Zion Day 4 - Canyon Overlook + Dixie National Forest

On our last day in Zion we called in at the Canyon Overlook Trail - apparently only a mile and 'easy' rating but a fairly tough little walk that I found as hard as some 'moderate' hikes in Zion. We did get sidetracked by a cheeky chipmunk too, but the view made it worthwhile. At the top you are at 5,300 feet in elevation whereas the main ground level at the river is at around 4,000 ft.

The road out of Zion (towards Mt Carmel junction) winds up the hill and through a large 1.8km (1.1mi)  long tunnel. At the top end of the tunnel, the trail begins.

The trail cuts under overhanging rocks and along the edge of some quite steep terrain

A deep and narrow gorge

 

Not quite at the edge but you can see the far side of Zion Canyon - the high peak on the right is The Sentinel at 7,157ft.

That rascally little chipmunk

The main view at the end of the trail - looking west  I think the peak on the left is the Watchman (6,545 ft)

The road winding up the hill can be seen clearly

'The East Temple' at 7709 ft towers over the overlook to the north

Once again the intrepid Pam and Nev made it all the way (yes it was still cold)

After leaving Zion, heading to Mount Carmel and turning left, we passed through a section of the Dixie National Forest. As you can see it has some very interesting rock formations and our elevation was steadily increasing all the way so there was more and more snow on the ground.