•The Emerald Pools Trail System

•Type Hike:

•Lower Pool: Easy Walk

•Middle Pool: Moderate

•Upper Pool: Strenuous

•Average Hiking Time:

•Lower Pools (roundtrip): 50 minutes
•Upper Pools (roundtrip): 2.5 hours

•TRAILHEAD: Emerald Pools Parking Area, 4 miles up the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, accesses a trail network leading to exquisite Lower and Upper Emerald Pools. This area is heavily visited most of the year. The .6-mile concrete trail to Lower Emerald Pool is suitable for baby strollers and wheelchairs with assistance. From there a steeper trail with steps, continues .25 mile to Middle Emerald Pool. The Emerald Pools are formed by a small year-round, creek coming out of Heaps Canyon, named after a Mormon pioneer of the 1870s. (The trail to the Upper Pool experienced a severe flash flood in 1987. As a result, the trail is loosely compacted. Please stay on the designated trail to minimize erosion.) Two small waterfalls with pools below (Upper and Lower Emerald Pools) are the main attractions. Views include Lady Mountain, the Great White Throne, Red Arch Mountain and other majestic cliffs in all directions.

•The pleasant trail to the Lower Pool passes through a small forest community of cottonwood, boxelder and Gambel oak. The upper trails provide a drier habitat with more yucca, cacti and Scrub oak, in addition to the ever-present pinyon-juniper. From the trail to Upper Pool you can see shaded, more-moist north-facing slopes that sustain ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. Fall foliage colors usually peak here in October.

•Should you wish to hike an alternate loop, an established trail at the north end of Zion Lodge leads to Grotto Picnic Area; it parallels the scenic drive, emerging behind the Park Service residence at the south end of Grotto Picnic area. The trail is signed at both ends and has a dirt surface with gentle grades.

•Note: You can access the Sand Bench or West Rim Trails from the Emerald Pools Trail system.

•Caution Take care to stay on the trails, which parallel the top of the cliffs. The trails are marked and safe, but several persons have fallen to their deaths going off-trail to the cliff edge. The cliff edges are unstable, down-sloping, and slippery. Supervise children closely. There are other hikers below; do not drop anything or roll rocks.