Hiking the Subway in Zion National Park

On August 30th I took a hike with Jason, Leslie and Brandon to a canyon in Zion National Park called "The Subway". Leslie's cousin Michelle and Michelle's husband Anthony, and Danny Hafen went with us. This was Brandon's last adventure before going into the Missionary Training Center four days later. Our original plan was to drive to the top of the canyon and then walk down. We took two cars so we could drive back up to the drop-off point at the top of the canyon when we were done. Unfortunately there had been a grass fire somewhere near the top of the trail, and the park rangers had closed the top end, so we drove back to the end of the trail and did an "up-and-back" type of hike.

The trail winds in and out of a creek, and the main attraction is a circular tunnel section in the middle that looks like a subway tunnel; hence the name. The water is pretty cold; about 45 degrees but it was quite refreshing as the day grew warmer. In total we hiked about 6 miles (I think) and we had a great time.

We all wore board shorts, compression shorts, rash-guards and water shoes because we were in and out of the water a number of times on the hike.

At the "end of the trail" where we started our hike

One of the cars parked at the trail head had this bird stuck in the grill

Pretty but steep and scary because of the loose gravel on the trail

Getting to the bottom of the canyon

These are dinosaur tracks that have been preserved in petrified mud. The trail runs right below this spot

Lots of pretty scenery. The sun hadn't reached the bottom of the canyon yet

There were several spots where the sedimentary rock created stair-like waterfalls. It was much easier walking up the creek than on the trails at the side. We all wore water shoes for the hike. Sometimes there was moss on the rocks that made for slippery walking. The more daring among us did a little water sliding, but I declined

In the lower distance you can see the entrance to the subway section of the canyon

The bottom is slick and has deep pools along the bottom. It was actually pretty cold down there

At the far end was a series of deep pools that let to a high waterfall. There was a room behind the waterfall that we went into. Jason, Brandon, me and Anthony did a little "Polar Bear" into the waterfall. Keep in mind the water was cold.

Walking out the sun finally made it down to the bottom of the canyon and it started warming up. We took a little break on the hike back down to jump into a refreshing pool

Family Hike in Zion's "Subway" from randy guthrie on Vimeo.