Hiking Southern Utah: Watchman Trail, Zion National Park

Trail: Watchman Trail
Location: Zion National Park
Difficulty: Easy with a fairly strenuous elevation gain in the middle section.
Average Hiking Time: About two hours at a leisurely pace for the four-mile round trip hike.
Family Friendly: Yes, but there are a few cliff edges, so keep an eye on children. During our hike, we saw many pre-teen children on the trail.

Getting There: From St. George drive to Hurricane via Interstate 15 and State Route 9. In Hurricane stay on State Route 9 and follow the signs to Zion National Park. It is about 45 minutes driving time from St. George to Zion.

Beyond the southern park entrance station, continue less than 100 yards and turn right (southeast) into the Visitor Center parking lot. Just north of the Visitor Center, on the east bank of the Virgin River, near the shuttle bus waiting area, and near the entrance road into the Visitor Center parking area is a large white sign pointing out Watchman Trail.

Zion National Park is world-famous for a reason, it is spectacular. Many well-known trails—Angel’s Landing, The Narrows, The Subway, and so on—gather most of the attention. They should, my wife and I have done them all and they are bucket list hikes. But sometimes the relatively easy (the middle section is steep) overlooked route, Watchman Trail in this case, delivers. What it delivers are stunning views of the southern end of Zion Canyon.

In 1919 Congress established Zion as Utah’s first national park. Diversity dominates the 229 square mile park. Diversity in habitats with elevations ranging from 3,600 to 8,700 feet and including arid desert, woodland, coniferous forest, and riparian environments. Diversity in life forms with 69 species of mammals, 208 birds, 29 reptiles, six amphibians, and nine fish. And diversity in geology with mountains, buttes, mesas, arches, and, of course, canyons.

From St. George, my wife Deb and I began our mid-October adventure by driving to Hurricane via Interstate 15 and State Route 9. In Hurricane, we stayed on State Route 9 and follow the signs to Zion National Park. It is about 45 minutes driving time from St. George to Zion.

Stopping at the south entrance station we breezed through with our senior pass (for ages 62 and above)—pay $80 once and you can enter any national park forever with no additional fee. (The normal entrance fee is $35 per private vehicle.)

We parked and walked toward the shuttlebus stop. The beginning of Watchman Trail is near the stop and the east bank of the Virgin River.

The trailhead elevation is 3,870 feet and the nearly four miles round trip hike has an elevation gain of 490 feet. The sky was unfortunately hazy (makes for washed-out photos) as we began our hike about 9:00 am with the temperature in the mid-50s (heating up to the mid-60s by the end of the hike).

The first ¼ mile is a pleasant stroll on a dirt path along the east bank of the Virgin River. The trail turns away from the river heading southeast and we soon crossed an asphalt service road and continued into a low range of hills above some park employee housing.

We then encountered a steady climb up the north side of a red sandstone ravine for about ¾ mile. There is a short series of switchbacks, not too steep. However, the entire middle section of the hike is uphill. Along the way, we passed junipers, pinion pines, and various cactus.

The ravine narrowed at the edge of a plateau, turned south, and crossed a dry streambed. We then headed southwest below the rim of the plateau, fortunately, a mostly flat section. At the end of the trail, we came upon the optional Watchman overlook loop on a small mesa, affording 360 views. The loop is approximately ½ mile round trip walk around the bench at the end of the trail. Make sure this option is part of your hike.

And what views they are from the overlook loop: directly below are the Visitor Center, campground, and park employee residences; to the west the cliffs of West Temple and Towers of the Virgin; to the north upstream of the Virgin River the Three Patriarchs and the Mountain of the Sun are visible; while downstream (south) Zion Canyon opens up and Springdale is discernable in the distance. Also, to the south is the namesake of the trail, the red spire of The Watchman towering 6,545 feet into the Utah sky.

After the loop, we returned down Watchman Trail—much easier since it was all downhill.

For being relatively unknown compared to some of the trails in the upper Zion Canyon, this is a fairly crowded trail. We encountered a couple of dozen fellow hikers along the trail mid-week in the latter part of October. This easy almost four-mile round trip hike, with a steep middle section, took about two hours at a leisurely pace and is mostly family-friendly. There are a few cliff edges, so keep an eye on children. If you want that almost bird’s eye view of the southern part of Zion National Park, this is the hike for you.