Our hike to Observation Point was a last minute decision purely by chance. With a late morning start after our last night in Vegas, we made it to Zion only about an hour before sunset. Hoping to squeeze in some short walks before losing daylight, we pulled over at the Weeping Rock trailhead and started making our way to the rock. Halfway up the switchbacks, however, it slowly became obvious that the elevation gain didn’t quite match the supposedly 100ft…
Yes, I know that was all very silly, but the view was well worth the effort. A recent snow dotted the canyon with white fluffs like powered sugar, and the contrast between those dark pines and red sandstone made it look almost like a solemn version of Christmas.
Having realized later that it was actually the Observation Point trail that we turned onto, we packed up crampons and returned early the next morning, leaving enough time for the whole hike and much better lighting for photos.
Winter trail conditions change constantly at Zion. We were lucky enough that there were no recent snowstorms, which could easily make much of the trail completely impassable without snowshoes, but there was still a fair amount of ice throughout the hike. The first mile or so, mostly switchbacks facing the Big Bend and the trailhead, had some of the worst conditions even though it was the lowest in elevation. At one particular spot, a stream froze into a solid sheet covering the entire trail:
Not somewhere you’d want to slip, with 500ft drop right next to you.
But on the bright side, the fear of losing footing slowed us down significantly, and I wasn’t nearly as out of breath as I thought I’d be by the time we made it to the plateau. From there, the steep and slippery ascent turned into a quiet stroll on packed snow, through some surprise fall colors that still lingered.
The next short segment of the trail following Echo Canyon was arguably the highlight of the day for me (my husband, on the other hand, was obviously more impressed with the final overlook). This beautiful slot canyon may be better known as a summer canyoneering destination, but certainly doesn’t fail to impress with its winter charm. Snow did its magic bringing out the dark canyon walls with stark contrast, and the tight curves and intricate layers really shows what Zion is made of.
I wish we ventured more into the depths of it, but the solid thick ice over the canyon floor meant that we would’ve been on all fours. Oh well. At least we caught the sun at a better angle later in the day with some nice shadows and brightly lit snow.
After just a few turns, Echo Canyon was behind us and the view suddenly opened up. We were facing the valley again and the familiar Zion peaks towered in a distance. The path also became a lot more exposed: still plenty of icy patches in the shades, but we finally got to take snow-free big strides fully bathed in warm sunlight. Blue skies. Red hills. Green pines. White snow. All the vibrant colors blended into such a pleasing sight.
Of course, a view has to be paid for with hard work. Switchbacks pick up again for the remaining half of the elevation gain. One thing that we found interesting about that next mile: you are almost always climbing towards a tall peak in front of you, but you are almost always not going there. Many a time I looked up and cried inside “how much higher does this go?”, but then the trail meandered by and we ended up heading the opposite side. I lost my bearings a few times, until the vista changed again not far past the 2 mile marker:
Now, you can’t not recognize that road you just drove on : )
The final sets of switchbacks simply followed the rim, and the remaining mile of mostly level and open mesa slowly guided us to the center of the canyon opening.
There, the classic Zion view!
I would’ve wished for some more snow in our photos, but from all the blog posts I’ve read about hiking Observation Point after a snowstorm, it seems like most people don’t get to make it to the end. We were fortunate enough to see this postcard scene with some dotted white powder, and the scenery on the way was just as incredible. Winter is certainly the magical time for hiking Zion!
