Slot Canyons near Zion

Yes, there are slot canyons in Zion National Park, but the ones that need a rope need an NPS permit and your own skills, and no one may guide you into them. The slot canyons you can book with a guide are outside the park, mostly on its east side around Orderville and Mount Carmel. Some are walk-in slots you reach by UTV; others are rappel canyons you descend on ropes.

Inside the park: permit canyons

NPS requires a permit for every canyon in Zion that needs descending gear or ropes, for the 16-mile Narrows through-hike and for every trip into the Left Fork of North Creek, the Subway. Its group-size rules name some of them: Keyhole, Pine Creek, Orderville Canyon, the Left Fork and the Narrows. These are Wilderness, where guided trips are not allowed, so you go with your own group and gear. NPS reminds permit holders that a Wilderness permit does not provide a safety net.

One slot in the park needs no permit at all: the Narrows walked upstream from the Temple of Sinawava, as far as Big Spring. It is a river walk rather than a rope canyon.

East of the park: walk-in slots

The walk-in slots are reached by UTV, with a short walk in and no ropes:

• East Zion Adventures' UTV ride and slot-canyon walk from Orderville goes to a red-rock slot canyon far from any paved road, with walls more than 100 feet high and 6 to 10 feet apart. It is graded easy, with no climbing, for children from 4.
• ROAM - East Zion's UTV tour drives to Upper and Lower Red Cave slot canyons, with about a quarter mile of walking in all.

These are the easy slots near Zion: no harness and no permit.

East of the park: rappel canyons

The rappel canyons start with a hike to the top and then go down through the slot on ropes, with a guide and the gear:

• Elkheart: a half day from Mount Carmel with three rappels, 3 to 4 hours, from US$201 for an adult.
• Coal Hollow and Ladder Canyon: ROAM - East Zion’s 2.5-hour trip with four rappels and 4-hour trip with 6 to 7, from its storefront off US 89 next to East Zion Resort.
• Coral Sands, Stone Hollow and Powell’s Way: the Coral Sands half day, the Stone Hollow full day from Zion Ponderosa, and the Powell's Way full day from Zion Mountain Ranch, from US$178 to US$259 for an adult (checked November 2026).
• Private-land slots: ROAM - East Zion's 6-hour trip goes to canyons reached through private property behind locked gates, one of them with Native American petroglyphs.

These canyons are outside the park: Red Desert Adventure, which guides canyoneering near Zion, says all guided canyoneering takes place outside the park’s boundaries.

Just outside the park, from Springdale

Zion Guide Hub's half-day canyoneering checks in at Springdale and drives your group to a canyon just outside the park, where it runs because of National Park restrictions. It is private, booked for two adults at least.

How far each meeting point is

Distances by road, measured on the road network; meeting points as each trip gives them, checked November 2026.