Hiking the Lower and Upper Emerald Pools Trail in Zion National Park
Distance: 2.4 miles / 3.9 km
Both the Lower and Upper Emerald Pool Trails are some of Zion’s most popular hikes.
That said, the best time of year to see the Emerald Pools is during spring snowmelt or after a heavy rain storm. This is because the falls that you see in the photos throughout this post can disappear altogether during the dry hot summer months.
Emerald Pools Trailhead Parking
Parking for any trail in Zion Canyon is located at either the Zion Visitor Center, or the Zion Human History Museum.
From either of these two locations, you need to ride the Zion Canyon Shuttle to the trailhead. Be aware that after 9 a.m. during most times of the year, parking in these two spots becomes extremely competitive, and the park service may shut down parking altogether and tell you to park in Springdale.
Google Maps Directions: Zion Visitor Center / Zion Human History Museum
The Zion Canyon Shuttle
From either the visitor center or the museum, ride the shuttle up the canyon to Stop 5, which is also the same stop as the Zion National Park Lodge.
Hiking Checklist - Zion
Here is a complete list of must-have things that you will want for any hike in Zion National Park.
Additional Off-Season Gear
Depending on the winter snowpack, the Emerald Pools Trail can be covered in snow and ice well into March.
If you’re coming during the off-season (October - March), I recommend having micro-spikes with you! I personally use the Yaktrax below.
Hiking the Emerald Pools Trail
From the Zion Lodge, walk across Zion Canyon Road to reach the Emerald Pools Trailhead.
Once across the Virgin River, you can hike in either direction to reach all of the same pools, but I recommend hiking toward the Lower Pool first for a few reasons.
The first is that I think it’s nice to see the pools in order from Lower to Upper, but on top of that, I like saving the casual hike down from the Middle Pools for the end because it’s a really nice way to see Zion Canyon with far fewer people on the trail.
Finally, whether you return back down the same direction or take the Middle Emerald Pools Trail to the lodge, the total distance will remain the same.
The Lower Emerald Pool Trail is a relatively flat and graded trail for the entire distance to the Lower Pool.
Typically, the trail beneath the Lower Falls is a very busy section.
After the Lower Emerald Pool, the trail begins climbing up about 400 ft. (122 m) to reach the Upper Pool.
This split is for an upper viewpoint of the Lower Emerald Pool.
Middle Emerald Pools-Kayenta Trail Junction
At the split in the photos below, go left for the Middle and Upper Pools.
Middle Emerald Pools
In my opinion, the more beautiful part of the Middle Emerald Pools is after the split for the Upper Pool.
I’ll show more on this later.
Upper Emerald Pools Trail
At the split for the Upper Emerald Pool, you can either loop back around to the lodge on the Middle Emerald Pools Trail or hike the extra 0.25 miles to reach the Upper Pool.
The photo below on the right is the trail that leads back to the lodge.
The Upper Pool waterfall was flowing so well because of the spring snowmelt in March.
Middle Emerald Pools Trail
This is Middle Emerald Pools as if you had gone straight at the Upper Emerald Pools junction, and like I said in the beginning, it’s also my preferred route to hike back to the Zion Lodge.
In all, the Middle Emerald Pools Trail is a very straightforward hike down to the lodge.
Depending the weather/ time of year, the trail may be muddy because of either rain or snowmelt.
When you make it back down to the Virgin River, continue straight (left) to link back up with the beginning of the trail.
The trail to the right is the longer route for the Sand Bench Trail.
This is where the trail meets back up with the beginning of the hike.
