Observation Point - Zion National Park

While hiking from many trails in the park, you can see what looks like a trail cut in the mountain on one of the highest rock faces in the park. This is the Observation Point trail and looking up, we could not believe how much this trail was carved out of the rock in order to access this highpoint. The cost of this trail being build must have been extraordinary, probably done in the 30s when they knew how to build a trail. First you experience the trail climbing out of the main canyon which did not even seem possible. Next you enter Echo Canyon with narrow canyon walls and a slot canyon below the trail along the route. An almost tunnel was carved out of the rock at one point, then ledges through cliffy corners continue until reaching the upper mountain where a crazy seven foot ledge is carved in the rock. Just before the point, a hidden narrow level ledge is traversed for a quarter mile. The observation point as you see in the pictures below is perfectly placed, looking down Zion Canyon with the massive walls of Cable Mountain and The Great White Throne in your face. This trail starts at the Weeping Rock parking area so you can also visit the Weeping Rock and Hidden Canyon trails from here, both are easy side trips for a complete overview of the area.

Here is a view from just up the Hidden Valley Trail as it merges off the Observation Point Trail. You can see the trail in the lower right, then the trail disappears for 2.5 miles in the canyon, then you can see the trail again cutting through the cliffs at the top of the picture.