Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click one of them, I may receive a small commission (for which I am very grateful for) at no extra cost to you.

If you are headed to Zion National Park and planning to hike, you may have heard of Angels Landings or the Narrows. While both are excellent hike choices, neither are as amazing as the Subway. Hiking the Subway in Zion National Park requires a permit but it is worth the hassle.

Hiking the Subway in Zion National Park

There are two ways to explore The Subway (the Left Fork of North Creek). Permits are required regardless of the direction of travel. Both trips involve extensive route finding.

From the Bottom Up
This is a strenuous 9-mile round-trip hike through the Left Fork of North Creek that requires route finding, creek crossing, and scrambling over boulders. This hike begins and ends at the Left Fork Trailhead on the Kolob Terrace Road. The access to Kolob Terrace Road is located in Virgin UT which is west of Springdale.

From the Top Down
This is a strenuous 9.5-mile hike that requires rappelling skills, 60 feet of rope, and extensive route finding experience. The route also requires swimming through several deep pools of very cold debris-filled water. The trail begins at the Wildcat Canyon Trailhead and ends at the Left Fork Trailhead. Both trailheads are located on the Kolob Terrace Road.

Obtaining a permit

You can obtain a permit from the Zion National Park website. There is an advance lottery (3 months prior), a last minute lottery (7-2 days prior) and an in-person last minute same day or next day option. The permits for top down and bottom up are the same, you get to decide your direction.

How we hiked

We hiked from the bottom up. We ended up getting walk-in, same day permits by waiting in line for the wilderness desk before it opened in the morning.

After securing our permits, we went back to the hotel, packed up, and got ready for our hike. Conveniently, our hotel was situated right across from Kolob Terrace Road which is where the trailhead is located. Our hike was in October so keep in mind our requirements might be slightly different than yours.

We each rented shoes and I rented dry pants from one of the rental companies. The high for the day was in the mid 60s. If it was much hotter, I would not have needed the pants, but I was glad I had them as I get cold. However for the last push out of the canyon, I took them off and wore only leggings. When I did the Narrows previously in the summer, I did it with Keen’s and neoprene socks, regardless of if you purchase alternate hiking apparel or rent it, you want something other than your main hiking shoe as you will be wet and you want don’t want to do any other hikes in wet shoes.

The hike took us about 7 hours including time for stopping for pictures and a food break. I have read a variety of lengths for the hike but my Garmin read about 10 miles and 1700 feet of elevation gain. Much of this is through the water and around large rocks.

We each brought 3 liters of water and a full lunch. Need to pack out everything you bring in and remember to leave the trail BETTER than you found it.

Hiking the Subway in Zion National Park is an incredible experience. Have you hiked the Subway or are you planning to? Let us know in the comments!

Also if you are driving to Zion National Park from Las Vegas, check out 5 things you can do in Las Vegas off Strip.

Let’s Stay in Touch…

name:
email:

Sharing is caring!