Hiking The Pa’rus Trail
Zion National Park offers numerous hiking opportunities. Options range from easy hikes that nearly anyone can enjoy, to much more difficult adventures. For our first day visiting Zion National Park, our plan A of hiking The Narrows, had to be set aside for the following day. Given the limited capacity in the park during our visit, we would need to delay that hike until the following day. Our new exploration for the day would include hiking the Pa’rus Trail.
Following an introduction to the park via a drive through the length of Highway 9 and a stop at the visitor center, we embarked on an easy introductory hike in Zion National Park.
By The Numbers
Length: (round trip): 3.5 miles / 1.5 hours
Elevation change: 100 feet
Difficulty rating: EasyRoute type: Out and back
Quick Introduction
The Pa’rus Trail starts close to the Zion Canyon Visitor Center and follows the Virgin River for 1.8 miles until reaching Canyon Junction. This trail is shared by hikers and bicyclists. This trail quickly takes you away from the traffic noise, and lets you experience the canyon at a slow and calm pace.
This hiking path is fairly level and accessible to most travelers. You’ll make your way towards Canyon Junction on a mostly paved pathway. Do be on the lookout for bicyclists. We shared the trail with numerous bikers, some likely on their own bikes, and many others on rentals, pedaling their way to the Temple of Sinawava. Pedestrians do have the right-of-way on the trail. Even dogs are allowed on the trail, as long as they are kept on a leash.
Spectacular Scenery Makes For Great Photos
The early sky and slight cloud cover gave us a tourist’s atmosphere for picture taking. There are spectacular mountains on both sides of the trail.
There are ample photography opportunities of landscapes, plants and flowers, and occasionally, wildlife.
Zion Museum
Midway on the trail, there is a path to get to the Zion Museum. You might check in advance to see if it will be open at the time of your visit. During our visit in the midst of the Covid era, we were not able to visit this location.
Hiking Beyond Canyon Junction
As we arrived at the far end of this hike at Canyon Junction, we decided to walk a bit further along the road which heads towards the Temple of Sinawava (but not quite all the way). The road was closed to car traffic as the parking lots were filled just after 6am.
Reaching The Court Of The Patriarchs
We walked as far as a good viewpoint for the Court of the Patriarchs. After snapping more photos, we turned around. The extra addition lengthened the entire hike to 3 hours.
A Pleasant Hiking Trail
This is a very pleasant hiking trail. You will be rewarded with views of the Zion hills, vegetation, river, and possibly wildlife. The difficulty level is about as easy as they come. The Pa’rus Trail is one of the few ADA accessible trails in Zion National Park.
More On Our Podcast
We invite you to listen to our podcast, The Places Where We Go. Get yourself a drink, pull up a chair, and listen to more of our adventures visiting Zion National Park.
