The Watchman Trail is one of the few in Zion that doesn’t require using the shuttle system.  It’s a moderately difficult hike that gets you to a great overlook of the front entrance area to Zion.  You will also get great views of landmarks such as The Watchman, Bridge Mountain, Sentinel, West Temple, Altar of Sacrifice, and even Angel’s Landing in the distance.

The trail begins right across from the Visitor Center and curves around where the RVs and trailer parking is located.  You will follow the Virgin River for a little bit before eventually going across a park road.

On this particular day, the trail was very busy.  It was quite a diverse crowd with all sorts of languages and accents spoken.  People from all over the world were getting to see the beauty of Zion!

The trail will pick up elevation from this point on.  It isn’t terrible, but there are switchbacks and steps to help you along the way.  You are travelling in an easterly direction until you circle back around and are hiking west towards the lookout point.

There are several small springs as you gain elevation.  You can see that this has been a reliable water source due to the cottonwood trees and ferns.

Once at the top, the trail will level out and you will now be hiking in a westerly direction.  You will come to a spot where there are signs pointing you to the left or right.  This is the loop trail that goes down to the main overlook.

I hiked right first and continued down on the mesa.  I finally got to main overlook.  The views from this spot are worth the hike!  I have heard many people skip over this hike because they don’t think it offers great views, but they are missing out!

To the south of where you stand is The Watchman.  To the west is the West Temple and Altar of Sacrifice.  To the north is the Sentinel and Angel’s Landing down Zion Canyon.  Honestly, I didn’t really think the views of the Watchman were that outstanding from here.  They were impressive, but maybe if I came here near sunset I would have had a much better picture of it.  I thought the views of the West Temple were really neat though!

The trail loops around back to where the trail splits.  Head back down the same trail to end the hike.

I loved this hike!  One of the highlights was that I just parked in the Visitor Center parking lot and walked right to it.  No shuttles. No hassle. Just begin hiking!