Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, Utah

About this drive

UT-9 climbs from the floor of Zion Canyon through a series of switchbacks before passing through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel — a 1.1-mile bore blasted through solid Navajo sandstone in 1930. The tunnel requires one-way traffic control for large vehicles, and even standard cars emerge into a completely different world: the western end opens into the main canyon's lush cottonwood and cliff-face drama, while the eastern end exits onto the slickrock plateau, where the landscape shifts instantly to open red-rock desert. This is one of the most dramatic landscape transitions available from a single drive anywhere in the world. The switchbacks immediately west of the tunnel are the most scenic section — tight hairpin turns carved into the cliff face with direct views down into Pine Creek Canyon. The canyon colors shift through the day as the light angle changes, from deep shadow at dawn through warm salmon and ochre in the afternoon. Checkerboard Mesa, visible from the road about two miles east of the tunnel, is a dome of sandstone marked by an extraordinary cross-hatch pattern produced by the intersection of horizontal layers and vertical fractures — a geology lesson in plain sight from the passenger seat. The full highway continues east to connect with US-89 near Kanab, making it the standard approach for visitors arriving from Bryce Canyon or Page, Arizona.

Stops along the way

• 📸 Checkerboard Mesa · Scenic Viewpoint

  A sandstone dome with a distinctive cross-hatched pattern from weathering, visible right from the road.

Featured in

• Top 10 Scenic Drives in the USA
• Best Mountain Scenic Drives in the USA