Zion Adventures® — Attraction in Springdale

I had previously used Zion Adventures to rent some optional gear for the Narrows hike in Zion National Park, and had no issues, so when I returned several years later, they were the only rental shop in town that I considered. My second experience was beyond disappointing, and I would not recommend using them for any of their services in Springdale.

TL:DR: Zion Adventures cancelled our prepaid AM shuttles to Chamberlain Ranch without notifying us in advance and forced us to scramble to save our permitted hike.

The Narrows hike requires both a permit from the Zion National Park, as well as ride to drop you off at the beginning of the canyon. Due to the limited availability of both, it's recommended to reserve both well in advance. The day before our hike, I went to the ranger station to pick up my permit, and was told to check with our shuttle company, Zion Adventures, to ensure there were no issues because It had rained earlier in the week, and the only way to access is via a road, with an unmaintained section toward the end. To my surprise, at 3:00 pm, 15 hours before our scheduled and paid for in advance shuttle reservation, I had to call them, and then was told they were not running, and would be refunding my reservation. No email, no phone call, no prior messages from them warning or informing me of this. Not even a heads up from earlier in the week around all the rain.

Luckily I was able to secure transportation via another company in the area, and made it to the trailhead the next morning with zero drama. Zion Adventures cited road conditions as the reason for the cancellation, but offered no explanation for the lack of communication. The other party in our shuttle also had their shuttle cancelled by Zion Adventures. The road conditions were 100% drive able, evidenced by our completion without issues.

Additionally, when picking up our gear, the person who was running through the safety portion of the hike, was incredibly over zealous about the dangers of flash floods, changing water colors, and floating squirrels. We ended up with a bit of rain overnight, and a completely safe exit of the Narrows on day two.

Such an incredibly disappointing experience that caused extra expenses on my part, scrambling for solutions, and an unnecessary amount of fear mongering, that was not in line with the weather forecast. Save the headache and book with...

Prior to traveling to Zion for a work retreat, I searched for an off the beaten track adventure that did not appeal to the typical tourist. I started my search with Zion Adventure Company (ZAC). From the first phone call with Lisol, I knew I found the right outfitter. Lisol clued me into the the Eye of the Needle via Ferrata trip, an excursion on private land owned by the ZAC outside the national park that in the simplest term, involves rappelling down a series of waterfalls in an awesome canyon and then climbing up a 450 ft. sheer wall face using ropes and iron ladder rungs. Prior to signing up, I only had to ask my group of outdoorsy people if they were scared of heights bc if you are scared of heights this is definitely not for you.

On the day of the trip, we were paired with lead guide Laura and also Mike and Whitney. These guides were extremely professional, focused on safety, knowledgeable, friendly, patient, and just down to earth people. We as a group fully agreed we were in great hands from start to finish with Laura, Mike and Whitney. Laura's leadership and knowledge was unmatched and Mike and Whitney could teach courses on how to be awesome guides. My hats off to whoever trained this group and also set the culture standard of ZAC. Really cool to see this operation in action.

I don't want to give too much away on what to expect on this adventure because I think there is value to going into this not knowing every detail. Although I am sure ZAC does not recommend this, but I purposely did not tell my team what we were doing that day in the spirit of surprise - I just told them what they needed to bring and I made sure they weren't afraid of heights. The first they learned of what we were doing was when Laura let them know the morning of the trip. They all told me afterwards it was the greatest surprise ever.

Anyway, I 100% recommend this company to anyone who wants any adventure in Zion because it is a first class operation. I also wholeheartedly thank Laura, Mike and Whitney for making this a first class adventure - for making us safe and comfortable and for just being pleasant people (and for also working a 12 hour day that day).

By the way, we also used ZAC for our shuttle service for the Top Down Narrows hike. The shuttle left on time and was comfortable. Our driver (I believe her name was...

I rented gear and booked the shuttle for the Narrows Top Down hike with Zion Adventure Company. There are a few reasons for my 1 star review:

Inaccurate staff- e.g. one staff member told us in some parts of the Narrows we would need to swim because the water was so high. The water the last few days before and on our trip was 26 CFU. The highest water level we encountered was at the waist.

Delayed shuttle departure. Our shuttle was supposed to depart at 6:15 AM from Zion Adventure Company for Chamberlain's Ranch, the start point for the Narrows Top Down hike. We left 30 minutes late at 6:45 AM. They quote the drive as taking 1.5 hours, which means you would arrive at the trailhead at ~8:15 AM. The NPS says that an average hiker takes 12 hours, 20 minutes to hike the Narrows top down. The last shuttle out from Temple of Sinawava is at 8:15 PM. That means if we were average or below average hikers, the delay in shuttle departure time would have forced us to miss the last NPS exit shuttle from the canyon at the end of the day. This would be brutal because if you miss the last NPS shuttle you would need to walk out 8 miles from the Temple to the Visitor Center. As it was, we were forced to hurry through the hike to ensure enough buffer time to catch the NPS shuttle, which made the experience less enjoyable.

Location- Zion Adventure Company is located 3/4 of a mile outside of the Zion NPS visitor center. Other shuttle companies have you meet them inside the park for the morning departure. That way when you finish your hike, you're back at your car. Unfortunately Zion Adventure Company has you meet at their shop for the morning shuttle departure. That means you need to pay for all day street parking ($12). Then at the end of your day hiking you need to either 1) walk an additional 3/4 of a mile to their store to return gear and retrieve your car, or 2) take a second NPS shuttle from the visitor center to Stop 3 of the Springdale town shuttle. Both are time consuming and tiring options.

Gear return process- as mentioned, the last NPS shuttle from Temple of Sinawava leaves at 8:15 PM. Yet Zion Adventure Center closes at 7 PM. There was no guidance given about what to do about after hours...