Sand Bench Trail, Zion National Park
– By Tom Garrison –
Location: Zion National Park, Utah
Difficulty: Moderately strenuous due to walking in loose sand most of the hike and many ascents and descents, some fairly steep. (It was a strenuous hike for people in their 70s as we are.)
Average Hiking Time: About two to three hours at a leisurely pace.
Elevations: 4,230 feet trailhead elevation with about a 550 feet elevation change from the trailhead to the highest point.
Family Friendly: It would be challenging for small children.
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), cross a bridge over the Virgin River, and enter the Visitor Center parking lot. Park, walk back to the Visitor Center, and get in line for the Zion Canyon Shuttle. From March through November, since no private vehicles are allowed north of Canyon Junction, you must take the shuttle or walk. Even if you are doing this hike when private vehicles are allowed on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, it is easier—parking is very limited at the trailhead—to take the shuttle to the trailhead.
Sand Bench Trail is deceptive. Only about four miles round trip, on a map it looks easy. However, this trail is mostly deep sand with many ascents and descents, some pretty steep. On the other hand, this moderately strenuous hike features spectacular views of lower Zion Canyon.
Sand Bench Trail is fairly unknown and generally not a busy trail. Beware of horses and horse pee and poop, it a popular horse trail from March through October. The bench, upon which the loop part of the trail traverses, was created by an ancient landslide.
Fortunately, we live close to spectacular Zion National Park. Included in its boundaries are some demanding hikes—Angel’s Landing, The Narrows, The Subway, Hidden Canyon, and others. We have done them all. Sand Bench Trail is now included in those demanding hikes with amazing views.
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-week early October adventure by driving to Zion National Park. 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.
The trailhead is at the Court of the Patriarchs shuttle stop. (The fourth stop on the Zion Canyon Shuttle in the main canyon.) The elevation is 4,230 feet with about a 550 feet elevation change from the trailhead to the highest point for this approximately four mile round trip hike. The sky was a deep Utah blue and the temperature in the mid-70s as we began the hike about 10:00 am.
We walked across Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and followed the trail sign heading west and after a short distance the trail intersected the main trail. We went left (west) and within a couple hundred yards or so came to a large water tank and small building at the end of a service road. We followed the trail sign and continued west and soon crossed the Virgin River on a footbridge. After a quarter mile in mostly open area, we came to another trail intersection and went left (west) and soon turned south. All along this first section of the trail are great views of the peaks in the Court of the Patriarchs to the west.
We continued south shaded by cottonwood trees and soon crossed Birch Creek on strategically placed rocks and within another quarter mile or so came to the signed Sand Bench Loop intersection, 2 ½ miles for the loop. The loop ascends and then descends from the bench.
We did the loop clockwise, taking the left or eastern, fork. That way we had relatively firm ground, a lot of flat rocks and some deep sand on the ascent, and mostly deep sand on the descent and avoided a real slog on the way up. The eastern fork is quite wooded, providing shade from the hot sun during our hike. Because it is a woodland, within the first half mile of the loop we experienced a rare treat in a national park with several thousand visitors a day—wild animals within 15 feet of us. We first saw a small deer nosing around near the trail, then a flock of six wild turkeys scurrying around and pecking for food. Although this is not a popular hike with hundreds of people every day, these animals were clearly accustomed to seeing humans. Of course, we also saw the obligatory chipmunks and lizards.
This part of the hike offers great views, from two overlooks, of the Virgin River and Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, several hundred feet below the bench, and the towering reds, oranges, and browns of the canyon walls on both sides of the canyon are stunning. Scattered about in this area were some colorful sandstone boulders, relics from the landslide (that created the bench) from the high cliffs above.
After about 1 ¼ quarter mile from the beginning of the loop, where the trail begins to circle back to the western side of the loop, we came upon a rest area—a small clearing with a picnic table and horse corral. The trail then headed north in a wooded area on the return part of the loop. Soon we crossed a large open grassland and the trail became deep loose sand for the remainder of the loop. We reached the loop sign and headed back to the trailhead.
This is a fun, fairly strenuous hike (strenuous for folks in their 70s as we are) with varied habitats along the way—woodland, riparian, scrub, and sandy meadows—creating a sometimes subtle and beautiful adventure with amazing views of lower Zion Canyon. This approximately four mile trek round trek took us about three hours at a leisurely pace with many photo stops. It is great if you want to avoid the crowds that dominate more popular hikes, we only saw eight people on our hike.
