.m.
- Put the Narrows in the middle of the day, in a dry suit or a dry bib, with a stop at the outfitter the evening before.
- Keep a dry day for Angels Landing, or for Scout Lookout without a permit, and enter the day-before lottery every day you are here.
For a day outside the park, when the trails are icy or the river is too cold, some of the guided trips east of Zion keep going, an hour or more from Springdale through the tunnel. ROAM’s UTV rides to the slot canyons near Orderville run through December, January and February; they are compared on the East Zion UTV and jeep page. The East Zion horse ride to the slot canyon at Red Hollow has dates on sale through December, January and February too, except from 7 to 20 January 2027, and is on the horseback page.
With the town shuttle running only in the holiday week, a room within walking distance of the pedestrian entrance is worth more in winter than at any other time. The private Narrows hike, Zion Lodge on Booking.com, Booking.com’s Springdale list and everything bookable at Zion are below.
