The Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway scenic drive runs along Highway 9. This drive begins at the entry into Zion National Park, meanders through the mile long tunnel and along a highway that slowly winds down from a high plateau and ending at Mt. Carmel Junction. This drive starts from the east side of Zion through the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel, to the south side of the park. One of the first sites is the geological wonder Checkerboard Mesa. There are impressive hoodoos and twisted rock sculptures all the way up to the rim of the highway. After exiting the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel, the Great Arch and Beehives come will be in view. Zion Canyon is at the bottom of several tormenting switchbacks. Lower Zion Canyon is where the Zion Canyon Visitors Center and the Zion Human History Museum are found. The spire, Watchman, stands tall on the south side of the park.
Located in Southern Utah, off I-15, Zion National Park East Entrance is three hundred and twenty miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah, or one hundred and eighty three miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada. From April through October the only access to the Scenic Drive is via shuttle. From October to April private vehicles can travel the Scenic Drive. Oversized vehicles (RV's, trailers, fifth wheels and most campers) are allowed to travel through the middle of the tunnel while rangers stop traffic on the other side. Ranger escorts are at the tunnel from 8am to 8pm. Check the National Park Service site for current info, escort fees and winter hours. The second tunnel in the park is so small that you can see from one end to the other when driving through. Semi-trucks are not allowed to travel through the park.
One of the highlights of the drive is The Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel. At a little over one mile long, this tunnel was blasted and cut in the thick Navajo sandstone during the early 1900s. Working on the tunnel's south side was not easy because the drop off to the canyon below is eight hundred feet.
A May 2009 review states, "While driving through the Zion tunnel is great, and the scenery astounding, as you exit, the trip to the shuttle, which you must use after May 1, or to Springdale, involves a drive along a winding, narrow, two-way road that borders the edge of a 3000-5000 foot sheer drop - with no guard rails. (They wouldn't do anything, but they would make one feel a bit better.) If you don't like heights, you will be terrified on this road. You have the alternative of returning by a roundabout route on regular roads if you vow never to get on this scenic drive again, as my husband did. Or, you can take the southern entrance to the park in the first place. I'm surprised that the people who describe this road don't mention the narrowness and steepness of the road. It is far, far scarier than Route 1 in California, which people do describe as an adventure, but which is just fine. This road is ten times as anxiety producing. But, again, it's the scenery - amazing - and much different from that which you see on the shuttle.''
A second reviewer reports on something my family discovered years ago. This experience is incredible. "We happened upon this scenic drive at a time I'm sure no-one would think to go. It was in August, a Full Moon and around 1am. Yes I did say 1am. We had been to the Grand Canyon and decided to go north into Utah and travel west to Hwy 9 back down into Nevada. Being from a small State at the time (CT), the concept of traveling from one state to another in a short period of time seemed natural to us. NOT so out WEST! We pushed on, deciding NOT to find lodging for the night, and we were so glad we did. We entered the "Park" and were awe struck. The road and canyon walls, all aglow from the light of the Moon and the headlights of our car, created a magic that just wouldn't allow us to travel more than 2 miles an hour. We traveled this 10 mile stretch, stopping every so often to just take it all in, at a continuous 2 mph. This was 5 years ago and to this day, I tell everyone going to Utah that they must time their trip during a Full Moon.''
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