ANGELS LANDING
While I was in Las Vegas for a conference, my friends and I got there a day early so we could take a day trip up to Zion National Park in Utah to hike Angels Landing. The drive was about 3 hours, so we woke up around dawn to get a head start at the trailhead early in the morning. Considering we were hiking in the dead of winter, we were lucky that the snow had completely melted and it was a dry day.
The total distance is about 5.4 miles with an elevation gain of about 1500 feet, so expect to take around 3-5 hours there.
The hike to Angels Landing begins at Grotto Trailhead and the first two miles of the hike are on West Rim Trail.
After a steady, uphill climb the trail enters Refrigerator Canyon, where the temperatures stay cool since this is the only shady part of the hike.
That’s just the beginning of the incline. Next you’ll face Walter’s Wiggles, where you’re climbing 21 sets of switchbacks.
The final part of this hike was my favorite, but this is where it gets tricky. I saw a lot of people who were afraid of heights stop at this point because to get to the Angels Landing viewpoint, you have to walk on the narrow spine of the mountain and climb more than 500 feet in elevation. On both sides of this spine are steep drop offs, but there are chains securely mounted for you to hold onto.
Once you reach Observation Point, you get this surreal 360-degree view of the canyon. Once we got to this view point, waking up early and hiking through the narrow areas seemed well worth it. Since we had gone during the off-peak season, it wasn’t too crowded. If you can, I would recommend going at an off-peak season just because going through some of the narrow areas with a high volume of people can be scary. I hope next time I come back to Zion National Park I can explore other trails but I would definitely come back and do Angels Landing all over again.
Angel’s Landing is one of my all-time favorite hikes. I say that because it’s a different experience from any other hike that I’ve done, where it’s more about the journey than the destination. It’s a great hike if you’re looking for a challenge, but not a great hike if you’re afraid of heights!
